Domaine FL: Tasting & Drinking
My first encounters with the wines of Domaine FL swung from ecstatic enthusiasm to indifference. Somewhere buried in my profile I have mentioned the two Chamboureau cuvées from the 2007 vintage, the straight Savennières and the Savennières Roche-aux-Moines cuvées, which I encountered at Stéphane Derenoncourt’s tasting in Bordeaux. These were hugely convincing wines, pure and concentrated, yet bright and fresh, the avoidance of malolactic fermentation keeping a fine combination of substance and definition in the wine. This remains my opinion today – I have been able to revisit the latter cuvée as I purchased some and secreted it in the cellar; the vibrant acid backbone means it will age well I am sure. I suppose with this in mind it fulfills the traditionalist’s view of Savennières, in that the wines have firm acidity, minimal use of new oak, and evolve nicely over time, but unlike many such wines they are far from austere in youth. They carry too much fruit and texture for that. These are very convincing wines.
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