Domaine des Tilleuls, 2019 Update
It was only a year or two ago (I think) that I first encountered the wines of Domaine des Tilleuls. A domaine in the peripheries of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation, situated in La Regrippière to the east of Vallet, it has been in the hands of the Houssin family for five generations. The latest addition to the team is Jérôme Houssin, and I was delighted recently when I had the opportunity to taste some of the latest releases from him and his family.
The range of wines is fairly typical for the locality, with several cuvées of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine complemented by a number of varietal IGP cuvées. At many domaines these latter IGP wines are rarely worth even a glance; I have had too many bottles of grassy-sandy Sauvignon Blanc and weedy-green Cabernet Franc from this corner of the Loire Valley to develop any sense of excitement or anticipation. This is not the case chez Houssin, however, who have several parcels of Chardonnay which yield what is one of the most convincing examples of this variety made anywhere up and down the length of the river.
The Wines
Looking first to the two wines from the 2018 vintage, both the 2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie Essentielle and the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Sélection communicated with certainty some detail on the warmth of the vintage. Plush in texture, weighty, with rather modest acidities, these are wines which are absolutely à point for drinking now. While rich in ripe phenolics these don’t have the acid backbone that would suggest they will look good with further time in bottle, so these are definitely ‘pop and pour’ wines. The Sauvignon, in particular, could be a very good option for the on-trade looking for a house wine option; I know several vignerons in the region who have successful listings of their IGP Sauvignon in seafood restaurants.
