Celebrating the two souls of Chenin

Le Clos d’Entre les Murs, a walled vineyard in Saumur, looks unremarkable from the outside. But within are 11 further walls, on the south side of which are planted Chenin Blanc vines – an innovative 19th-century technique to maximise sun exposure and therefore ripeness in what was a marginal climate. The climate has changed dramatically since then, but these ‘walls within walls’ could be a metaphor for the entire third edition of the Chenin Blanc Celebration: revelations, innovations and connections abounded during conference sessions, vineyard visits, masterclasses and tastings.