Philippe Alliet, 2015 Update
The Alliet style does not appeal to all; with wines full of dark fruits, occasionally laced with oak in their youth, they can be in the early stages the antithesis of what some seek in Chinon. These are not, at the upper levels at least, easy and approachable wines for drinking young in your local bistro.
They are, however, as I imagine might be apparent from the tasting notes in my review of the Loire 2005 vintage at ten years, just published, exactly what I look for in Chinon. This is the Loire Valley’s premier red wine appellation, with a vinous heritage stretching back many centuries to the time of Rabelais and no doubt long before that. There is everyday Chinon, and there is Chinon for the cellar, and most of Philippe Alliet’s wines fit into this latter category, To me, they still display the minerally frame that comes from the limestone and clay terroirs, and they still impress with their perfumed scents of Cabernet Franc. In other words, they are still Chinon, albeit dark and brooding examples of Chinon which in great vintages may need a decade (or indeed more) to open out.
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