Vincent Carême, 2017 Update
One reliable indicator of the strength of a vintage in Vouvray is to look at the range of wines in a domaine’s portfolio that year. In more difficult years when bad weather prevails, winemakers will be forced to focus more on making dry wines, and they may also choose to channel more fruit into their sparkling cuvées. Any demi-sec or moelleux cuvées that are made will be few and far between, probably from the most prestigious vineyards on the première côte, wines which should still be regarded as triumphs over adversity.
Only in super vintages such as 1989 and 1990 do we see domaines turning out the full array of moelleux and moelleux première trie wines. It is notable, therefore, that a number of domaines have done just this in both 2015 and 2016; it indicates to me that these are two vintages which deserve our consideration, and that we should perhaps be buying these in order to fill any gaps in our cellars. Or maybe we should be buying them even if we don’t have any gaps in our cellars. The latter of these two scenarios is the one that applies to me, as you might imagine. My cellar problem isn’t gaps, but overspill; there is an orderly queue of boxes filled with bottles waiting to be stacked away, my plans thwarted only by lack of space.
The Wines
With the recent acquisition of more vines, in particular in the lieu-dit Les Granges, in Noizay, Vincent Carême (pictured) has been able to produce a full range of wines in 2015, from sec all the way up to a moelleux première trie cuvée. Before getting round to the 2015 vintage, however, I first sat down to taste his two sparkling wines from 2014. The 2014 Brut was quite classically styled, but the 2014 L’Ancestrale was the more elegant. There does seem to be a little variation in the 2014 vintage though, as while some bottles are very pure and floral, others show a vanillin, lactone-like character. The bottle I report on here was excellent, but see my profile for notes on other bottles tasted more recently.
