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Domaine Ogereau Update, January 2011
Domaine Ogereau
This update relates to wines tasted in January 2011.
For more on this estate, including all my relevant tasting notes, see my Domaine Ogereau profile.
After meeting up with both Claude Papin of Château Pierre Bise, and Florent Baumard of Domaine des Baumard earlier this year to taste their latest releases, I was - as you might expect - eager to see what their Anjou counterparts had achieved in the same vintages. Yves Guégniard of Domaine de la Bergerie was high on my Anjou hit list, but first I made my way over to meet Vincent Ogereau, vigneron and tuba-player extraordinaire, who was pouring wines principally from 2009 and 2008, with a single example from 2007 sneaking in at the end.
Vincent started with a new addition to the range, an Anjou Blanc christened En Chenin (pictured below). Until recently Ogereau produced two white wines under the Anjou appellation, a straight Anjou Blanc which was mostly Chenin Blanc with a percentage of Chardonnay (typically 20%) blended in, as well as an Anjou Blanc Cuvée Prestige which was 100% Chenin Blanc. The former was fermented and aged in steel and bottled early, whereas the latter was handled very differently, with fermentation and élevage in 500-litre casks. That's all changed now, as Ogereau has decided to focus on Chenin Blanc alone; he says the move is in response to the demands of his customers, who are looking for Chenin and not Chardonnay. So we shall see no more of the blend, nor the Cuvée Prestige, as they have been replaced by one cuvée, that being En Chenin. The fermentation remains in wood, although on tasting this first vintage it was clear that this does not mark the wine at all. The quality is very high, the palate pure and unsullied, the overall style elegant and gently polished. This has been a good move for Vincent, I think.
We then progressed through his other wines, including a Savennières which had much in common with the En Chenin, and then a trio of Anjou and Anjou-Villages cuvées, all 100% Cabernet Franc, wines which showed a lot of fine, perfumed typicity. My favourite was the 2009 Anjou-Villages, although all these wines were cast aside when we moved onto his Cabernet Sauvignon cuvée, the Anjou-Villages Côte de la Houssaye, in the 2008 and 2009 vintages. Alongside his Savennières Clos le Grand Beaupréau and sweet Bonnes Blanches cuvées this is one of Vincent's preeminent wines. Both vintages were delicious and overtly superior to the Cabernet Franc wines, with the 2009 the more striking wine on the day.
Finally Vincent poured three sweet wines, beginning with a serviceable 2009 Coteaux du Layon Saint Lambert, before stepping up a gear - several gears in fact - with his Bonnes Blanches cuvées. The first of this pair, the Harmonie des Bonnes Blanches, is a wine new to the Ogereau portfolio, and it is a label that Vincent will be using to bottle his Bonnes Blanches fruit in lesser vintages, thereby dropping the use of the word clos in these years. Effectively therefore this becomes a second label, although the quality is certainly not second rate; I thought the 2009 Harmonie was delightful, and so did the judges at the annual Concours des Ligers, the wine competition associated with the Salon des Vins de Loire. Vincent was clearly proud that his wine had picked up a coveted Ligers d'Or. Having acknowledged that, the 2007 Clos des Bonnes Blanches was clearly a superior wine, one that I might just have to track down. It mirrors the character of the vintage quite nicely, showing the pure and crystalline tropical fruit style that marks the 2007s rather than the rich, deeply coloured and botrytis richness that I have encountered in some previous vintages of this wine. Taking on board that stylistic distinction, the quality here is remarkable, and it was a suitable finale to this brief tasting.
Well, it was the best finale that was on offer anyway. Whenever I taste with Vincent I always have this fleeting hope that he might whip out a tuba - preferably a large helicon tuba, but I'm not going to be fussy - from a neatly fashioned hiding place under the counter, in order to play a few notes at the end of the tasting. There could be no better send-off. Alternatively he could perhaps play a few notes for the wines as we taste, each arpeggio specially penned to create an suitable acoustic backdrop to the differing styles presented. I try to remain optimistic but sadly I have to accept that my tuba dream is likely, for the moment and perhaps always, to remain unfulfilled. (22/3/11)
Domaine Ogereau, January 2011 - Tasting Notes
All my notes on Vincent Ogereau's wines, including those below, are collated under my
Domaine Ogereau
profile. Click
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Wines tasted with Vincent in Angers, during January 2011, including his new En Chenin cuvée.
Domaine Ogereau Anjou En Chenin 2009: Fermented in 400- and 500-litre
barriques. To be bottled in March 2011. A lovely, gently honeyed nose
here, very relaxed in style, suggestive of a lovely soft presence of fruit. The
palate doesn't disappoint, with its lightly honeyed, fresh and understated
style. There is an oak influence here, not in terms of flavoury but surely this
is behind the lovely polished style? This is, on the whole, absolutely
delicious. 18/20
Domaine Ogereau Savennières Clos le Grand Beaupréau 2008: Fermented in
400- and 500-litre barriques. Two-thirds has undergone malolactic
fermentation. To be bottled in March 2011. A lovely honeyed and crunchy style on
the nose. The oak is showing here a little but it is not intrusive. A very
harmonious character on the palate, honeyed and stylish, very approachable; it
has structure but it still seems very harmonious. Lovely composed integration
here. The structure does say it will keep but it doesn't demand it. This is
really very exciting wine. Such lovely, polished-off harmony. 18+/20
Domaine Ogereau Anjou Rouge 2009: The terroir is schist and
clay, the assemblage 100% Cabernet Franc. There is just a one-week maceration;
Vincent is aiming to keep the fruit and not extract too much tannin. Fermentation
and élevage in cuve. Bottled September 2010. It has a lovely and
very typical Anjou character on the nose, with light fruit notes. An attractive
middle-weight wine here. It is quite softly structured, but composed, with some
appealing midpalate tannins. Attractive freshness and fruit but moderate depth. 15/20
Domaine Ogereau Anjou-Villages 2008: This is 100% Cabernet Franc,
harvested at just 25 hl/ha, with fermentation and élevage in cuve.
The nose here displays more elements of green, being a touch vegetal with
celeriac and smoke in the nose. Nice appealing freshness in mouth. Supple and
with good acidity. Still has that smoky, vegetal element coming through though.
There is good substance here, and vibrant structure, but for me the fruit
profile isn't right. 14/20
Domaine Ogereau Anjou-Villages 2009: This is 100% Cabernet Franc
again, with fermentation and élevage in cuve (where the wine rests
at the moment). Not so expressive on the nose here, with a very restrained and
reserved character. An attractive style follows on the palate though, showing a
very firm and fresh structure, bright and crisp, but with a fresher and cleaner
style of fruit than the 2008. Full, but not fleshy, with a lovely depth of
character on the finish. 16.5-17.5/20
Domaine Ogereau Anjou-Villages Côte de la Houssaye 2008: This cuvée is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
gown on pierre, a hard type of schist, harvested at just 25 hl/ha and
fermented en barrique. It has an incredible nose, aromatic and very
different to the Cabernet Franc cuvées. It has a beautifully pure style, with
liquorice-laced black fruits, and just a little clove spice behind it from the
schist. The palate is supple yet very well formed, lots of midpalate structure,
there being piles of grip behind a very well judged layer of fruit. The tannins
are firm but elegantly polished, showing very nicely in the finish. Lots of fine
substance. This is lovely. 17.5+/20
Domaine Ogereau Anjou-Villages Côte de la Houssaye 2009: As for the
2008, this is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon gown on pierre, harvested at about
25 hl/ha and fermented en barrique. The colour here is remarkably deep.
The nose too is deep and reserved, and although there is a perceptible
crystalline edge to the fruit this isn't to deny the darkness of the style. Very
pure on the palate, more so than I expected. The start is elegant, but in the
midpalate there is a lot more tannin. There is just so much supple fruit over
the structure. This has a superb potential and could go for decades. 18-18.5+/20
Wines tasted with Vincent in Angers, during January 2011, including his new Harmonie des Bonnes Blanches cuvée.
Domaine Ogereau Coteaux du Layon Saint Lambert 2009: The residual
sugar is 82 g/l. A fine, bright golden hue here. Rather light but
with undeniably sweet and golden fruits on the nose here. It has a relaxed style rather like
the Anjou Blanc. The style on the palate is in the same vein, with toothsome,
sugar-rich tropical fruits, especially pineapple and honey. The acidity feels perhaps just a little muted, but the style
overall is very well judged, elegant and relaxed. Just a little botrytis here,
Vincent is aiming for freshness and agrumes he says. Attractive if rather
easy-going. 16/20
Domaine Ogereau Coteaux du Layon St
Lambert Harmonie des Bonnes Blanches 2009:
This new cuvée will be made in vintages when there isn't sufficient quality, in
Vincent's eyes, to produce a Clos de Bonnes Blanches. The residual sugar is 140
g/l thanks to the fruit being harvested with a 21º potential. Just bottled. That
this wine features more botrytised and riper fruit than the straight Saint
Lambert cuvée is evident. Nevertheless there is beautiful purity on the nose,
expressive, very pure and refined though. Like the preceding wine aromatically
it majors on fresh tropical fruit, but on the palate it streaks ahead with a
depth of character that betrays the underlying botrytis, with a wonderful
crunchy acidity related to it as well. Delicious style, very fresh despite the
richness here. And a fine balance too. I could definitely drink this. 18+/20
Domaine Ogereau Coteaux du Layon St
Lambert Clos des Bonnes Blanches 2007: There
was passerillage at first, giving freshness and
agrumes, then the whole vintage was botrytised. The residual sugar here
exceeds 200 g/l. This is Vincent's top cuvée. In the glass it has a rich and
golden appearance, but still pure, not showing the honeyed orange hues that can
sometimes be obtained. The nose is all youthful botrytis reflecting Vincent's
description of the vintage, with a fine golden character, with citrus fruits and
pineapple alongside. The palate is just delightful, very liquorous, with
impressive acidity, and a very pure style to it. Actually the acidity is quite
buried - unsurprising with this wines towering composition - but it is there.
This is so sweet and yet it holds on to a remarkable freshness, coming from the
acidity and the minerality. Quality, depth, freshness and elegance all wrapped
up into one. Wonderful. 18.5+/20
