Château Pierre-Bise, 2011 Update
In previous years I have on occasion not tasted Claude Papin’s most recent releases at the Salon des Vins de Loire, safe in the knowledge that I would be visiting him later in the year. As a result I missed out on a chance to get to grips with the full range of wines from the latest vintage, and in 2011 I was keen not to repeat that mistake. And so very shortly after my arrival in Angers this year I sat down with Claude, together with his wife Joëlle (pictured) together with their sons Rene and Christophe, to taste through a host of wines from the 2009 vintage, and one solitary representative of 2010.
Claude determined the order of tasting, and so we kicked off with his three offerings from Savennières, two of which – the Clos de Coulaine and Clos le Grand Beaupréau – I have tasted before in this vintage, at the domaine and with Claude in London last year. Both showed very consistently, although they fell into the shadow cast by the previously untasted 2009 Roche-aux-Moines cuvée, which showed a fine and more polished composition than the first two wines. Things started to get even more interesting with his Haut de la Garde cuvée though; for those surprised that this ‘mere’ Anjou cuvée should be poured after the trio of Savennières, a quick taste was all that was required to see that this was the correct order for these wines; they are rich, grippy and minerally, more than a match for the first three wines.
The 2008 Haut de la Garde is a fascinating wine, in that Claude has two bottlings in this vintage. Both have been fermented in a mix of wood and cuve as is the norm, but whereas the first spends its entire élevage in wood and cuve, the second moves into cuve alone for a second year of maturation before bottling. This certainly has influenced the style of the finished wine; that which had been bottled first showing a more evolved and caramelly edge, whereas that which had been left in steel prior to bottling showed a composed and polished finish and, ultimately, greater definition. Both wines showed very nicely though, even though Claude confessed that he usually finds this wine closes down at 2-5 years of age.
