The spring and autumn tastings at TGVins/Le Vin Passion are always amongst the best of the tasting seasons. There is a well judged combination of well known and more obscure quality estates from all over France and just the right number of wines on show so that all can be comfortably tasted.
Domaine René Bouvier, Gevrey-Chambertin
This is a new estate for me. I did learn that the wines saw roughly one-third new wood but otherwise had great difficulty in getting anything out of the very taciturn vigneron. All the wines on show here were from 2006.
Marsannay(W) Le Clos (€20) was about my least favourite wine of the tasting with wood and pineapple aromas, burnished notes and a slight oxidative touch; 12/20.
Marsannay(R) Ouzeloy (€21) was much better with nice pure cherry fruit and grip; 15.5/20.
Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice (€28) was showing best of the lot at present with very pretty round fruit aromas and a fuller, fatter and more velvety palate than the previous without loss of purity; seems almost a pity to let this one age; 16/20++.
Gevrey-Chambertin Jeunes Rois (€33) was more closed and less charming right now but had plenty of substance and backbone; 15.5/20 with + potential.
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru La Petite Chapelle (€54) was aromatically closed except for some touches unattractive dry caramel but showed some powerful substance which makes me think that the ugly wood notes will recede when the wine opens up; 16/20 + potential but now for drinking now.
Domaine Vincent Pinard, Sancerre
Sancerre “Florès” 2007 (€15) is a favourite of mine and this one showed a lot of bright citrus fruit and crisp tension; 15.5/20++.
Sancerre “Nuance” 2007 (€18) sees “one wine” oak barrels and showed more complexity and roundness with a softer mouth-feel than the previous while retaining good crispness; 16/20.
Sancerre “Harmonie” 2006 (€25) sees some new wood and this was perceptible in some caramel notes in need of integration; the overall style is more opulent with fruit veering in a tropical direction, smooth acidity and burnished notes towards the finish; the vigneron agrees that it needs time to come together; potentially 16/20+.
Sancerre (R) 2007 (€16), made from Pinot noir, showed attractive cherry fruit and more substance and backbone than frequent in this appellation but also some undigested wood tannins at present; needs a year or so and then should be 15.5/20.
Domaine du Clos Naudin (Philippe Foreau), Vouvray
Along with Huet, this estate produces the purest and most finely focussed expressions of Chenin blanc which I know. Also Philippe Foreau is about the most articulate and intelligent vigneron whom I have met. He is fascinating to talk to about the wines of his own and other French regions (with quite a few indiscretions) and has a fertile mind for devising associations of food recipes with his own and other growers’ wines. (I wish that I had had a recording device with me to help me to remember these.) He is very clear about the drinking windows for his wines; delicious from one month after bottling; beginning to close down from the second winter after the vintage and then only really blossoming again after several years; by this reckoning most of the wines on show were not in their optimum drinking period, yet I found them already delicious.
Foreau says that his 2007s are crisply excellent but they had not yet arrived in Belgium and so were not on show.
Vouvray Brut NV (€14) was bright, mineral and yeasty with that slightly earthy iodine touch towards the finish which I find in a lot of 04s (from which this bubbly was sourced); 15/20+. (When Foreau declares a vintage bubbly, the result puts most champagne to shame.)
Vouvray sec 2006 (€16) contains 6g of RS (usually less than 3) and is therefore “tendre” in character; the aromas show a lot of mineral and some honeyed curry and there is good acidity and nerve to balance the slight sweetness and fat; 16/20. (Foreau recommends this for fish with sauce and rattled off a recipe for mussels cooked with a dash of curry together with this wine which he claimed to be the perfect pairing.)
Vouvray “Les Perruches” demi-sec 2005 (€18) contains 20g of RS; I could tell that this was not in its most expressive phase but it is nevertheless a lovely complex wine with notes of grilled meat, fresh almonds, apple, pear, quince and minerals on a quite full body with good “gras”, lively acidity and length; this is 16.5/20 now and will be 18/20++ one day.
Vouvray moelleux 2003 (€31) was richly round and burnished with meat and mineral notes and good acidity for the vintage; 16.5/20.
Vouvray moelleux Réserve 2003 (€46), 150g RS, was of a different calibre and already showing signs of greatness with its complex aromas and fruit from which I picked out mango and passion fruit as well as the usual apple, pear and quince; there was noticeable fine botrytis and unctuous round body which was superbly balanced by fresh acidity and minerality; Foreau has done miracles with this torrid summer but he modestly gives the credit to his terroir; 17.5/20 now but should be 19/20++ one day.
Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve, Cahors
This estate is a quality leader in Cahors but somehow I missed their stand at the Malbec festival on Valentré bridge last year. Information gleaned here may have been misheard because Catherine Maisonneuve speaks very quietly. I say this because I noted down that the estate uses no wood newer than one wine but this seems contradicted by the taste of the top cuvée, Les Laquets; but when I challenged her I recall her saying that these were the grapes’ tannins; more puzzlingly, their website does mention some new oak ageing on Les Laquets http://leslaquets.com/Documents/LES%20L ... oc%202.pdf .
This is a good range with real tangy, tarry and powerful Cahors character. All the wines are made 100% from Malbec except Solis which contains 10% Merlot and 5% Tannat.
Cahors “Solis” 2004 (€8) was excellent QPR showing expressive acidic plum and leather with good tannic structure and length; 15.5/20++.
Cahors “Le Petit Sid” 2004 (€11) showed some reductive aromas which improved somewhat with swirl and was more closed than the previous but with good matter. Maisonneuve was puzzled about this; she said the previous day’s bottle had been much better and, unlike today’s, more expressive than Solis; 15/20 at best with + potential for this bottle.
Cahors “Le Sid” 2003 (€20) showed riper fruit than the others with some of the frequently stewed character of the vintage and was rounder and less austere than most Cahors but still with some tannic punch; 15.5/20++.
Cahors “Les Laquets” 2004 (€20) was still quite brooding and tight showing a certain austere refinement with dark fruit, tar, liquorice, impressive substance and tannic structure; 16/20 + now and should be 17/20++ in a few years.
La Cave d’Irouléguy
This is a co-operative. The whites are made from Gros and Petit Manseng with a dash of Courbu and the reds from Tannat (approx. 60%), CabSauv and CabFranc. The wines are tangy and refreshing and the Tannat should contribute health giving procyanidins.
Irouléguy “Andere d’Ansa” (W) 2007 (€8), tank aged, showed fresh aromas of white meat and flowers and fresh fruit with very crisply appealing acidity of the palate; 15.5/20+++.
Irouléguy “Xuri” (W) 2007 (€11), partly wood aged with 10% new, was more caressing, fuller and longer with attractive minerals and lively acidity; a lovely white; 16.5/20++.
Irouléguy “Gorri d’Ansa” 2006 (€9), tank aged, showing complex aromas and lovely tangy dark fruit; 15.5/20++.
Irouléguy – Domaine de Mignaberry 2005 (€11), barrique aged, needs more time to integrate with plenty of dark fruit, acidity, malty vanilla, tannin and some jam in evidence; 15/20 now with +++ potential.
Domaine Gauby, Roussillon
This is one of my favourite estates from the south which has done a remarkable job in making its wines fresher, more elegant and digestible and less alcoholic. I felt rather frustrated by being unable to get the presenter, Gérard Gauby’s son I think, to talk in other than vague generalities about how this has been achieved. In particular, the whites are some of the best in the French Mediterranean area. Sole gripe; there seems to be some price inflation here.
Vin de Pays Côtes Catalanes (“VDPCC”) “Les Calcinaires” 2007 (W) (€14), made from Muscat, Macabeu, Chardonnay and Vermentino, showed honeyed and mineral aromas, a generous soft Mediterranean body refreshed by a mineral and acid finish; 16/20.
VDPCC Vieilles Vignes 2006 (W) (€27), made from Macabeu and Grenache blanc & gris, was in a similar style but rounder, deeper and fuller; 16/20++.
VDPCC “Coume Gineste” 2006 (W) (€68!!!), made from 100 year Grenache blanc & gris vines, shows complex aromas of exotic fruit, and dense, rich substance with a lot of grip; 16.5/20++ but worth the price???
Côtes du Roussillon Villages “Les Calcinaires” 2007 (€13), made from Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Carignan, was quite different from the more elegant and fresher 05; generous red and dark fruit with a lot liquorice and raisin but was there a slight orange tinted oxidative note? It could have been a bottle opened the previous day. As every year, I bought some so we will see; this bottle 15/20.
Côtes du Roussillon Villages Vieilles Vignes 2006 (€24), made from a similar varietal cocktail, represented a clear step up in concentrated and focussed red fruit and showed density and chocolaty richness of body with fine grip; 16.5/20.
Côtes du Roussillon Villages “Muntada” 2006 (€62), made from 45% each of Grenache and Carignan and 10% Syrah, represented another marked step up with greater elegance, focus and length and complex notes of dark fruit, flowers, spice and minerals; this shows exceptional class for a wine from the Midi; 17.5/20 with + potential. (This is, I think, worth its price; quite modest compared to neighbour Hervé Bizeul’s top cuvée, close to €200.)
Domaine Meyer-Fonné, Alsace
This is a good and sensibly priced range.
Gentil d’Alsace 2007 (€8), made from Muscat, Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Pinot blanc, is aromatically dominated by the first two grapes but shows a touch of steel on the palate from the Riesling; quite pretty; 15/20+.
Pinot Blanc Vieilles Vignes 2007 (€9), like most from the variety, did not excite me; some whit fruit and meat aromas and a slightly pasty impression on the palate; 14/20.
Riesling “Félix Meyer” 2007 (€8) was much more my thing with its sweaty white flower aromas and its nicely floral, citrus and mineral palate; 15.5/20+.
Riesling “Katzenthal” 2007 (€13) was aromatically more subdued but showed more fullness and amplitude with good substance and minerality; potentially 16/20+.
Riesling “Pfoeller” 2007 (€18) was a marked step up both in intensity and complexity of its aromas of white fruit, flowers, minerals and grilled meat and in its depth and roundness on the palate exalted by some mouth watering acidity; 16/20++ now with ++ potential.
Riesling “Pfoeller” VT 2007 (€15 for 50cl) was truly delicious with its lightly botrytised sweetness and aromatic complexity balanced by mouth watering acidity, both similar to the previous, with perhaps more minerality; 17/20 with + potential; excellent QPR.
Pinot Gris Réserve Particulière 2007 (€12) is usually a very nice PG but it suffered seeming gluey coming straight after the Riesling VT; quite rich but dry; quite difficult to rate in that position; let’s say 15/20+.
Gewurztraminer Réserve Pariculière 2007 (€13) seemed subjectively no more than off-dry but Félix Meyer told me that there were 35g of RS; the balance was excellent with the typical burnished lychee and rose petal aromas and accompanying sweetness being offset by good tension, some bitterness and structure (Meyer said “tannins”); 16/20+.
