WTN: Two more from the Loire

Two older wines from Touraine this week, from 1997 and 1984, each one with a note of disappointment. First a Couly-Dutheil Chinon which I have greatly enjoyed in the past, but this bottle, although intrinsically a good wine, simply didn't tantalise and thrill in the same way the last bottle did. There is nothing dramatic going on here, just bottle variation I think; this particular bottle just underperformed, especially considering that this was a decent vintage for the appellation (it started wet, but the weather was glorious from June onwards). The same can not be said of the 1984 vintage, which was a difficult year which also started off wet but which then ended in the same fashion, the harvest damp and later than usual. This Poniatowski Vouvray is still drinkable at least, but there are so many ways in which it could have been more enjoyable....to be bluntly honest anything that masked the sourness of the fruit (such as some residual sugar or creamy bubbles) would have been welcome.

I believe that when Poniatowski came to sell his domaine to François Chidaine, between 2002 and 2006, there were still considerable stocks from the 1984 vintage - and numerous other years, some better but some equally lacklustre - stacked up in the Poniatowski cellars. A lot of them found their way onto the UK market at bargain-basement prices. I think I paid about £4 for this bottle, which with hindsight seems about right! I have a few of the sweeter cuvées, which are better but certainly not top-flight (some are a little dirty on the palate), ready for forthcoming twenty-year-on tastings.

Couly-Dutheil Chinon Clos de l'Echo 1997: This wine seems to show quite differently compared to my last bottle which was a little more than a year ago; here we have a rich mahogany colour, although it is run through from the centre to the core with a burnt cherry pigment; the previous bottle looked much fresher. The nose has a mature character, not in great abundance though; this is all quite subtle. The first impressions are of iron and violets, with smoke and stone, and overall it seems less green than I recall. The palate is gently broad, quite nicely balanced but overall a little lean and with prominent texture, coming through as a sappy-sour finish. It has plenty of appeal, especially with its fresh, savoury, food-friendly structure, but overall this shows less well than previously. It is a matter of bottle variation rather than development I think. 16.5/20

Poniatowski Vouvray Aigle Blanc 1984: This was a fairly depressing vintage, so that this is still even drinkable should perhaps be reward enough. Surprisingly though, it has an attractive depth of colour, and an appealing nose too, full of plump but sour fruits, backed up by a wealth of minerals, freshly struck flint, smoke and stone. The nose is the best part of this wine though, with its vibrant and expressive minerality and woolly Chenin notes. The palate is firm, upright, powerful and sour, with fresh lemon fruit on the palate. Nevertheless, as I noted with my last bottle nearly three years ago, this is holding up remarkably well considering the vintage; there is certainly no lack of substance here, but I can't help thinking it might be better for a little cushion of residual sugar, or even a gentle, creamy layer of pétillance. Nevertheless this is still very interesting to drink despite these deficiencies. 14.5/20

I read elsewhere that there was a fair amount of `84 Poniatowski on the London market at one time?

Not just 1984, but also plenty of '89, '90 and more recent vintages. The cellars were being emptied as ownership of the domaine moved from Poniatowski to Chidaine I think, as although Chidaine started work on the land in 2002 IIRC, this was a 5 year rental agreement with an option to buy at the end, so the chageover only really completed in 2006.

I was told by Chidaine's Belgian importer that he refused to buy the Poniatowski stocks because he didn't think them up to standard.

I bought a couple of 84s from Philippe Foreau and I think that I still have one left. It is very lean and sharp tasting but he persuaded us that it would be good with a certain shell-fish which I forget. We tried it but served the shellfish with pasta the slight sweetness of which clashed with the wine. I ought to try the last bottle sometime; perhaps salty and iodine full oysters would do the trick.

I find those comments on Chidaine very believable, he certainly seems to have a more exacting style than Poniatowski (the wines certainly have a purer, more linear feel to them) and quality under Poniatoski was lacking at times I think.