Loire 2011 at Two Years: Touraine
Continuing my review of wines from this vintage tasted at the annual Loire Benchmark Tasting, hosted by Loire courtier Charles Sydney, I know come to a handful of wines from Touraine in this vintage. First, though, a brief look back at the growing season to set the scene seems sensible.
The story for Touraine was similar to that already presented for Anjou, although the time-frame of the vintage seems shifted forward somewhat. As with Anjou (and elsewhere), it was a ‘topsy-turvy’ growing season, with unseasonably warm spring and autumn months, and a rather cooler, wetter, more disappointing summer. Here, though, it was July rather than August that was the coldest and wettest month. Thereafter, there was in fact a lot of dry weather, especially towards the end of the year. So there was, on the whole, hope of making wines of good quality, including some sweeter cuvées. Looking at Vouvray and Montlouis-sur-Loire first, there were some discards to rot, but on the whole this was a trying rather than a disastrous vintage, and nothing like the washout that 2012 subsequently brought. It is a vintage for sec and sparkling wines, with perhaps small amounts of demi-sec and moelleux. There is potential for some good wines here, such as the Montlouis-sur-Loire Clef de Sol from Coralie Delecheneau (pictured) and her husband Damien at La Grange Tiphaine.
As for the red wines, from Chinon and Bourgueil, both alcoholic potentials and measures of physiological ripeness fell far short of those seen in desirable vintages such as 2005, 2009 or 2010. The closest match from recent history was almost certainly 2004, not a particularly desirable vintage. Even looking at some leading domaines here, vignerons rich in experience, they appear to have struggled in this vintage. I found a rather confused melange of unripe flavours with earthy beetroot notes (I think this most probably reflects fruit ripeness, but the more earthy such aromas become the more I worry – despite the assurances of the vignerons – that there was more rot in the vineyard than realised or declated), as well as obvious Brettanomyces in one wine. It is not a great vintage for Loire reds, that much is clear.
