Loire 2009 First Taste: Touraine & Central Vineyards
Although my Loire 2009 vintage review makes clear that 2009 wasn’t a year entirely free of difficulties for the Touraine vineyards, when we home in on the leading white wine appellations of Vouvray and Montlouis-sur-Loire I have been convinced, by multiple tastings of the wines, that this is a very high quality vintage for the region. I know the wines are not to everybody’s taste though, with some finding the somewhat richer and riper textures a little bit over the top. For me, however, that certainly isn’t an issue, and from the seductive secs of Huet and others, up to the very sweetest cuvées, this is a vintage in which there is a lot of pleasure to be found.
Loire 2009: Touraine
Like Anjou, Touraine is a complex vinicole, giving us dry whites and reds, and sweeter wines too, sometimes with a strong botrytis influence akin to the wines of the Layon and Aubance, sometimes not. And not only do we have both famous appellations, Vouvray and Chinon for instance, but there are also more cultish interests such as Cour-Cheverny (home to Romorantin) or Jasnières (Chenin Blanc and Pineau d’Aunis), as well as more ‘generic’ appellations which should not be ignored, as what at first glance appears to be a basic Touraine may in fact be a high class effort from the likes of Clos Roche Blanche, Henri Marionnet or similar.
