Five Wines from Domaine de Cray, 2020
My recent discovery of the wines of Château de Pintray reminded me that Montlouis-sur-Loire is an appellation I have explored less extensively than I have Vouvray, on the opposite bank of the Loire. While I am very familiar with the wines of François Chidaine and Jacky Blot, and a number of the young newcomers that have ridden the wave of the appellation’s regeneration, I am sure there must be other domaines of note here, still waiting for their moment of discovery.
One domaine in Montlouis-sur-Loire I did not expect to find myself reporting on is Domaine de Cray. This large domaine is found in Lussault-sur-Loire, in the eastern part of the Montlouis-sur-Loire appellation, just down the slope from the aforementioned Château de Pintray. I have long been aware of the domaine’s existence, as its sparkling wines have a strong presence on the shelves of the region’s supermarkets, but as with Château de Pintray until recently I have never tasted its wines. That changed earlier this year when I was presented with the chance to check out some older wines from their cellars, taking in some of the region’s very best vintages.
The Wines
I started with the 1985 Demi-Sec, an interesting and evolved wine in a rather old-school lemony style, and while it had charm it was far from my favourite wine on the day. With the four moelleux cuvées that followed, however, the quality took several significant steps up. A relatively young wine, the 2005 Moelleux, showed attractive if rather softly styled fruit and a lightly honeyed sweetness. It has appeal and some potential, and I can see this evolving nicely over the next ten or twenty years.
