Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Moelleux Grande Année 1989
From one grande année to another…..
Having just returned from Bordeaux where I passed every waking moment immersed in the 2022 vintage (well, almost….I suppose I did taste one or two older vintages), this weekend I wasn’t looking to wrap my gently tenderised tastebuds around another young red wine, no matter how delicious the fruit or velvety the tannins might be. Instead I was on the hunt for a wine with a completely different profile. White, rather than red, for a start. A little more maturity, for certain. Chenin perhaps, from Vouvray? So why not, bearing in mind the quality of wines offered by 2022 Bordeaux, a wine from my favourite vintage, one of the true grandes années of the 20th century?
Long-term readers are no doubt used to the breathless plaudits I throw in the direction of the wines of the 1989 vintage in the Loire Valley, but you need only grit your teeth for a few sentences, as today my adoration will be brief (sighs of relief all round). Put succinctly, the 1989 vintage was unquestionably one of the top three of the 20th century for the sweeter wines of Vouvray. In truth there were wines of excellent quality made all along the Loire, in styles dry as well as sweet, and red wines too. But it seems to me that it was in Vouvray that the vintage’s reputation was most firmly cemented in place; it would, in the fullness of time, ascend to take its position on the century’s vintage podium, alongside the two other greats, 1921 and 1947.
The vintage was a significant one for Vouvray in another manner, one which perhaps helped to reinforce its reputation. Alongside two long-established names in the appellation, the Huet family at Domaine Huet, and the related (well, by marriage) Foreau clan at Domaine du Clos Naudin, it was in 1989 (and in the comparable 1990 vintage) that several new names earned their first stripes. One was Champalou, where Catherine and Didier impressed with their new releases. Another, although I do not think he had the credit and publicity he deserved at the time, was the late François Pinon.
And a third was Bernard Fouquet, at Domaine des Aubuisières.
Like Didier, Catherine and François (and Philippe Foreau, and Noël Pinguet at Domaine Huet for that matter) Bernard was only recently arrived at the press, having not long taken over from his father, and he grabbed the 1989 vintage by the horns, keen to take advantage of all the potential within. In subsequent vintages Bernard would develop something of a reputation for single-vineyard bottlings, even within his range of sweet cuvées – in 1996, for example, he bottled the first and second pickings in Les Girardières as distinct première trie and deuxième trie cuvées, alongside a ranger of other wines – and there is perhaps a first inkling of this predilection in 1989.
Top of the range in this vintage was the single-vineyard Moelleux Selection Grains Nobles Le Marigny, a wine which is rarely seen these days (I certainly cannot remember the last time I saw a bottle); botrytis was not as prominent in the 1989 vintage as it was in 1990, and so if you chance across a bottle of this cuvée it is more likely to be from the latter vintage than the former. This cuvée was accompanied by a straight Moelleux Selection Grains Nobles with no vineyard designation (as written up in this previous weekend wine report), but again made using botrytised fruit, from a blend of vineyard sites. Taking sweet fruit concentrated more by passerillage rather than botrytis, which is arguably more typical of the 1989 vintage, was the Grande Année cuvée.
Of note, it was not just the first cuvée which saw a reprise in the 1990 vintage; all three cuvées put in an appearance in both vintages.
Having previously pushed the 1989 Vouvray Moelleux Selection Grains Nobles into the spotlight, I figured it was about time the 1989 Vouvray Moelleux Grand Année from Domaine des Aubuisières had its moment. In the glass it displays a polished orange-gold, very typical for this vintage, concentrated but without the darker red-gold notes that sometimes characterise the more botrytis-rich 1990 vintage. I find quite beautiful energy and freshness on the nose, which feels richly expressive and multilayered, with seams of bitter oranges, blanched almond, tarte tatin, sweet pastry and dried apricots. Beautifully limpid and pure at the start of the palate, then turning velvety and polished in the middle, this maintains a supple style, supporting notes of bitter orange, jasmine, rose water and aniseed, with tangible phenolic substance, delicious grip and nicely balanced acidity. It has a delightfully easy-going poise, and great length too. It perhaps does not have the concentration that some cuvées display in this vintage, but it still has bags of charm and energy, and perhaps that is more important. Drink now or hold (these moelleux cuvées from 1989 have decades in them yet). The alcohol on the label is 13%. 94/100 (16/12/24)
Read more in:
- My detailed profile of Domaine des Aubuisières
- Liquid Gold Episode 2, featuring the 1989 vintage in the Loire Valley
- A prior report on another 1989 from Domaine des Aubuisières
- My guides to Chenin Blanc and to Vouvray
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