Marie Thibault traded a research career in biology and oenology for a 3.5-hectare parcel in Azay-le-Rideau, one of the Touraine’s quietest corners. She trained under Francois Chidaine in Montlouis, where she fell hard for Chenin Blanc, and her own farming has been certified organic since 2014. Premier Nez is her flagship Chenin old vines on white clay and silex, aged mostly in old barriques with a touch of clay amphora. The 2021 is bone-dry, mineral, and quietly complex, with notes of dried citrus, aniseed, and yellow pear, the kind of unflashy, terroir-driven Loire white that rewards patience.