If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, Arnaud Lambert’s Chenin Blanc is a familiar wine. His wines in the heart of Saumur are elevating the reputation of the region’s vineyards, so that names like Breze are gaining currency in the wider wine market. Lambert’s Chenins reliably show that Chenin-blanc pairing of clarity and complexity that makes the grape so irresistible. This Vin de France is a new bottling for the winery, a blend of his own plot in Saint-Cyr en Bourg with a friend’s vineyard a stone’s throw outside the Saumur zone. As always with Lambert’s wines, the grapes are biodynamically farmed. The nose of Les Parcelles blooms with classic Chenin notes of linden blossom, ripe pear galette, green apple and beeswax. The palate is tense with acidity and a tactile, lightly creamy texture that shows off some light lees stirring. There are flavors of crisp apples, gooseberry, golden raspberries, and a whiff of dusty tuffeau soil. An easy choice for poultry, hare, or fish under citrusy sauces, we don’t explicitly recommend aging this one, but there’s no particular hurry to finish it all over the course of the next two or three years.