WTN: Doting on Dioterie

2005 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie 14.0%
This domaine is so lovingly described by Kermit Lynch in Adventures on the Wine Route that I was very keen to visit during a forthcoming trip to the Loire. This despite Joguet’s retirement and the winery having become, according to an expert on the region, “sadly, no longer the force of the late 1980s and living on a past reputation.” Joguet and Lynch deny such talk, but they remain interested parties. To console myself for having to postpone the trip, I picked up a bottle of this exemplar in NY last week and, last night, off it went to the scaffold.

Any fear that it might be closed or need decanting was dispelled by delicious leather and musk from the bottleneck. No sign of travel shock. In the glass, additional notes of dark cherry, funk, iodine and light vanilla (Marcia also got cinnamon). Before food, whoa, this is the saltiest wine either of us has ever tasted. But it’s salt of the earth, literally. The acidity is joyfully mouth-puckering, with just the right level of requisite discomfort, though more body would be needed for requisite to become exquisite. With food, the acid/sweet balance improves greatly but it remains, unusually, more acid than sweet. It is rare in our recent experience that a red wine doesn’t become namby-pamby with food, yet this retained its spine. No trace of jam, compote, chocolate; no fruit ballistics. Refreshing, for a change. After food, there are still about 200 ml left but, once the coating on the tongue dissipates, the wine becomes overly acidic again and becomes a bit of a struggle to finish. It had taken us on a lovely ride, but for one who is always complaining about insufficient acidity, especially with food, it feels strange to be on the other side of the fence. Cannot compare this to old Joguets, having never tasted them, but would love to try more from this winery.

2005 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie 14.0%
“sadly, no longer the force of the late 1980s and living on a past reputation.” Joguet and Lynch deny such talk, but they remain interested parties.

Oswaldo, I attended a vertical of Joguet, Chêne Vert mainly, a couple of year ago. Some of the wines from the 80s were wonderful but there did appear to be a dip with the 95 and 99 but the 03s and 04s seemed to be right back on form and since then I have found the 06 excellent but seem to have missed the 05s. I have some 96 in my cellar which I find very good but perhaps not on the level of 85 and 89.

I spoke to Jacques Genet, the estate's new commercial manager, a few months ago and he agrees that there was a dip and that, in particular, there was under-performance in 1997 which should have been excellent.

Incidentally I see that you mention leather notes, which I also love in these wines. They may disappear in future vintages; Genet, unlike his predecessor Delaunay, who was still there in 2005, belongs to the squeaky clean brigade and is using his influence to eliminate "animal" notes which he considers a turn-off for the contemporary market.

PS to above.

Here is the link to my notes on the Joguet vertical http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_subm ... 20978.html .

Incidentally I see that you mention leather notes, which I also love in these wines. They may disappear in future vintages; Genet, unlike his predecessor Delaunay, who was still there in 2005, belongs to the squeaky clean brigade and is using his influence to eliminate "animal" notes which he considers a turn-off for the contemporary market.

Unbelievable! I'm no Hell's Angel, but I love leather.

Thanks for the link to the notes - makes me want to seek out these earlier vintages.

That quality wasn't what it should be here during the nineties is certain, and the disappointment continues through to the 2002 vintage. The 2003s were a huge step up in quality and at first I thought it a vintage effect, but it has been maintined in subsequent vintages including 2004 and 2006 as well as the 2005 vintage (when frankly everybody should have been making delicious wines). It's interesting to read of the Delaunay-Genet changeover related to this, because I have always ascribed it to François-Xavier Barc, who took over winemaking here around the time of the 2003 vintage.

I was very glad to read you positive opinion (I read it as positive, even with your points relating to acidity) of Dioterie because despite having tasted a lot of Joguet over the last few years the '05 Chene Vert and Dioterie escaped me, and yet I have some of the latter in the cellar, so thanks for the 'data point'.

Thanks for your input, Chris. Love your site and was using it as one of my main sources for an upcoming trip to the Loire that got postponed. I decided to pass on Rougeard and Pinguet after reading your entertaining stories because life's too short (and there are too many alternatives) to "impose" on people who would rather we didn't (though I speak passable French).