Domaine de Juchepie, 2020 Update
While Anjou is undeniably a hotspot for the development of Chenin Blanc’s new cult status, with wines from the likes of Richard Leroy, Stéphane Bernaudeau and one or two others now changing hands for prices previously unimagined, there are still a number of domaines which continue to turn out wines of comparably exciting style and great quality but which remain overlooked and unappreciated by cult-label chasers. One of these is Domaine de Juchepie, home for as long as I have known the domaine to Eddy Oosterlinck and his wife Mileine.
The domaine’s reputation is undoubtedly built on Eddy’s sweet wines, all of which have the Coteaux du Layon Faye appellation, with a portfolio which ranges from the gently moelleux entry-level cuvée that is Les Churelles, through a number of brilliantly botrytised and increasingly sweet wines, up to the pinnacle of the portfolio which is Quintessence, made only in very special vintages. While superb these wines are guilty of overshadowing the domaine’s dry wines, which are of fine quality and which age well, certainly matching the performance put in by many of the region’s more famous names.
The Wines
On this encounter with Eddy I tasted two recently released dry cuvées, starting with the 2017 La Jarre. As the name suggests, this is vinified in sandstone jarres, like those which can also be found at Château Pierre-Bise and a handful of other notable Anjou addresses. The sandstone vessel is much less permeable to oxygen than other materials such as terracotta, and the end result is a fabulously minerally wine blessed with floral fruit. The 2017 Le Paradis differs on two principal points, first it comes from older vines, secondly it is vinified in barrel including 50% new oak, and as in previous vintages this latter element shines through in the aromatic and flavour profile. This is a cuvée which needs to be left alone in the cellar for ten years, as a minimum.
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