Véronique and Pascal Bellier make an array of splendidly clear and authentic wines in this little-known corner of the Loire, just south of Blois, between the Châteaux de Chambord and Cheverny. The family has grown grapes here for generations, but it was Pascal (a graduate of the viticulture school of Beaune) who established the domaine formally and helped champion Cheverny's transition from VDQS to full AOC recognition. The sizzle, though, is Romorantin: an ancient variety, sibling to Chardonnay (both crosses of Gouais Blanc and Pinot), that legend traces to King François I, who in 1519 transplanted some 80,000 vines from Burgundy to the grounds near his mother's castle. The grape nearly vanished after phylloxera and decades of commercial neglect, but Cour-Cheverny (the only appellation in France where Romorantin is the sole permitted variety) endures in part because producers like Bellier refused to let it go. The estate is certified Terra Vitis and HVE (integrated viticulture held to strict environmental benchmarks), suiting a domaine whose Clos, surrounded by high walls and facing the sunset, has been earning its keep for longer than the appellation itself.