Domaine de Bablut, 1982 – 1984
Earlier this year I stopped off at Moulin Touchais for a comprehensive tasting of just about every vintage they have for sale, ranging from youngsters such as 2014 (the youngest commercially available vintage) back through the 1990s, 1980s and beyond, finishing up with the domaine’s pièce de résistance, the La Réserve du Centenaire XIXème, a blend of 19th century vintages. There were some impressive wines in this line up of 46 vintages.
I also recently reported on a visit to Domaine de Bablut, when I toured the vines with Antoine Daviau, before returning to the cellars to taste, finishing up with the spectacular 1944 Coteaux de l’Aubance Rosé de Cabernet. On the whole though I tasted mostly young vintages, and so when I recently came across a small parcel of mature wines from this domaine, of an age comparable to some of those vintages of Moulin Touchais encountered earlier this year, I could not resist.
None of the vintages discussed here – namely 1982, 1983 and 1984 – have a particularly strong reputation in the Loire Valley. Indeed, after the successes of 1976, which was a strong vintage for red and sweet styles, the Loire Valley endured a string of uneven and largely mediocre vintages, continuing until 1985 came along.
There are exceptions to the rule of course (this is the Loire Valley after all, a region which encompasses all soils, varieties and climates), but this is a decent starting point. For example, at the Moulin Touchais the 1983 vintage showed rather well, especially for its forty years, and so these are not vintages to simply dismiss out of hand.
