Loire 2005 at Ten Years: White Wines
This section of my report on Loire 2005 should of course span the entire Loire Valley, from Muscadet up to Sancerre, and maybe I should carry on upriver to include the wines of the Côtes d’Auvergne as well (which includes, among a number of permitted varieties, Chardonnay). I shall, however, be stopping short of this. First, because I am not sure if the white wines of the Massif Central are really set up for aging (this is largely an admission of inexperience with the wines, rather than a statement of negativity). Secondly, because although I thought I had tucked away a bottle or two from François Cotat in this vintage, it seems that this was an erroneous belief. Either that, or one of my increasingly thirsty offspring has taken a shine to them. Whatever happened, the journey stops short of the Central Vineyards, terminating in Vouvray. That still leaves seventeen wines to report on though.
The Wines
Kicking off with Muscadet, I wouldn’t care to try to make qualitative differentiations between the first two wines, both Marc Ollivier and Jo Landron having turned out very special wines in this vintage. In the little world of Anjou Blanc, however, I favoured the Clos des Rouliers from Richard Leroy above all others, something of a surprise because if I had to choose between this cuvée and the Noëls de Montbenault I would usually end up plumping for the latter. In this instance, however, the Noëls de Montbenault showed a disconcerting madeirised oxidation; it may be a sign of things to come, or it may just be an off bottle. I know I have had unexpected disappointments chez Leroy before, only to find the next bottle was absolutely singing.
In Savennières, of those cuvées tasted here the lone example from the Roche-aux-Moines vineyard was supreme, hardly surprising coming from one of the two crus of the appellation, and also from one of the top growers, Château Pierre-Bise. On the next rung of the ladder, however, was the Clos du Papillon from Domaine des Baumard, as well as La Jalousie from Domaine du Closel. Seeing the first of these two wines come out on top is perhaps not such a surprise, the domaine has a long history of working in the appellation, but it is perhaps a little unexpected to see La Jalousie outperform the Clos du Papillon cuvée from the same domaine (which I also tasted here). This latter cuvée showed a little alcoholic warmth which niggled me slightly, while La Jalousie was deliciously pure and ready for drinking.
