One of the saddest things of the old Alko was that we never got any Loire Chenin. And I love Loire Chenin - maybe even more than I love Riesling. So today I went to an Alko and saw a Vouvray and the name Pinon and for a second I got excited! Only it was a Damien Pinon rather than a Francois. But since it has been the only Loire Chenin in ages and not too badly priced at a little over 20€ I bought one.
Damien Pinon Vouvray Tuffo 2015 - c.23€; 13% abv; 8 g/l RS
If I had more frequent exposures to Chenin I might not be terribly excited by this. But with our situation I'm not only happy to see just any Chenin, I also thought it was quite a fun little wine. It has all those quince and hay aromas that one expects from the grape. It does seem quite rich (ripe year plus a bit of RS?) but also has wonderful acidity so it is very moreish. It tastes like what it says on the tin and that, after so many years of no Chenin at all, is something I am genuinely excited about. Ideally, I'd like our first Chenin in years to be a fully dry and austere example but just as with Riesling, I don't mind RS as long as there is sufficient acidity. And this has it. So my heart is all excited and overjoyed but my brain tries to bring back memories of the truly great Chenins and says that this might not be quite as exciting as I think it is. Which organ to believe?
So anyone tried Damien Pinon? Or do people only drink Francois here since Francois is available in civilized countries?
