Cellar Raid #3: Clos Saint Fiacre
Coming hot on the heels of some older wines liberated in recent cellar raids, including an array of 1997 Coteaux du Layons from Jo Pithon, and a couple of stray bottles of Carruades de Lafite, my latest foray into the cellar saw me emerge blinking into the sunlight with some more recent acquisitions.
These wines may not have age on their side, but they do have something else which piques my interest; an intriguing obscurity.
Bear with me while I head off on a tangent for a moment. During my time tasting the 2025 primeurs in Bordeaux I took a 1926 Bonnezeaux to a paulée style dinner, and initially I was taken aback by the lack of awareness of this appellation’s existence and purpose. But then, on reflection, I realised that – having immersed myself in the wines of the Loire Valley for so long – I have forgotten how obscure some of its smaller and more isolated appellations are to everyday wine drinkers, and perhaps even a group of Bordeaux-focused wine professionals. I suspect a wine from Cour-Cheverny, Pouilly-sur-Loire, Châteaumeillant or Haut-Poitou would invoke a similar reaction.
Correspondingly, I doubt I could name more than a handful of the 51 grand cru vineyards in Alsace, or more than two or three villages from the Côtes du Rhône appellation, for example. I guess we all have our special interests, and our blind spots.
This brings us to the latest cellar raid, as here I feature two appellations which seem obscure even to my thoroughly Chenin- and Cabernet-infused memory banks, in the shape of three wines from Orléans and Orléans-Cléry. These were made at one of the region’s leading domaines (out of just six, at the last count), Clos Saint Fiacre.
Please log in to continue reading: