Domaine Mosse, 2011 Update
In my continued exploration of Savennières I certainly didn’t want to miss out on the wines (or should I say wine – there is just one cuvée relevant to this appellation here) of René and Agnès Mosse. This husband-and-wife team possess only 45 ares (0.45 hectares), making their particular version of this famed appellation perhaps one of the smallest-production cuvées in existence. Note, for example, that Pithon-Paillé own 25 ares within the more exalted Roche-aux-Moines cru, and they consider the volume produced too small to merit its own cuvée, preferring instead to blend it in with their négoce Savennières.
What the wine may lack in terms of quantity is, however, more than made up for in terms of quality. The Mosse style is one of purity and elegance, and this characteristic is clearly expressed in the varied cuvées of Anjou Blanc that René and Agnes (pictured) have produced over the years, as well as their Savennières. In this most recent tasting, featuring only wines from the 2009 vintage, I started off with the generic Anjou Blanc which had an appealingly bright and youth Chenin character, before moving onto the Savennières.
René and Agnès acquired their parcel of vines in Savennières from Eric Morgat in 2007, and so the 2009 is only their third vintage from these vines, which were themselves only planted in 2002. This latest vintage showed a slightly deeper fruit substance than the preceding wine, with more autumnal white fruits than the more papery character found in the Anjou Blanc. The style to me seems to be fresh and lively, as it was with the 2008 vintage. Agnès and René are adherent to biodynamic practices, and 2009 was the third year of conversion of this tiny plot of vines within the Moulin de Beaupréau lieu-dit. The 2010 will, I expect, therefore have full certification. The work in the winery follows a very ‘natural’ philosophy, including minimal use of sulphites for all wines, but in the case of the Savennières this particular wine has 50 g/l total, with 6 g/l free sulphites. At this point in its life the wine in question tasted fresh and alive, because of (or in spite of, perhaps?) this very low level of sulphites.
Both of these first two cuvées were eclipsed, however, by the Anjou Bonnes Blanches, yet another indication that there is no natural and indisputable Anjou-Savennières hierarchy. No matter how significant the Savennières appellation might be, with its metamorphic slopes, the Anjou vineyards feature such a diverse array of terroirs that they can not automatically be considered inferior to Savennières. Claude Papin’s Haut de la Garde cuvée, sourced from slopes that lie opposite to the Roche-aux-Moines and Coulée de Serrant crus, is one Anjou cuvée that would happily give many a cuvée of Savennières a run for its money. The Bonnes Blanches vineyard, if the cuvée tasted here is anything to go by, might be a site capable of the same achievement, although the older vines no doubt contribute something here.
I finished up with the latest vintage of the Anjou Rouge, which showed a lot of the schisty character that you find in red Anjou and about which I am more often than not fairly ambivalent, as well as a rather understated Coteaux du Layon which, while no doubt commendable, does not match the quality that can be found elsewhere up and down this important tributary of the Loire. (27/7/11)
Tasting Notes
The wines below were tasted in January 2011. My notes are presented as per order of tasting. All my tasting notes on the wines of René and Agnes Mosse, including those below, are collated under my Domaine Mosse profile. Click 
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Domaine Mosse Anjou Blanc 2009: Alcohol 14%, residual sugar 7.2 g/l, pH 3.18, total sulphur 48 mg/l, free sulphur 8 mg/l. A perfumed, chalky apple character on the nose, with notes of papery cape gooseberry leaves alongside. Certainly a very gentle, feminine style. Supple and softly structured at the start, rather chalky and lean fruit, but in the midpalate showing good spice and attractive minerality. Rather more autumnal style to the apple fruit in the finish. This is a sappy, full and quite stylish wine; I particularly like the poise of its structure. 15.5/20
Domaine Mosse Savennières Arena 2009: Alcohol 13.5%, residual sugar 9.3 g/l, pH 3.19, total sulphur 50 mg/l, free sulphur 6 mg/l. Very pure character on the nose here, with bright apple and pear fruit, youthful in style. A very gentle flesh on entry, with yellow plum notes alongside the apples and pears here. Quite elegant and with a tangible substance, polished and approachable although there is plenty of grip behind it too. Nevertheless the fruit maintains a fresh, gentle and balanced character, through to the bright, structured finish. 17/20
Domaine Mosse Anjou Blanc Les Bonnes Blanches 2009: Alcohol 14%, residual sugar 5 g/l, pH 3.13, total sulphur 54 mg/l, free sulphur 8 mg/l. This cuvée is sourced from older vines. Honeyed, appley concentration on the nose, although it does also have that light, papery character that young Chenin Blanc can show in its youth. Perfumed, pink, soft-fleshed apples here too. A great grip to it on the palate, a more polished substance, with lots of minerality too. There is a bright and tangible acid backbone at its core, giving it a broad and lively feel. Excellent potential here. 17.5/20
Domaine Mosse Anjou Rouge 2009: Alcohol 13%, residual sugar 0.1 g/l, pH 3.65, total sulphur 34 mg/l, free sulphur 14 mg/l. This is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc. A fine and bright colour on inspection, and a lovely perfume to the nose; it has a smoky and rather schisty character, but lifting this up there is also a fine layer of floral Cabernet Franc fruit over the top. On the palate a dark fruit character, firmly styled, with moderate weight and a fine structure underneath. Quite stony, pure, coolly composed, although there is also a little toffee edge and some chewy tannin too. Nicely perfumed, but very typical of Anjou. 15.5/20
Domaine Mosse Coteaux du Layon Le Champ Boucault 2009: Alcohol 11.5%, residual sugar 115.6 g/l, pH 3.51, total sulphur 50 mg/l, free sulphur 4 mg/l. This cuvée is very expressive of the variety as much as anything else, with scents of baked apples on the nose, along with the sweet aromas of peaches. On the palate it has a soft and mellifluous start, polished and sweet, with a subtle backbone of low-level acidity which doesn’t quite match the sweeter texture. There is a lovely, warm and seductive character to it but the structure is rather more understated than I expected. 15.5/20 [/am4show]