The "View From the Cellar" Looks at the Loire!
10/9/23 -
Sometimes a new pair of eyes, or tastebuds, can suggest a few new discoveries or remind us of how good some of our favorite wines really are. Such is the case with John Gilman's "The View from the Cellar" especially his "Annual Loire Valey Report," which just arrived. Many of the wines we have offered over the past year receive enthusiastic reviews and we have found a few new wines that belong on our shelves.
Let's begin with Muscadet! We are tireless advocates for cellaring the finest wines of the Pays Nantais and Mr. Gilman is equally rhapsodic over the joys of drinking mature Muscadet. Here are some of his suggestions which are well known to CSW customers and which deserve a place in your cellar. The problem will be leaving them alone long enough as they are so delicious as young wines as well. I need to refill my crawl space as the 2014s and 2017s are almost gone which is really a crime...
2019s from Domaine de la Pépière!
"Today, Rémi Branger and Gwénaëlle Croix admirably run Domaine de la Pépière, keeping alive the same vision and commitment to exceptional quality that were the hallmarks of Marc Ollivier’s long career and the estate remains one of the very finest in Muscadet. But, there are still in the pipeline new releases from the cellars of Marc’s last vintage at the estate from 2019, including the Crus of Gorges, Château Thébaud and Monnières-Saint-Fiacres, that lovers of Muscadet would be very well-served to snap up for their cellars, as all three wines are brilliant." We'll add a few lines from Mr. Gilman to our notes below, but the basic message is that when you uncork one of these wines in 10 or 20 years or more, it will definitely make you smile...! And for around $30 per bottle - try to buy white Burgundy as good for 3 times the price! Maybe 10 times the price...
And more - 2020 "Clisson" "On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with a fine girdle of acidity, superb focus and grip, lovely mineral drive and a very long, seamlessly balanced and youthfully complex finish." 2022 "Les Gras Moutons" "On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied, focused and complex, with superb depth of fruit at the core, lovely mineral drive and grip, zesty acids and a long, impeccably balanced and very, very classy finish. This is superb Muscadet!" We couldn't agree more - 2022 may be the best vintage ever for this gorgeous wine from a terroir of Gneiss. Drink over the next ten years...$22.99??
A few new Reds...
2019 Marc Plouzeau Chinon "Les Cornuelles" This small parcel is situated on the left bank of the Vienne, on soils of limestone pebbles ("cornuelles") with clay and silex over the limestone bedrock. The estate has been organic for 20 years, harvesting is by hand, vinifications are with wild yeasts, aging is in used 500 liter barrels." "This is still a young wine by any stretch of the imagination and will demand cellaring time to properly soften up on the backend, but it is going to be an absolutely stunning bottle of Chinon once it is ready to drink!" Drink until 2075 says John - we're not sure you should wait that long, but at the reasonable price, this seems like a good bet for cellaring!
2017 Clotilde Legrand Saumur-Champigny "Chaintrée" "The “la Chaintrée” bottling from Clotilde Legrand is raised in older barrels for three years prior to bottling The 2017 is the “new release” of this excellent Saumur-Champigny, coming in at fourteen percent octane and delivering a deep and refined aromatic constellation of dark berries, cassis, cigar wrapper, a beautiful base of tuffeau chalky soil tones, juniper berry and upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, elegant and shows off superb depth in the mid-palate, with fine focus and grip, ripe, buried tannins, seamless balance, great soil signature and a very long, energetic and complex finish. This is truly great Saumur-Champigny! It is certainly approachable at six years of age, but it is still fairly chewy on the backend and its plateau of peak maturity is still several years down the road." We have enjoyed the Legrand Chenins and we can't wait to try this very serious sounding Saumur-Champigny!
And an old favorite...
2020 Bernard and Matthieu Baudry "Le Clos Guillot" Le Clos Guillot is a beautiful south-east facing vineyard, just east of the town of Chinon, above the Clos de l'Olive and adjacent to Le Chêne Vert. The upper slope of the parcel is clay over limestone (the lower part has sand and gravel over the rock, which permitted a tiny separate production from franc de pied vines, now mostly deceased) and the vines are young, planted from 1993 to 2000. Fermentation in wooden cuves, 12 months of aging in three to ten year-old barriques, 9 additional months in unlined cement vats. We have been buying this wine since it's first production in 2000 – it's one of the most elegant and Burgundian of Chinons. "On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very elegant in profile, with lovely soil signature and core of fruit, fine-grained tannins, excellent focus and grip and a long, seamlessly balanced and nascently complex finish. This is so cunningly balanced that it is relatively approachable today, but it is still quite primary in personality and to drink it now is to commit infanticide! I would not touch a bottle until it is ten years of age, just to allow it to truly blossom and deliver on all of its considerable promise."
Our thanks to John Gilman for his great work in the Loire Valley (and around the world) - please consider a subscription to this fascinating and informative journal!
Wines are in stock or incoming, please allow until Thursday 10/12 for pickup/shipping. All wines discount 10% on a case or mixed case. (2019 "Gorges" and "Monnières" are last of stock)
