Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, 2010 Update
At the 2010 Salon des Vins de Loire I devoted most of one day to Vouvray, with a variety of different purposes. With some estates it was an opportunity to taste the latest vintages and, in the case of Domaine Huet, it sparked a substantial overhaul of my profile, whereas with others – namely Vincent Carême – the domaine in question was entirely new to me. But with many of them it was the perfect moment to reacquaint myself with domaines which I simply haven’t managed to visit and taste in a while, with François Chidaine, Catherine and Didier Champalou and Bernard Fouquet of Domaine des Aubuisières all high on my hit-list. And alongside this trio I would also place Jacky Blot of Domaine de la Taille aux Loups.
Having said that, as with my recent 2010 Huet update the tasting notes below in fact originate from two tastings, not only the aforementioned meeting at the Salon in February 2010, but also a flying visit to the domaine just a few months later in July. The contrast between the two tastings was extraordinary; at the Salon I tasted right across the range, from sec through to the sweetest moelleux cuvées, and also the sparkling wines of course. The focus was on the embryonic 2009s, followed by the 2008s, with a handful from the 2005 vintage. The tasting was comprehensive, exhaustive even, the standard of wines very high, and the quality and vivacity of the samples very admirable. It is strange then that this apparent commitment did not translate through to the tasting at the domaine, where only a handful of samples were shown, some of which were clearly out of condition.
Of the eleven wines poured at the domaine, three were in no fit state to be tasted or drunk. One showed a very mouldy, musty nose, rather reminiscent of an off bottle of Sociando-Mallet I tasted at the domaine a few years ago which a fellow visitor pointedly and appropriately described as having le nez de torchon. Two of the final wines, which should have been exemplary examples of the moelleux style, were instead more marked by the baked-earth character of oxidation. The fact that each bottle contained only a centimetre-or-so of wine clearly indicated why this should be; these were both very tired tasting samples. I must confess I found it surprising that with such fastidious attention to detail in the vineyard and cellar, and such a professional pouring of high quality samples at the Salon, that visitors to the domaine don’t seem to be treated to tasting samples of a standard that actually reflects the quality of wines produced here.
