Loire 2009 at Fifteen Years
Three men stood together in the rented cellars of Château la Fresnaye.
The youngest of the trio, Jo Paillé (pictured below), held his glass aloft so it could catch the summer sunlight streaming in through the cellar door. The liquid within, illuminated by the sun’s rays, shimmered a bright orange-gold hue, vibrant and intense. He lowered the glass before putting it to his nose.
I swirled the same liquid around in my glass, and revelled in the glorious scents released. Aromas of sweetly honeyed peaches rose to greet me, along with fleeting notes of sage, and more of the same on the palate, complemented by notes of beeswax, acacia flowers and a bitter grip which countered the dense sweetness given by the young wine’s residual sugar. It was glorious.
The third man put the glass to his lips, and spent a few moments rolling the wine around in his mouth before delivering his verdict, with a grin.
“Difficult to make, and difficult to sell. And difficult to drink too – more than a glass of it, anyway”
Judgement had been passed by the winemaker, none other than Jo Pithon.
Thus was my introduction to the 2009 vintage at the then-recently created Pithon-Paillé domaine (I visited in the summer of 2010), and it is a memory that has stuck with me for fifteen years. Admittedly Jo’s words are paraphrased, as I did not write down his exact comment, but regardless of their accuracy they are worth returning to, as they illustrate the extent to which the Loire Valley has changed during the course of these years.
