From $18.99, £15.99, Aus$41.35
As you can see from my article Revived Savennières last Saturday, I am seriously enthused by this very special dry white wine made in a particularly pretty area just south of Angers in the Loire. Thanks to the exceptional soils here, including quite a bit of schist, these wines really can be described as 'mineral', the current most fashionable wine term.
But it's a small appellation and it can be quite difficult to get your hands on the wines, and when you do, they are not cheap. On the other hand, every winemaker there is at the very least competent and many are superlative. (See Savennières – the tasting notes for more details.) In fact, this is one appellation I think you could safely put into the general search box of www.wine-searcher.com with your country in the relevant box and follow up on just about any reference.
These are wines that have traditionally been aged long in bottle. In this recent video, the head of the local Conseil Interprofessionnel Evelyne de Pontbriand suggests that a Savennières is at its best at around 10 years old. But the great thing about the recent renaissance of the appellation is that there is now much more skill in both vine-growing and winemaking so that the wines can also be delicious in youth too – and this seems to be particularly the case with the ripe, open 2009 vintage. And the fact that there has recently been an influx of generally rather sophisticated and ambitious wine producers from across the Loire in the Coteaux du Layon has helped too.
One of these is the highly qualified wine producer Claude Papin 
(pictured), who with his wife Joëlle is based at Château Pierre Bise in Beaulieu-sur-Layon, where he makes an impressive array of Anjou reds and whites. But, like several of his peers, he has also leased vineyard in the Savennières appellation to the north, including the Clos de Coulaine, and more recently in the Roche aux Moines cru. He likes, if possible, to include some botrytised Chenin Blanc grapes in his wines and, while his Savennières are not obviously affected by noble rot, this policy does seem to add extra depth to the two examples of Claude Papin Ch Pierre-Bise, Clos de Coulaine Savennières I have tasted.
A great mouthful of ripe Chenin and minerals, but what a mouthful of a wine name too! It is difficult to give you the precise terms to look for on Winesearcher because some retailers call it Papin, some Pierre-Bise and others Coulaine – so do please search for all of these.
The 2008 vintage is a little more reticent and classical while the 2009 is voluptuous and tastes richer. Papin's 2008 and 2009 Savennières are in commercial circulation in Austria, Australia and, especially, the UK, according to Wine-Searcher. Importers Bibendum of London are currently selling the 2009 at £171 a dozen while Ellis Wharton of Cornwall have it by the single bottle at £16.99 and Last Drop Wines of London have the 2008 at £15.99.
The Papin wines do not unfortunately seem to be available in the US, but American wine lovers are lucky enough to be able to get the delicious Dom du Closel, La Jalousie 2009 Savennières for under $20 from the likes of K&L in San Francisco and Buy Rite in Jersey City. This is a serious bargain. Steely but rich – what a combination!
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