Domaine de Bellivière, 2014 Update
Eric Nicolas of Domaine de Bellivière remains, in my book, one of the top names of the Loire Valley. And yet, considering he turns out a some superb wines, striking in their crystalline purity and confidence, he always seems remarkably sanguine whenever I meet him. There is no bluster and bluff with Eric it seems.
That his wines hit such heights is all the more remarkable when we remember that we are in Jasnières and the Coteaux du Loir here, some way north of Vouvray, the climate cool and occasionally rather damp. It is this challenging climate that perhaps confers such a wonderfully precise, crystalline character to his wines. But the climate here can also be cruel, as was the case in 2012; most of Eric’s crop in this vintage was wiped out by the inclement weather, and he made only 20% of his normal volume. This is why, looking back over my notes, they move directly from 2011 to 2013; the volumes made were tiny and Eric’s stocks are already exhausted or close to it.
And so the focus of this tasting was the 2013 vintage. I met up with Eric (pictured) in February 2014 to get the low-down on how the 2013 growing season had gone – better than 2012, I hoped – and also taste some wines of course, or rather a selection of very young 2013 barrel samples.
The 2013 Vintage
Sadly, my discussion with Eric revealed that the 2013 vintage had not been much easier than the disastrous 2012, or indeed the rot-tinged 2011. The winter seemed to run into spring, which was cold and there was a lot of rain. The vines slumbered on longer than usual, the vegetative growth was far behind schedule as a result, and as the damp weather persisted mildew was also a problem. Spring had so delayed progress that it was not until the warm weather of July arrived that the vines finally flowered, several weeks later than was hoped for.
