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Thierry Puzelat Update, February 2010

So this is how it goes. The alarm goes off early, somewhere between 3:45am and 4am. The exact time depends on the flight, which itself depends on the airline; whether we actually take off on time depends on other things of course, from volcanic ash to cabin crew strikes, both of which have blighted my wine-related travel during 2010. The drive to the airport is trouble-free; it might take 45 minutes at other times of the day, but the sky is pitch-black and the roads are still empty, and I make it there comfortably within 30 minutes. I come to a halt in a secure parking area (an exorbitant daily fee) and then take the bus down to the airport terminal. I'm staying for a few days, so I have a bag to check in; I diligently queue in order to do so before making my way to security upstairs.

There I revel in the spectacle of the security check, and observe a middle-aged gentleman in front of me mourn the loss of a full 70cl bottle of Johnie Walker that he has just had confiscated; it is surprising how many people still seem unaware of the restrictions on taking fluids on board flights departing the UK. Other people seem amazed that the security checks might require them to remove coats, or belts, or shoes, despite the eternally-looping instruction video that plays on a dozen screens overhead, an audiovisual manual on How to Get Through Security that a child of five could understand.

Once I am deemed sufficiently risk-free to board the aircraft I get dressed for the second time this morning - shoes, belt, jacket and a repack of the bag - and pick up a coffee and maybe a pastry to munch while I work, typing up notes from previous tastings on the laptop, until I can board the aircraft. Once on board you might think I should sleep, but I find that once I have woken up that is it for the day, so I might as well make the most of it (hence that coffee) and continue working. A couple of hours later I land at Paris Charles de Gaulle; then there is a lurching bus ride from aircraft to terminal that feels almost as long as the flight itself, followed by passport security and then the hunt for my bag from more than 40 different luggage carousels.

Ten minutes later I am at the airport's railway station, and about an hour later my train pulls in. Whilst waiting I have my first ever encounter with a French schizophrenic, who sidles up to me looking suitably psychotic and whispers conspiratorially, whilst indicating towards the ceiling with his eyes, "ils ont cameras partout". I congratulate myself that, whilst I am clearly not yet fluent in the French of the winemaker, even after several years of lessons, I do at least appear to be fluent in the French of psychotic illness. Perhaps I should consider a change of career to psychiatry combined with a move to Paris?

Getting There is Not Always Half the Fun

My train is destined for Nantes, although my stop is the one before that. With the one-hour difference it is past 10 am when I board, and it is early afternoon when we pull into St Laud Station in Angers, another three hours of typing up notes and writing for Winedoctor....until the laptop battery gave up, of course. First I locate my hotel, check in using my best French, dump my bags, plug in the laptop to charge, and head out to eat, kicking off with an entrecôte at the Pub Bureau in the main square, something of a tradition. Thereafter I walk over to Greniers Saint-Jean, the venue for this afternoon's Dégustation Renaissance. It is now mid-afternoon, and I have been awake and travelling too long. After queuing outside for 20-30 minutes we are finally admitted, and I catch sight of some top Loire vignerons, the tables before them glittering with their vinous jewels, ready for tasting. There is Patrick Baudoin, Philippe Delesvaux and Joseph Paillé of Pithon-Paillé to name just three. This why I arose before 4 am. This is why I subjected myself to journey after journey after journey. A smorgasbord of top Loire wines awaits me.

Aha! And there is Thierry Puzelat! I make a beeline for the table of this cult estate.

Thierry has six or seven wines - the exact number escapes me - lined up for tasting, and I commence with two whites, the 2009 Cheverny Frileuse (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) and then the 2009 Touraine Le Buisson Pouilleux (pure Sauvignon Blanc), before moving onto the reds. It's one down, several to go as I taste the 2009 Cheverny Rouillon (Pinot Noir and Gamay) first of all. And I'm readying myself for wine number four when....what's this? Thierry and his table staff suddenly, without so much as a word, lift every one of the bottles from the table. And, making a swift about-turn in unison, walk (or was it skulk?) off to a distant table with them. It's time for lunch it seems; six little dishes of hot lardons and potatoes await them, and they need their wine to wash down such fare. They leave the table devoid of bottles and devoid of pourers. Tasting, it seems, has now been suspended.

Not to worry, chaps! It's not like I made an effort to be here.

And so my tasting of Puzelat's wines stopped with that Rouillon. Sadly I did not find the time (or the energy) to return. Later on that evening I spotted Puzelat in Chez Remi, on the Boulevard Marechal Foch, where I am and some companions, including Jim Budd and Sarah Ahmed, were dining. A coincidence of some sort, although I suppose it is a restaurant often frequented by the local vignerons, especially during the Salon week. Here I increased my 2010 experience of his wines by 33%, purchasing a bottle of 2008 Le Buisson Pouilleux off the list. I did wonder if Thierry might continue in the way he had started, and remove the bottle from my table halfway through the meal, but it never happened.

Which was a shame, because it was quite oxidised. Not an uncommon problem with the wines at this 'cult', 'natural wine' domaine, I have found. Perhaps getting there is half the fun after all?  (28/7/10)

Thierry Puzelat , February 2010 - Tasting Notes

The wines below were tasted in Angers at the annual Renaissance tasting, just before the Salon des Vins de Loire in February 2010. All my tasting notes on the wines of Thierry Puzelat and Clos du Tue-Boeuf, including those below, are collated under my Thierry Puzelat profile. Click to locate stockists.

Three wines tasted at the Dégustation Renaissance.