Domaine de la Noblaie Retrospective, 2018
Chinon is a large appellation, with well over 2,000 hectares eligible, and of course it is getting larger, the boundaries having been expanded (appropriately in my opinion) in the 2016 vintage. And while I try to taste widely, I have to admit I have a few favourite domaines that I call in on more frequently than others. Some I have known for a very long time, while some have come on to my radar much more recently. Somewhere in the middle is Domaine de la Noblaie.
While all of the wines made by Jérôme Billard (pictured above, during a visit I made to the domaine a year or two ago) hold my interest (and that is quite rare, even in Chinon) his three upmarket red wines are particularly interesting. Two are site-specific, Les Blancs Manteaux (from a limestone terroir) and Les Chiens-Chiens (from soils richer in clay) while the third – which we should regard as the top cuvée – is Pierre de Tuf.
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