Loire 2020 First Taste: Central Vineyards
I bring my First Taste reports on the 2020 vintage in the Loire Valley to a close with this fourth instalment, taking in the wines of the Central Vineyards, including Sancerre and Pouilly, not to mention Menetou-Salon, Reuilly and Coteaux de Giennois.
Although the ability of the top wines of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé to age in a positive fashion should not be under-estimated, the predominant style throughout the Central Vineyards is really intended for early drinking, and thus many domaines are keen to get their young brut de cuve samples under the noses of critics, journalists and bloggers before they are released. With the Salon des Vins de Loire and other salons cancelled this year, however, these opportunities have been much reduced, and this is inevitably a smaller report than usual.
I am therefore grateful to Marc Thibaut and family of Domaine de Villargeau, Nathalie Lafond of Claude Lafond, Bertrand Minchin of La Tour Saint-Martin, Jean-Max Roger and others, all of whom sent samples, not just from the 2020 vintage but from other recent vintages too. I restrict myself here to just the 2020s of course, and shall write up the other wines in forthcoming weeks and months.
Tasting these wines – the majority Sauvignon Blanc, of course – immediately called to mind my feelings tasting through the early-picked wines of the Nantais, most obviously Muscadet. These are attractive fruit-rich wines, in many cases with enticing, expressive, occasionally tropically-tinged flavour profiles, a good reminder that ripe Sauvignon Blanc can be a very aromatic variety, with scents of mango and rose petals at times. One or two felt a little more raw, while others felt a little soft with sweet fruit and gentle acidity, but whatever the style a number of them also displayed that minty trait which was commonly encountered in the Nantais. It is a feature of the vintage, although it is worth keeping in mind the wines tasted in this report are largely domaine-level or entry-level cuvées, and cuvées with grander origins (from grander terroirs, and maybe grander domaines) might show greater harmony of aroma and flavour.
