Loire 2020 First Taste: Touraine
I continue my series of First Taste reports on the 2020 vintage in the Loire Valley with a selection of wines from the Touraine region, taking in Vouvray, Chinon, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Haut-Poitou, and of course the generic but never-to-be-ignored Touraine appellation.
Although Sancerre in the Central Vineyards and Muscadet down in the Nantais both probably have wider renown, it is in this region (as well as in Anjou and Saumur of course) that we find the Loire Valley’s viticultural heartland. Here we have both Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, the region’s two flagship varieties, which are found not just in Vouvray and Chinon but in countless other smaller appellations. They are wines that age well, and while neither Sancerre nor Muscadet should be overlooked in this department I doubt they will ever rival the joy offered by mature wine from Chinon or Vouvray in a great vintage, once it hits its stride.
For this reason I am always eager to take a first look at the vintage in this region, and so I am indebted to those vignerons who saw fit to draw samples from their vats and dispatch them to the cold and northerly clime that is Scotland. This report takes in wines from Domaine Mérieau, Domaine de la Cotelleraie, Domaine de la Noblaie and Domaine des Aubuisières, most of which were sent direct from the domaine.
Chenin Blanc has a presence here not just in Vouvray but in the white wines of Chinon, from two domaines worth knowing, as both seem to fly under the radar of many drinkers who are presumably focused on more cultish names in their respective appellations. The Chante le Vent from Domaine de la Noblaie remains one of the purest expressions of the variety in the appellation, even though Jérôme Billard has been working to add richness and body to the wine in recent vintages. The 2020 is one of the most promising wines here, and I am confident it will be just as fine when it has been bottled. So too the 2020 Cuvée de Silex from Domaine des Aubuisières; this wine was largely made by Bernard Fouquet’s associate Charles Lesaffre, Bernard having been unwell during the harvest, but it gives me all the joy I would hope for and expect from this domaine. Both of these wines deserve some of our time.
