A recent study showed that participants could successfully match pictures of purebred dogs with pictures of their owners at levels that were significantly above random chance. It’s what we already knew about dogs looking like their owners, but I’m beginning to think the same applies to wine, although I’m having trouble securing research funding.

It’s not so much that wines look like their winemakers, but they really do seem to reflect their personality. Here’s a case in point. We tasted this delightful Chenin Blanc with owner/winemaker, Caroline Meurée, and the way it radiated joy and light was in equal measure to her smile and the laughter lines around her eyes. She was bright, engaging, vibrant, down-to-earth and a pleasure to spend time with and, well done, you’ve beaten me to it.

It comes from various plots of Chenin Blanc around Saumur, with different top layers of soil (sand, clay, limestone), but all with volcanic tufa as their bedrock, bringing a real sense of earthy, pumice-laden minerality to the wine. It spent a year in both new and old oak, and, unusually for a Loire white, underwent malolactic fermentation, to add complexity and to mollify the wine’s natural acidity. We found notes of pear skin, kumquat, grapefruit and smoky, wispy cordite. It has a very ‘natural’ feel to it, as it’s as much about the soil as the fruit, but before you channel your inner Jay Rayner, it’s absolutely pristine clean. If your impression of ‘natural wine’ is cloudy cider, then this will recalibrate your bias by several orders of magnitude. 12% alc. Minimal use of SO2 only at bottling. Lightly filtered. Incidentally, their neighbours are none other than Clos Rougeard. Drink now-2027.