Domaine Sérol, 2023 Update
I remain entranced by the wines of the Upper Loire, especially the Côte Roannaise and Côtes du Forez appellations. Perhaps it is the fact that, even when I began exploring and reporting on the wines of the Loire professionally, diving deeper into the likes of familiar appellations such as Sancerre and Chinon, and getting to grips with the much-derided Muscadet and unknown gems such as Cour-Cheverny, I was ignorantly and entirely unaware this wonderful wine region even existed.
Alternatively, maybe it is the fact that, having been tasting and drinking the wines for more than a few years now, I have come to realise that these seemingly overlooked wines, fashioned exclusively from Gamay-Saint-Romain, are absolutely delicious. The best are superior to any of the Touraine Gamays I have tasted over the years, and could show the more renowned wines of Beaujolais to the east a thing or two. I lament the fact the region saw such dramatic post-phylloxera decline, and am thus all the more keen to support the region, its vignerons and its wines.
Maybe it is time to ditch the annual race to bring Beaujolais Nouveau back to your local London wine bar, in the Beaujolais Run, and replace it with the Roannaise Run instead?
And so in this report I check in on the latest releases of Domaine Sérol, one of the leading domaines in the Côte Roannaise appellation, with new notes on the latest 2021 releases, the nascent 2022s, still in élevage at the time of tasting, and I take a quick glance at the domaine’s whites. Choose your wine, throw a case in the back of your classic Ferrari, and race back to London with it now.
