Wine Focus for May: Loire, Chenin Blanc

TN: 2013 Chateau de la Roulerie Anjou Blanc, Anjou Fr.

$26 Cdn, SC, purchased and poured, 12% alc. Always a big fan of their Cab Franc from various applellations.

Light lemon color, floral mineral nose. More aromatics on day 1..apple pear. No honeyed tones here folks!
Initial entry thought is very dry with high acidity, guess closed down? "No ripeness here period" from across the table. Probably needs some time, has good length, more tart on day 2. Apple, some white stonefruit, lemon rind. Expected more from this wine but guess vintage conditions dictate whats in the bottle.

Bob, I think we've been talking at cross purpose in some the posts above. I thought that you were expressing disappointment with a 2013 wine from Richard Leroy called Les Rouliers, which was highly praised by RVF. My mistake.

Château de Roulerie's Anjou blanc can be very nice and good QPR in many vintages but obviously 2013 was too much for them to handle. I never liked their red Anjou so much as the white but I've seen one in the local Intermarché. I'll give it a whirl unless it's 2013.

[David M. Bueker]

2005 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (5/10/2016)
This is still very young, and showing lots of primary pear and apple fruit. A bit of wool and a creamy touch kicks in after some additional air, but overall it's just very young and fresh.

What a relief after slogging through over a dozen bottles of premoxed 2002s.

Excellent timing..good read here!!

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-va ... 1462228689

And this, if Robin approves?....http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/52985

Thanks for the links, Bob.

Good reading.

I may open a 2009 Domaine Huet Moelleux Le Mont at the end of the month although CellarTracker recommends holding until at least 2020. I also have a simple Vouvray and a Coteaux du Layon that I might open instead to preserve the Huet wine. My Chenin Blanc from Chidaine is even younger than the 2009 vintage from Huet.

My Chenin Blanc from Chidaine is even younger than the 2009 vintage from Huet.

Which cuvee/vintage? Chidaine does not have nearly the track record for aging as Huet, and the vineyards/cuvees don't all necessarily benefit from the same extended aging. (Although of course without the historic track record it is hard to know what is ideal)

[David M. Bueker]

New world interloper...

2014 Sandlands Chenin Blanc - USA, California (5/11/2016)
Opened one of these last night, about a week after they arrived, and the night after drinking a 2005 Huet Le Haut Lieu Sec. The Sandlands was correct in every way. There was good fruit and the acidity was in balance and refreshing. What it lacked was depth. Of course the clear memory of the Huet didn't help, but on a (relatively) objective scale there needed to be more persistence to the flavors to get this to the next level.

JC (NC):
My Chenin Blanc from Chidaine is even younger than the 2009 vintage from Huet.

Rahsaan:
Which cuvee/vintage? Chidaine does not have nearly the track record for aging as Huet, and the vineyards/cuvees don't all necessarily benefit from the same extended aging. (Although of course without the historic track record it is hard to know what is ideal)

JC (NC):
I have a 2010 Francois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire les Bournais but my CellarTracker record doesn't show the location (I failed to enter the location) so I might not be able to find it. The ones that do have a location noted are all 2014--Les Bournais, Clos Habert, and Les Tuffeaux.

I have a 2010 Francois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire les Bournais but my CellarTracker record doesn't show the location (I failed to enter the location) so I might not be able to find it.[

I think the Les Bournais is one that responds well to intermediate age, and 10 was a nice year, so I'm guessing you'll be fine for a while. Although I haven't tasted it recently so you might want to ask someone else. And I wouldn't save it forever!

Tonight we had a lovely bottle of 2011 Clos Rougeard "Brézé". I don't have much experience with the wine and was excited to see it on the list at a fair price (97euros). The sommelier told us that it might be a bit closed, and maybe it was ever so dense and compact. But there was plenty of pleasure to be had from the beginning and I can only imagine what it tastes like when rocking and rolling.

The oak influence was still there, but not all at oaky. Lovely, elegant, complete and spherical. We were all very happy.

Tonight we opened a Baumard 2010 Savennières to go with Andrea's annual pot of green garlic soup. I don't think we've had this vintage before. Bone-dry, of course. You know how doctor's offices have those pain-face charts to help you express how much something hurts? Well, on the one-to-five scale of youthfully painful Baumard acidity, this was really only about a two, so I'd say it was a moderately soft vintage. A mixture of ripe and underripe apples and pears being nibbled in a meadow by freshly shorn sheep in a heavy mist, alongside a factory that produces steel shavings. Delicious, and, for want of a better way of putting it, tastes exactly like a young Baumard Savennières.

[David M. Bueker]

Tonight we had a lovely bottle of 2011 Clos Rougeard "Brézé". I don't have much experience with the wine and was excited to see it on the list at a fair price (97euros). The sommelier told us that it might be a bit closed, and maybe it was ever so dense and compact. But there was plenty of pleasure to be had from the beginning and I can only imagine what it tastes like when rocking and rolling.

The oak influence was still there, but not all at oaky. Lovely, elegant, complete and spherical. We were all very happy.

That is a good wine list price. Alas for the days when Rougeard wines were easily affordable.

Tonight we had a lovely bottle of 2011 Clos Rougeard "Brézé". I don't have much experience with the wine and was excited to see it on the list at a fair price (97euros).....

That is a good wine list price...

Still can't quite get over it. We were in Paris where the retail price for 2011 Brézé is 130plus euros. (At least in what I saw on the internet, because I actually came to town thinking about buying a bottle, so my eyes quickly seized on the listing)

TN: 2014 Francois Pinon Vouvray Silex Noir.

Purchased in Grande Prairie 4 months ago. My first bottle was so out of condition, I was worried about storage problems prior to arrival in AB. My second bottle however restored my faith in Pinon..and one more to go!

Medium lemon in color. Very attractive nose with peach pear and some mineral tones. "Did not notice any sulphur" from across the patio. I quite liked the brief citrus tones but it did not seem all that ripe?
Initial entry thought was dry, good length. Very good mid-palate with crisp citrus, white stone fruits. Medium weight, think off-dry best description. Built up some tropical fruit tones overnight, went well with ham and roasted pepper quesidillas. Very nice evening on the patio despite the smoke and haze from the fires up north of us.

*** wonder about the age potential?

TN: 2014 Francois Pinon Vouvray Silex Noir.

Purchased in Grande Prairie 4 months ago. My first bottle was so out of condition, I was worried about storage problems prior to arrival in AB. My second bottle however restored my faith in Pinon..and one more to go!

Medium lemon in color. Very attractive nose with peach pear and some mineral tones. "Did not notice any sulphur" from across the patio. I quite liked the brief citrus tones but it did not seem all that ripe?
Initial entry thought was dry, good length. Very good mid-palate with crisp citrus, white stone fruits. Medium weight, think off-dry best description. Built up some tropical fruit tones overnight, went well with ham and roasted pepper quesidillas. Very nice evening on the patio despite the smoke and haze from the fires up north of us.

*** wonder about the age potential?

"Off-dry" like Auslese or like a normal "halbtrocken"? Is Pinon one of those producers who refuses to designate "sec", "demi-sec" or "moelleux"?

Sounds like a very nice wine. Good Vouvray demi-sec has huge ageing potential, though I had a 2000 from Foreau which was poxed.

Haven't they mastered those fires yet? It must be a very dry period if they are still going strong.

[Robin Garr]

A. Rupert 2014 "Protea" Western Cape (South Africa) Chenin Blanc ($14.99)

Very clear straw color with just a hint of brass. Good, characteristic Chenin aromas, subtle and hard to pick out ... white fruit, maybe a hint of pear and fig, a whiff of beeswax, a faint heavy-floral note; it's pleasant and appealing overall. Mouth-filling and medium-bodied, coats the palate with tart, rich white-fruit flavors with citrus overtones. Good, firm acidity. 13% alcohol, and at least nearly dry, only the juicy fruit giving a slight impression of sweetness. Its mouth-coating nature imparts an extremely long finish with a citric orange-blossom impression that takes a long time to fade. U.S. importer: Terlato Wines International, Lake Bluff, Ill. (May 4, 2016)

FOOD MATCH: This aromatic Chenin would go nicely with a range of poultry, fish or cheese dishes; it would fare well with spicy, not too fiery curries. It was excellent with a spring pasta dish, fettuccine with a pesto of fresh garden-picked spinach and arugula with walnuts, garlic, Parmigiano and olive oil.

WHEN TO DRINK: It's absolutely ready to drink, but Chenin Blanc can be a worthy ager, so if you have access to good cellar conditions, it couldn't hurt to set a few bottles aside to start sampling in five years or so.

VALUE: Excellent value for the price. Wine-Searcher.com lists a $16 average U.S. retail, but prices vary widely, to a low of $8.99 at one Florida store and many in the lower teens, so it may pay to shop around if direct wine shipments are available where you live.

WEB LINK
The U.S. importer offers a short fact sheet on this wine here.

The wine bottle, by the way, is decorated with a stylish painted-on paisley-look pattern; all the details are on a removable "back label" with a link to an interesting page suggesting ways to reuse the empty bottle, with submitted photos of the bottle (or part of it) in use as a vase, a glass, an olive-oil container or what-have-you.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for A. Rupert "Protea" Western Cape Chenin Blanc on Wine-Searcher.com.

Huet 2000 Vouvray Sec, "Le Mont." This was out of sorts on opening: spritzy and disjointed, though fresh enough to give hope. After vigorous aeration in the glass and some time, though, it came together pretty well. Medium-golden color, waxy-oily nose, lively bitter melon and quince fruit, orange zest, very steely though decreasingly so with air. Surprisingly sprightly for its age (and its hue), in the end. Not sublime, but satisfying and interesting. I'll call it a win.

Robin,
I have a Protea rose' to try. Picked it up at the grocery store and didn't even realize it was from South Africa.

Patchen, I'm glad to hear you had good luck with your 2000 Huet Le Mont Sec. I've had some luck with short and medium term aging of various vintages of Haut Lieu Sec and Le Mont Sec but last year when I opened five bottles of 2009 Huet Le Mont Sec, which I had happened to set aside, all five had fallen apart. Two or three previous bottles had been fine on release. As I think I mentioned, I have trouble keeping my hands off all Huet Secs, so they seldom are around longer than a few years, but if I were to hang onto any for ten years or so they certainly would be the Bourgs.

...last year when I opened five bottles of 2009 Huet Le Mont Sec, which I had happened to set aside, all five had fallen apart...

This seems very unlikely. That such solid Vouvrays would 'fall apart' six years after a warm and solid vintage? I'm sure you have plenty of experience, but isn't it more likely that they were not showing well/'shut down' (as Loire chenin/many wines in general often do six years post vintage) and will show better again in the future?

[David M. Bueker]

Unless the premox bug hit 2009, though I have heard no reports of that.

Unless the premox bug hit 2009, though I have heard no reports of that.

Premox is usually random. Five bottles in a row of such a young vintage seems an implausible strike rate. A storage or transport problem somewhere between the Huet cellars and Clint's palate is another possibility.

[David M. Bueker]

Either way, we need more info on the wines to assess their condition.

The five 2009 Le Mont Secs were in horrible shape, not just by my standards but my wife's and the three or four waiters who shared our tasting experiences. None of us had a really satisfactory explanation for this little disaster, but premox definitely was not the problem. I took the next to last last bottle to a wine merchant, whose wine expertise I value more than anyone else's in our area (Seattle) and he felt quite sure the wine simply wasn't built to go the distance, granted that the distance hadn't been very long. Although my level of discernment in such matters doesn't approach his, I'm tempted to agree with those who think think that transportation or storage conditions in the brief period before it reached my temperature controlled cellar may have played a role. But that's just conjecture. Mind you, this won't dissuade me from buying Le Mont Sec in the future as this was a one of a kind experience and, anyway, I am happy to drink the Haut Lieu Secs and Le Mont Secs young.