Loire 2015 at Three Years: White Wines
A long, warm and dry growing season, such as that experienced in 2015 in the Loire Valley, does not immediately raise hopes for dry white styles. It is the vintages which are a little cooler, a little more restrained, which offer most promise for the whites, vintages such as 2014 and 2012, to think of two recent examples. The story of the 2015 growing season is one that would cause me to seek out the red wines first, and then perhaps the sweet wines, before the dry whites.
Nevertheless, tasting here without prejudice, I have been surprised by the tension and energy displayed by some of the dry white wines from this vintage. In Muscadet the 2015 vintage is not at the level of some of my favourite vintages, which in recent times are led by 2012 above all, followed perhaps by 2008 and 2014. Despite this it is clear that there are some appealing wines here, although I suspect it is a vintage that favours the crus communaux wines (as 2009 did) more than the classic Muscadet styles. I haven’t included any tasting notes on crus communaux wines here, but I will so in a series of Muscadet tastings I will be publishing in January 2019.
To my surprise, I found the same unexpected quality in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé as I did in Muscadet. While a number of the wines display ripe flavour profiles, I was impressed with the balance and vivacity also displayed. The wines of Jonathan Pabiot, ripe yet pure and tense, features which seemed especially evident in the 2015 Pouilly-Fumé Prédilection, have to be tasted to be believed. None, however, can match the 2015 Sancerre Monts Damnés from Gérard Boulay, a truly remarkable wine which combines ripeness of flavour with deliciously succulent acidity. While dangerously drinkable now, it will also age well I think; I have put away a bottle or two so that I may see if my prediction is correct.
