{"id":9358,"date":"2026-11-05T08:56:04","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T07:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divineloire.fr\/en\/?p=9358"},"modified":"2026-11-05T08:56:04","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T07:56:04","slug":"cheverny-blanc-une-lente-melopee-cyrille-sevin-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divineloire.fr\/en\/cheverny-blanc-une-lente-melopee-cyrille-sevin-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Une Lente M\u00e9lop\u00e9e 2023 by Cyrille Sevin: Cheverny Blanc Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

They say Cheverny whites are as tidy as a panel from a Herg\u00e9 comic: clean lines, clear colours, a touch too well-behaved. Cyrille Sevin’s “Une Lente M\u00e9lop\u00e9e” never read the comic, which is a good thing. It arrives slightly cloudy, quiet, and reveals itself only at its own pace.<\/b><\/p>\n

A melopoeia is a slow, even chant, something close to a litany, from the Greek melopoiia<\/i>. It is a fitting name for a wine that refuses to hurry. Opened at a family dinner, it gave me very little at first: a reserved, almost shy nose, without the aromatic swagger Sauvignon Blanc is often credited with. It needed ten or fifteen minutes of air in the glass before the white flowers began to speak. I had no reason to complain.<\/p>\n

How this Cheverny white ended up on our table<\/h2>\n

The story starts at the Halle de la Morandi\u00e8re in Fondettes, near Tours, at Vinaviva, “Les vins d’ici”<\/a>, an event that gathers winemakers from the region. My brother-in-law tasted the wine there, bought a bottle and brought it back for a family meal about ten days later. That is how many good winemaker discoveries happen: a stand, a glass, a bottle that leaves under your arm. The bottle in front of me is a 2023, 14.5% ABV, certified organic (FR-BIO-01), and labelled “contains sulphites”.<\/p>\n

The label says the wine was bottled at the estate by Cyrille Sevin, winemaker in Mont-pr\u00e8s-Chambord, in the Loir-et-Cher department. We are a few kilometres from the Ch\u00e2teau de Chambord, begun by Francis I in 1519, and from the Ch\u00e2teau de Cheverny, often cited as the inspiration for Tintin’s Marlinspike Hall. The scene is set: a quiet vineyard wedged between Sologne and the Loire Valley, far from the noise of the great appellations. Cheverny itself has held AOC status since 1993.<\/p>\n

For this wine I also cross-checked the notes other tasters have published online, so as not to rely on my single bottle. They converge on the essentials: an organic, author-driven white, fuller than the appellation average. I quote their observations with caution, and I separate what I tasted from what I read.<\/p>\n

Cheverny white wine: Sauvignon, Chardonnay and a little patience<\/h2>\n

Cheverny blanc is often summed up as Sauvignon, which is both accurate and reductive. The classic blend of the appellation gives pride of place to Sauvignon Blanc, completed by Chardonnay and sometimes a touch of Menu Pineau (also known as Orbois). Sauvignon brings tension and citrus, Chardonnay brings roundness and body. Menu Pineau, when present, adds a more fruity and more acidic note. Each winemaker doses these three voices in their own way.<\/p>\n

The reviews I read describe oak fermentation and careful ageing on lees for this cuv\u00e9e, which explains why the wine goes beyond simple varietal character. Ageing on lees means letting the wine rest on its dead yeast cells, which adds texture and length. The same reviews mention light vanilla, caramel and sandalwood, along with limestone minerality. When I opened it, these oaky touches were almost invisible, which is a good sign: oak should support, not sign its name.<\/p>\n