Silex is a flint-and-sand-based soil type found primarily in the Loire Valley. It’s formed from a mixture of clay, limestone and silica, and it gives the Chenin Blanc grape a special flavour in Vouvray. Pale straw in colour, this wine has a nose of quince and honey. It’s medium-bodied with a minerally, pear flavour.
Food match: pork chop; blackened scallops
Domaine des Aubuisières Cuvée de Silex Vouvray, 2011, Loire, $17.95. Vintages #57042
Post City Magazines’ wine columnist, Tony Aspler, has written 14 books on wine and food. Tony also created the Ontario Wine Awards and has been inducted into the New York Media Wine Writers’ Hall of Fame. He can be heard on 680News.
