François Chidaine, 2013 Update
Continuing on with my mix of new profiles and updates on the leading domaines of Montlouis-sur-Loire and Vouvray, I come now to the latest releases from François Chidaine. And not before time. Although anyone with more than an inkling of knowledge regarding the wines of Montlouis-sur-Loire and Vouvray will be aware of François Chidaine, and I have long been impressed by the quality of the wines, what he has produced in recent vintages seems to be head-and-shoulders above other wines from these two appellations. The bright, crystalline, minerally purity and energy that they showed was unparalleled.
The tasting touched briefly on the 2012 vintage, by way of two very basic Touraine cuvées, an attractive Sauvignon Blanc and a rosé blend. I have already reported on these two wines in my Loire 2012 vintage review and so I have not included them in my notes here. Thereafter it was Montlouis-sur-Loire and Vouvray all the way, with a range of vintages, mostly 2010 and 2009, and the occasional appearance from 2011. These wines are all in bottle now, and offer plenty of exciting drinking opportunities.
The Wines
After two sparkling wines as an introduction, both very convincing although as is often the case I had a slight preference for the more pétillant of the two wines, a style which suits Vouvray and Montlouis-sur-Loire very well I feel, I moved straight into the still wines with a broad range of sec cuvées from both appellations. Although I tend to organise my tasting notes by vintage and appellation in my full profiles, including my missive on François Chidaine, I tasted here by residual sugar, and I have thus left my notes in this order below. It therefore seems only natural that I should run through the wines in the same order. Kicking off, the 2011 Vouvray Les Argiles was a good wine, but it was immediately outclassed by the 2011 Vouvray Clos Baudoin from the same vintage. This clos is the vineyard that François eventually took control of after a painful period of wrangling with its previous owner Prince Poniatowski. There is no denying the quality of the vineyard nor the wine, but I still find that the wine is often matched and indeed outclassed by the Montlouis-sur-Loire cuvées here. This seemed to be as true as ever here, although the comparison is somewhat false as the tasting skipped from one vintage to the next.
