François Cazin, 2017 Update
Although there are several domaines in the Cour-Cheverny and Cheverny appellations turning out wines I enjoy, and wines I buy, I commit to cellaring bottles from François Cazin more than any other domaine. A fourth-generation winemaker, the domaine Cour-Cheverny he produces is smart and reliable, although the upmarket Cuvée Renaissance, a selection from the oldest vines in better vintages, often helped along by a little botrytised concentration, can be just wonderful.
Despite my admiration for his wines, and perhaps because I so readily buy and cellar them myself, I haven’t stopped off to taste with François to taste with any frequency. This year I put that right, and took a whistle-stop tour of his Cour-Cheverny portfolio in just two recent vintages.
I kicked off with the domaine’s entry-level Cour-Cheverny, the 2014 vintage unusual for having undergone partial malolactic fermentation. Fresh, pure, with floral white fruit, I liked this wine, although it didn’t have the cut or vigour I would normally expect from the 2014 vintage, which is a firm favourite of mine, especially for white wines. Surely the malolactic cannot be blameless in this? I found myself preferring the 2015, a vintage when I think reds beat the whites on the whole, although I have found some superb white wines too. The 2015 Cour-Cheverny was richly phenolic, in keeping with the vintage, but it is fresh too, and I think it has better potential than the 2014.
