Domaine de la Noblaie: Tasting & Drinking
In his own words Jérôme Billard looks for a style of Chinon that is correct, ripe and not vegetal, but not too tannic. My own experience with the wines suggests this is achieved in spades. The wines carry pure fruit, defined and elegant, and although the higher-class cuvées such as the Pierre de Tuf carry substance and structure, they do not veer into the overly dry or dusty character that can be a side-result of handling Cabernet Franc in this manner. Indeed, the purity and soul seen within the red wines is distinctive and highly admirable, so much so that I think Jérôme Billard is a name in the appellation to watch very closely.
He could, I think, easily move up to sit alongside some of the greats of the appellation, such as Bernard Baudry or Philippe Alliet. His wines offer fabulous daily drinking opportunities, Le Temps des Cerises showing all the perfumed and elegant fruit we would wish from Cabernet Franc, although it has to be said in many vintages it does improve over a year or two after the vintage. The cuvées Les Blancs Manteaux and Les Chiens-Chiens offer something to terroir-interested drinkers, two exemplars for the impact of limestone (the former) and clay (the latter) on the wine. Pierre de Tuf, meanwhile, demands cellar time, and will go for decades in the best vintages.
I feel that the whites should also not be overlooked, this being a significant domaine for Chenin Blanc. Having tasted the whites in more than a handful of vintages, I am confident that these are some of the best in the appellation. La Grande Ourse is superb, the tense and minerally style, free of influence from oak or malolactic fermentation, is right up my street. La Part des Anges, meawhile, demonstrates these latter features, and needs cellar time. The rosé, Goutte de Rosé, is one of few rosés in the region worth drinking. All in all, this is a super domaine that I will be following for years to come. (7/11/14, updated 16/12/17)
