TN: 2008 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Choisilles

2008 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Choisilles - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire (1/20/2016)
Have gone through a couple of bottles of this in the past few months that seemed a little advanced. Not this bottle. Perfect, medium light hay color, stony light fruit nose, and a vibrant, medium intense palate, with a lasting finish and nice flashes of quartz minerality. Beautiful wine, too easy to drink this in a hurry. (92 pts.)

Not had this but I am a fan of Chidaine wines

some of my 08’s have seemed a little advanced as well–Bournais, I think, was the last I had. Haven’t had enough frequently enough to recognize a pattern.

Absolutely love Chidaine as well (the secs) but 3 of my last 4 2010 Clos du Breuil recently have been advanced. Big bummer.

Yikes. I better open one or two, soon, to see what’s up.

I had a 2010 Choisilles back in September that I thought was a little advanced too. Hopefully an isolated incident.

Well, I had a second bottle of this in the house, so opened it tonight. This one does have a little more color, and also shows a bit of premox (if I can use that here). Still quite tasty, but definitely not as pristine and youthful as the previous bottle. I think I’m batting about 50% on my 2008s at this stage.

Hmm. guess I should pull these out and start working thru them.

Worth trying one, for sure.

Oxidizing? This has me concerned, because I actually wanted to make the local OC guys cry because I was letting these wines age. Now, I am wondering if that is smaht? [scratch.gif]

FWIW, here are my last 2 TNs on the 2008s. I didn’t find any oxidation, but what do I know. [crazy1.gif]

  • 2008 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire (1/29/2016)
    Four years since my last bottle. Started off a little tropical in tone, with some viscosity. Peach and honey, yet solid acidity to cut the demi-edges. The balance on this was great, the table seemed to really enjoy it. I have one bottle left, I don’t see any rush to open the last one.
  • 2008 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Choisilles - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire (2/7/2015)
    Last had one of these back in XMAS 2010. Have two left and some spicy food tonight so decided to check in for progress and hoping for a good pairing fit. Right out of the chute, this drinks great, with a pretty well defined energy lemony acidity. I mean, it’s like a squeezed lemon was drizzled here, pretty intense for what I often think of with Chidaine’s acidity, that seems more usually to be a softer lemon-lime. I ain’t complaining as this is good and focused, showing no loss of cut. Mandarin orange, lime skin, medium weight with a finishing zing of lemon and green apple. Wow, very good.

Posted from CellarTracker

Frank, all I can tell you is that of the two bottles I’ve opened in the past few weeks, one was pristine (that originated this thread), and tonight’s is decent, but definitely showing some signs of ox. At this point, I think it’s reasonable to continue to age your bottles, but I’d be prepared to have a noticeable percentage of them show some oxidation when you finally get to them. Anecdotally, I have the feeling that 2010 is even a bit more prone to this than 2008, but I need to review my notes on those.

Alan, thanks for the great note. I’m glad this was a good one. When Chidaine is on it’s some of my favorite chenin.

I was also interested to read about others’ experience with these wines advancing a little too quickly. I found my 08 Bournais have been a mixed bag. I bought a lot of 2010 Chidaine and just opened the first bottle (a Clos de Breuil) about a month ago, and it was surprisingly advanced. I have some more of the 10s on deck and will be interested to see where they end up.

I had a 10 Choisilles about a year ago that was a little advanced. Looking at my notes it has been a while since I have opened a Chidaine. I need to fix that.

Jeff, and the 2010’s? [shock.gif]

Frank, all this talk about Chidaine prompted me to pull a cork. Glad a did. This one showed great. Hopefully the last one was an anomaly.

2010 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Choisilles - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire (2/10/2016)
This showed very well. Pulled from the cellar and served at about 55 degrees. Some mineral, wet stone, tangerine, lime and pear. A bit creamy but there is a fair amount of acid to offset it. A little saline and a faint hint of caramel on the finish. We both enjoyed it. I will try to save my last bottle for a while and will add more 2014.

I didn’t order the 2014 Choisilles for some reason. I’ll be adding to my 2014 Chidaine order once again.

Jeff, I got a dinner coming up in a few weeks and I’ll open an 08 and/or 10 from a few of the plots and see what we got. Thanks for doing this check in.

FWIW, I picked up another bottle of 14 Breuil this week. Would have done a few more but I can’t justify to myself buying yet more wine when I am drinking less wine. Upside down!

Had a 2007 Bouchet last summer, and although I hadn’t tasted that vintage, I would bet it hadn’t changed a lot since release. Excellent.

Damn, you people. Now you’ve made me nervous, and I have to dig out my 2008 Choisille’s, which I’m pretty sure have become randomly buried at the extreme reaches of my over-stuffed locker.

Curiosity got the better of me and my wife and I shared a bottle of the '08 Choisilles last night. I made what has now proven itself to be a big mistake, I opened my first 2 bottles in the early part of 2013. This bottle was pristine and gorgeous, a pleasure to drink and once again confirms that Chenin Blanc produced by the likes of Chidaine, Huet and Foreau are some of the last great QPRs in the wine world. As for a tasting note Alan and Jeff have pretty much nailed my experience. Thrilled to have 3 more in the cellar and a boatload of Chidaine and Huet resting alongside.

Thank you, Russ. Appreciate you looking out.

Frank - this is drinking great now, but no rush to pull corks. Having said that, I don’t have much experience with 10+ year old Chidaine and the fact this is showing so well now tells me I will likely drink my last 3 over the next few years. Always better to catch a wine on the upside rather than the opposite.