Pierre & Bertrand Couly, 2019 Update
Perhaps the saddest news to come out of Chinon this year was that telling us of the passing of Pierre Couly. Pierre was one of two sons born to René Couly, who arrived in Chinon from the Corrèze in the early years of the 20th century. It was René who bought up the various parcels of the Clos de l’Echo, and oversaw its replanting; at the time of its acquisition much of it had been planted with wheat. René Couly subsequently passed the family business onto his two sons, Pierre and Jacques.
In more recent times, after a difficult schism developed between the two brothers and their respective offspring, Pierre set up afresh with his son Bertrand Couly, building some snew cellars at the back of the town. The split was said to have taken a toll on Pierre’s health, which may well have been true, although I had not seen Pierre for many years. With his passing we have lost another direct connection with Chinon’s formative history. Today the domaine he established from almost nothing with Bertrand continues on without him. Bertrand now works alongside his own son, Vincent Couly, who helped in the vinification of the 2018 vintage.
The Wines
I have met up with Bertrand Couly (pictured) fairly regularly over the last few years, and I think I have a good handle on his preferred style, one which is quite different to that which his cousin Arnaud Couly prefers (this was the root of the problem that developed within the family I think). These wines have an old-school character, by which I mean they tend to be quite lean in terms of texture, perhaps because Bertrand favours earlier rather than later picking, and yet they have no shortage of structure. With delicate textures these structural elements tend to show rather firmly, and I suspect many of the wines made here will need plenty of time in bottle before they achieve anything like a sense of harmony.
