Loire Extravaganza, 2008
This summer’s trip to the Loire was naturally marked by the tasting and consumption of many bottles, producing many new tastings notes which don’t warrant a profile update of their own, but certainly need to be brought into the limelight for a moment or two.
I purposefully chose a very broad selection of wines from all regions along the Loire to drink, ranging from Muscadet near the river’s mouth right up to the central vineyards of Sancerre. Some wines were impressive, one or two a little underwhelming, but none truly disappointed. Worthy of particular mention were the 2005 Grand Mouton from Louis Metaireau which exceeded my expectations, showing a welcome richness in the mouth providing an alluring contrast with its taut, precise structure, and also the fizzy 2005 Mlle Ladubay Saumur Brut from Bouvet-Ladubay once again over-performed; this is an inexpensive wine which punches far, far above its price tag.
Sticking with Saumur, the 2003 vintage afforded a fascinating opportunity to taste some examples of Coteaux de Saumur. This appellation, legally defined in 1962, allows for the production of sweet wines using Chenin Blanc from the Saumur vineyards, but it is not commonly seen, I suspect because (in the past at least) it is quite rare that the right conditions come along. The three tasted here were all very good indeed, and were somewhat more generous than I expected, running the spectrum from the bright, nervous, crystalline fruit of Antoine Sanzay’s wine through the richer tones of that from Murailles Neuves, up to the opulent honey and botrytis to be found in the example from la Guilloterie. As an aside, the Coteaux de l’Aubance from Les Deux Moulins was just as delicious.
From the Touraine vineyards, delicious wines in the shape of the 2004 Vieilles Vignes from Philippe Alliet and the 2004 Cépages Oubliés from Henry Marionnet, the latter a fascinating glimpse of Marionnet’s work with Gamay de Bouze, an old Burgundian teinturier (red rather than clear flesh). A deliciously bright, fresh and sappy wine, loaded with tasty fruit, this would also take the prize for heaviest sediment, leaving a huge sludge of deep purple-stained tartrate crystals in the bottom of the bottle.
I also include here a couple of notes here on wines widely available in the UK, a 2005 Chinon from Domaine du Colombier which was fairly good, and Les Nivières from the Cave de Saumur, which was a good example of the decent drinking that is offered by this Loire co-operative, as well as yet another note on the 1998 F de Fesles, the second wine of Château de Fesles from a lesser vintage which also has consistently exceeded my expectations. For Vouvray acolytes, I am afraid there is just one wine here, a repeat tasting note of the Non-Vintage Non-Dosé Vouvray Brut from François Pinon, a bone dry wine carrying just 2.5 g/l of residual sugar. They will have to console themselves with the picture above, taken midway up the rue de la Croix Buisée, just downhill from Foreau and Huet. The phrase sauf desserte locale exempts local deliveries and services from the 3.5t weight prohibition, but in this region I much prefer to imagine it favours lorries carrying deliveries of local dessert wines. (11/11/08)
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