The theme of Sunday’s gathering of our wine group, consisting of Jean, Jérôme, Gert and myself with spouses, was Loire red and white. The weather co-operated providing an evening just warm enough (low 20s C) to allow us to eat and taste outside.
Although none of the wines was a dud or corked, there was some disagreement about them. In particular there was a current of opinion preferring the more understated and elegant wines to those which sought to make a more important statement, e.g. Coulée de Serrant and Clos Rougeard, which some felt not to be what one seeks from the Loire.
Langlois-Château brut was its usual dependable self but I found it steelier and more monochrome than usual perhaps overshadowed by what followed; 15.5/20.
Savennières Coulée de Serrant 1989 – Clos de la Coulée de Serrant, N.Joly – Alc.13% - was full, rich, round and complex with minerals and good acid towards the long finish; dry but giving the impression that a sweet wine wanted to burst out with aromas which suggested that it may have been touched by botrytis. In spite of all the criticism of the estate’s underperformance, I felt that this bottle did justify its great reputation but some of the others found it too suave and pretentious preferring the following. My rating 17.5/20.
Savennières Cuvée Armand Bizard Demi-Sec 1989 – Château d’Épiré – Alc.12.5%. In spite of some unobtrusive RS, this was fresher, more lively and better integrated though less full and complex than the previous and was preferred by many; 16.5/20 for me but I think that some of the others would have reversed the ratings.
Chinon Les Clos 1998 – Le Logis de la Bouchardière, S & B Sourdais – Alc. 12.5% - was a lovely, velvety yet brightly fruited Chinon with charcoal and mineral touches, medium body and great elegance; exceptional for an unfashionable year; 17/20.
Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Cuvée du Domaine 1989 – Joël Taluau – Alc. 12.5% - another lovely wine very much in the same style as the preceding Chinon with perhaps slightly greater depth and more marked but resolved tannic structure; beautifully elegant; 17/20++.
Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux 1996 – Clos Rougeard, Foucault – Alc. 12.5% was much more structured, bigger and perhaps longer than the two previous and quite Bordelais in character with its acid plum like fruit, mineral complexity, sophisticated wood patina and marked tannic structure. I admired in for what it was but it could have been singing more sweetly and loudly and may do so in a few years time. Someone commented on oxidisation (I did pick up a touch of cabbage on the finish) and I sensed disappointment from the others; it was certainly less Loire and less loveable than the two previous; 17/20 for me.
Vouvray Moelleux Grande Année 1990 – Marc Brédif was a superb example fully open with bright acidity and minerality beautifully balancing some deep fruit and discreet sweetness. This was an interesting contrast with the Layon sweeties which followed; quite typically, I think, this Vouvray showed greater freshness, nerve and elegance; 17.5/20.
Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu 1997 – Château Pierre-Bise, Papin – Alc. 13% was deeply rich, sweet and burnished and quite apricot tinged but with enough minerals and acidity, from a year where they were sometimes deficient, to avoid cloying; delicious 17/20.
Bonnezeaux 1996 – Château de Fesles – Alc. 13% showed a more lively acid balance and greater complexity and elegance than the previous; delicious 17.5/20. (Was this wine produced during the unhappy period of Gaston Lenôtre’s ownership? If so, it is a success.)
Coteaux du Layon 1947 (apologies for forgetting unfamiliar vigneron’s name). This wine sharply divided those round the table; some found it geriatric and unbalanced and others, particularly Jean with his experience of old wine and especially Mosel, loved it. I found it complex and fascinating but a bit disjointed with separate strands of old burnished fruit, marzipan, minerals, still fresh acidity. More rustic and less sophisticated than the two previous but the wine was still very much alive (I remember 1947 with emotion; a torrid summer when I learned to swim and Compton and Edrich made lots of runs). Hard to rate; 17/20+ warts and all.
(As host, I was able to finish the remainder of most of the above the next day. The Coulée de Serrant, Taluau and Clos Rougeard had all lost a lot of stuffing and bouquet and the last had become quite unpleasantly jammy and tannic but with no apparent, to me, signs of oxidisation. The Coulée de Serrant was an interesting case since Joly and some of his distributors recommend decanting 24 hours in advance; in this case the splendour had disappeared and all that was left was some quite refreshing minerality.
The wines with RS had, not unexpectedly, held up much better; the Épiré seemed sweeter and a touch less lively but the Pierre-Bise and Fesles were, if anything, better.)
