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cour cheverny

Still they’re Cazins, identical Cazins…

[cazin]Cazin 2000 Cour-Cheverny “Vendanges Manuelles” (Loire) — Dried pollen, wax, and amber. Like peeling open the pages of an old photo album, with cover sheets sticking together and faded pictures slipping their bonds and tumbling to the floor. (5/16)

Second Cazin, once-removed

Cazin “Le Petit Chambord” 2009 Cour-Cheverny “Cuvée Renaissance” (Loire) – Presents as quite sweet, and I’d be surprised if there wasn’t an above-threshold level of residual sugar in this wine. It doesn’t detract at all, but it’s good to know before trying to set the wine up on a date with any particular food. Aside from the ripe, round sweetness, there’s honeyed brass, white peach, and a suffusing inner glow of summery warmth that seems…well, almost un-Loire-like, in the sense that most of the region’s wines tend to present as being of just about any other season. Fulsome and long. I can’t quite decide if it lacks sufficient acidity or if the fruit is just so generous that it seems like there’s a lack. In any case, history is on this wine’s side regarding future development, and while it’s immensely appealing at the moment, the appeal is like a more sophisticated version of the fresh, youthful appeal of South African chenin blanc. The things that make this wine potentially great, rather than just appealing, will not be apparent for a while. (12/11)

The heart of a Cowboy

Tessier 2004 Cour Cheverny (Loire) – This wine, of which I bought a small quantity, has struggled since purchase…or perhaps I’ve struggled with it…but, as is typical, the last bottle turns out to be the best,and the most full of promise. Chalk and wax, as if it was a chenin from elsewhere on the river, but here strictly textural rather than also aromatic. Also, liquefied bones add a sort of wet “structure,” and there’s an acidity that seems to be slightly warm, almost simmering, rather than cooling as it often does. Then, flowers are opening…still pale and timid, but promising full blossom one year. A lovely wine, still little, but I suspect there’s much more story yet to be told. (9/11)