A tribute to Jacky Blot, champion of Chenin Blanc and Bourgeuil in the Loire. Above he is seen with his son Jean-Philippe, who runs the two domaines alongside Jacky.
Back in the early 1990s I spent a few days in the Loire and was advised to visit a real innovator there, the splendidly moustachioed Jacky Blot of Montlouis, an appellation that for long had languished in the shadow of neighbouring Vouvray. In his cellars, carved out of the local soft rock, were groundbreaking things: new oak barrels! Today of course everyone is turning against new oak, and nowadays Blot uses...