Le 20

Choussy sits in the heart of the Touraine, on the south bank of the Cher between Blois and Tours, in the stretch of the Loire where Sauvignon Blanc grows on limestone and sand rather than the flint of Sancerre. The soils are light, warm and quick to drain, which gives the grape its lift and the white-fruit, cut-grass profile the region is known for, without the weight of warmer sites. Le 20 comes from estate vines in this corner of the AOC Touraine, the same parcels that carry our partner's own labels.

The approach is the one that suits Sauvignon Blanc best: hand-harvested fruit, parcels picked and fermented separately so each lot keeps its character, native yeasts, and a few months on fine lees in tank before bottling. No oak. The aim is clarity and tension rather than texture, a wine finished at 12.5% that stays crisp from the first glass to the last.

La Cave's premise has always been that the best French wines rarely leave France, and that buying direct from the family who made them means fresher wine, fairer prices and a story to tell at the table. Le 20 turns that into a series. We go to wine partners we admire, taste through the cellar, choose the lot we want, and they make the wine for us under our name. In return they get something rare for a grower: the pleasure of being part of our customers' lives, of the dinners and the last-minute Tuesdays and the celebrations, which is a large part of why we do what we do. Frederick and Charles grew up around wine and it is their true passion, but the real privilege is being invited into those everyday moments, especially the ones worth celebrating. The price is part of the point. Le 20 is built to be the everyday bottle, and in time we expect to offer it by the six-pack so it can live in the fridge rather than on a shelf.

The series starts in 2026 with this white. Over the next few years it will grow one wine at a time, a lighter red, a heavier red and possibly a rosé, each chosen with a partner grower we already know and trust, and each carrying the same name. Lionel Gosseaume, a fourth-generation vigneron in Choussy who took over his first vines in 2007 and went full time on them in 2010, is the first of those partners.

Le 20 Blanc, AOC Touraine, Sauvignon Blanc, 12.5%. Estate-grown and made for La Cave by Lionel Gosseaume. Bright and dry: gooseberry, crushed stone, citrus and nettle. Serve cold, with oysters, goat cheese, or nothing at all. Sold by the bottle to begin with; six-packs to follow if the demand is there.