Browse Tag

loire

Picasses-a

[vineyard]Olga Raffault 1997 Chinon Les Picasses (Loire) – Bludgeoning. All structure and herb-infused soil; thickness and density without any letup. In no way, shape, or form should this be uncorked now. (4/08)

Silex is golden

Didier Dagueneau 1997 Pouilly-Fumé “Silex” (Loire) – Milky-sweet, though perhaps not from actual residual sugar. There’s no life here, though there’s the residue of endless effort. I kinda hate it. (4/08)

Damned if you do

François Cotat 2006 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés (Loire) – All minerality in crystal form. Big and fat – perhaps it has a bit of a weight problem – but with sufficient skeletal fortitude to support the extra heft. I think it should, as usual, age well; it’s pretty primary now. (4/08)

François Cotat 2001 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés (Loire) – Gorgeous, like light through a prism. This brings all the concentrated facets of the young wine into focus, displaying them with remarkable purity and gentle ease, yet there’s excitement and complexity to be had as well. I’d say this is ready to go, though I don’t suppose there’s a huge hurry. (4/08)

Chinon-ups

[chai]Joguet 2005 Chinon “Cuvée Terroir” (Loire) – The 2003 was lush with succulent fruit, the 2004 was razor-edged green, and while the size of the fruit in this version falls somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, the structure is an entirely different matter. Waves of dense, drying tannin – never off-putting, but inexorable all the same – roll across the palate. One to age, clearly, though as with so many of these 2005s it is no clear thing that the wine will survive its skins. (4/08)

Still Ormousseaux

Veneau “Domaine des Ormousseaux” 2005 Coteaux du Giennois (Loire) – 80% pinot noir, 20% gamay. There’s a delicate, yearning sweetness (not the sugary kind) to the red fruit here, which is then lifted by a spikier, crisper take on the same general palette of berries; I’m attributing this to the grapes, because it would seem to fit their personalities. Flaky and brittle when the minerality shows, but shyly pretty otherwise. I am enormously fond of this wine…and “fond” is the perfect word here. (3/08)

Male Chauvigné pig

Richou 2005 Anjou “Chauvigné” (Loire) – Peppery greenness and grass lead off here, but with enough air the atmosphere turns to chalk and (dry) honey, with the dominant and binding characteristic being a strong aroma of aspirin. Loire fans will know what I mean, and this definitely seems to be a triumph of soil over cépage, though do note that it’s a pretty low-volume wine (by which I don’t mean the case production). (3/08)

4 paths diverged in a wood

Richou 2006 Anjou “Les 4 Chemins” (Loire) – Very angry and numbed when first opened. But the more air it gets, the better it tastes. Eventually, there’s wedge-shaped fruit – black and red berries that don’t quite achieve the exuberance of cherries – around which is wrapped a fine, ripe garland of thyme. The balance is excellent, and this appears to have the structure for short-term aging. (2/08)

Labaille-baille-baille

Thomas-Labaille 2006 Sancerre Rouge “Authentique” (Loire) – High-toned rose hips and red licorice. Fruity and supple, easy to like. Too many red Sancerres choose between rough rusticity and an over-polished international sheen; this sits nicely in-between, with none of the excesses at the wings. (1/08)

Pinon for the fjords

Pinon 2006 Vouvray “Tradition” (Loire) – Melon and chalk. Upfront, pretty, and appealing. Macadamias on the finish. I find it hard to dislike, but I also wish there was more structure. (1/08)

Salt & Pépière

Ollivier “Pépière” 2005 Muscadet Sèvre & Maine Granite de Clisson (Loire) – Strikingly mineral, even for Ollivier, but there’s more: blood orange rind, tiny white berries bursting with cold fruit, salt-infused sand. A touch distended on the finish, but otherwise wow-ish. (1/08)