Loire 2010 at Ten Years: Demi-Sec & Moelleux Wines
In this, the final instalment of my run through of the 2010 Vintage in the Loire Valley at Ten Years, I conclude with the demi-sec and moelleux cuvées. I combine these two styles (which I regard quite differently from one another) in this one report simply to keep the numbers up; even with both styles included here I have only eight wines.
In my introduction I noted that as harvest approached, the Touraine vineyards were hit by persistent rain which seems to have prompted an attack of rot, requiring a lot of work to ensure what was picked was clean. With more rain forecast, vignerons in Montlouis-sur-Loire and Vouvray rushed to finish picking; in this corner of the Loire Valley 2010 ended up a strong vintage for sparkling wines and sec cuvées, but there was very little appetite for producing anything sweeter, with only few opting to hold out for a demi-sec or moelleux cuvée, and those that did made only small quantities.
In Anjou, however, many vignerons sat out the rain, which during the ensuing days resulted in a uniform wave of botrytis across the vineyards. Thankfully the weather dried up a little, and the fruit was able to concentrate well, and much to everyone’s surprise they picked healthy, cleanly botrytised and concentrated fruit.
The end result was that the 2010 vintage was a great one for sweet wines in Anjou, but not so in Touraine. And this distinction between the two regions comes through even with just eight wines. Five of the eight hail from Anjou, from the Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume appellations. Quality here was extremely good, and admirably consistent; I try to avoid referring to wine quality solely through their scores but these were five high-scoring wines, with just two points separating the top and bottom scores. At the top, the two cuvées from Quarts de Chaume, made by Yves Guégniard at Domaine de la Bergerie, and our old friend Claude Papin at Château Pierre-Bise, were simply breathtaking in their combination of concentration and finesse.
