Christophe Thorigny’s cave is adjacent to the Tours airport. We’re not sure if this is the most romantic way to describe the winery, but his wine nonetheless manages to evoke something important about his vineyards. Americans often struggle to comprehend the European concept that the place is far more meaningful than the grape variety, but this wine is far more Vouvray than it is Chenin Blanc. It smells of roasted pears and hay and lemon oil, honeycomb and lanolin and snickerdoodle spices. It tastes of apple and lemon and beeswax and bursts with baking spices on the finish like a fresh apple pie. All those words describing sweet things come in an absolutely dry and mouth watering crisp wine that feels rich but lively. That tension makes this a perfect wine for almost any sort of food short of red meats. Chenin Blanc may be planted all over the world, but wines that taste like this only come from Vouvray, a single patch of tuffeau soil on the north bank of the Loire just outside the city of Tours.