Philippe Alliet, 2017 Update
I have written several detailed tasting reports and made some significant profile updates to my coverage of Chinon, Bourgueil and St Nicolas de Bourgueil this year, spurred on both by the broad success these red wine appellations have enjoyed in 2014 and 2015 (and also, I suspect, in 2016 and 2017) and of course having bought a house within striking distance of all these appellations. I visited Jérôme Billard several times, checked out the vineyards of Matthieu Baudry and Benoît Amirault and visited less familiar names such as Château de Minière and Aurélien Revillot. And then came the harvest visits, to Charles Joguet and others. It’s been a busy few months.
One of the leading vignerons I haven’t had a chance to visit, however, is Philippe Alliet, in my opinion one of the major players in the Chinon appellation. Five years ago I would have said he was in the top two, and I suspect I would say the same now although there is certainly more competition these days, from revitalised old favourites such as Charles Joguet as well as more recently discovered names such as Domaine de la Noblaie. This is something I will have to rectify next year (adding his name to a long list of vignerons I need to visit and revisit in the region). In the meantime I present my annual review of this year’s releases as tasted with Philippe and Claude, and their son Pierre (pictured), at the Salon des Vins de Loire.
The Wines
The star attractions here are of course the top two cuvées, L’Huisserie and Coteau de Noiré, but all the wines here are of interest. I started off with the excellent white 2016 and the domaine cuvée from the same vintage. The 2016 growing season was a difficult one for many in the region, it being the first of two consecutive frosted vintages (let us hope, with all fingers crossed, the run doesn’t stretch to three) which had a very negative impact on the crop in these parts. From Philippe’s 7 hectares of vines on low-lying gravels he lost 90% of the crop in 2016, the impact most significant on his entry-level cuvée and the Vieilles Vignes cuvée (not tasted here). Overall, across the entire domaine, the yield was reduced by 40%, a loss largely attributable to the frost but which was compounded by subsequent mildew, and then the very warm, dry summer and autumn that followed. Nevertheless, on tasting these wines quality seems very good; no doubt the Alliet’s practice of picking into small crates and then sorting over a table de tri at the winery, something they have done for “two or three vintages”, says Pierre, will have helped to ameliorate quality.
