Loire 2009 at Ten Years: White Wines
In this, the largest of my three tasting reports on the 2009 Loire vintage at ten years of age, I point the spotlight in the direction of 27 dry white wines. You might expect the strongest representation here to be perhaps from Vouvray, or maybe Savennières, both appellations of considerable renown and with a track record for producing Chenin Blanc in a dry style which ages well. As it turns out, while naturally both are represented here, neither has fielded the largest number of bottles. Vouvray takes second place though, losing out to a slightly unexpected victor, Muscadet.
Yes, Muscadet.
That this is so reflects some of the changes seen in Muscadet over the past two or three decades. Many committed fans of this region have known for a long time that some sur lie wines can age well, but today this is just one side of the Muscadet story. Several new developments have changed the face of this region, the most significant of which has been the creation of the crus communaux. Although the first three – Clisson, Gorges and Le Pallet – were not ratified until 2011 (and the next four were signed off earlier this year, by the way), back in 2009 the region was already rich in prototype cuvées, and I include examples here from Clisson, Goulaine and Château-Thébaud. Within the region the appetite for experimentation did not stop there though, as evinced by the development of a number of special long-lees-aged cuvées outside the cru communal system. I also include some examples of these wines here so that all three categories – the traditional sur lie wines, the cru communal prototypes and the more experimental lees-aged styles – are represented.
The Wines
Beginning with those many wines from Muscadet then, Domaine de la Pépière put in a particular strong showing, the 2009 Clos des Briords the best wine from among the traditional sur lie styles, and several other cuvées from this domaine also showed extremely well. Sticking with the sur lie wines for a moment though, the 2009 Comte de Saint-Hubert Vieilles Vignes from Château du Coing is also worthy of mention, and having been impressed by the 1996 vintage of this very same cuvée just a year or two ago I would suggest that this wine has a lot more potential than you might ordinarily expect from this appellation.
