Howdy.
Has anybody tried much from the Loire from '15?
Sancerre and Montlouis/Vouvray are my particular areas of interest, but all input is welcome.
MERCI
Robert
Well, so far my reaction is ‘pretty yum’!
On holiday now around north west France and tasting bits and pieces here and there, I have been impressed by the ripeness and drinkability. Tasted at Jamain in Reuilly and found the wines tasty and fruit forward: very ripe, no green or astringent notes, one cuvée even had that tropical fruit reminiscent of NZ Sauvignon. But still held together with mineral edge. Balanced acidity rather than razor sharp style. A recent Muscadet sur lie was all citrus and creamy-Stoney notes, very delicious.
Anyway, only a few data points but it’s encouraged me to keep trying more.
French wine media view is that 2015 is better for the whites than reds, with 2014 being more interesting for reds.
Well, so far my reaction is ‘pretty yum’!
On holiday now around north west France and tasting bits and pieces here and there, I have been impressed by the ripeness and drinkability. Tasted at Jamain in Reuilly and found the wines tasty and fruit forward: very ripe, no green or astringent notes, one cuvée even had that tropical fruit reminiscent of NZ Sauvignon. But still held together with mineral edge. Balanced acidity rather than razor sharp style. A recent Muscadet sur lie was all citrus and creamy-Stoney notes, very delicious.
Anyway, only a few data points but it’s encouraged me to keep trying more.
French wine media view is that 2015 is better for the whites than reds, with 2014 being more interesting for reds.
MERCI
It is a very ripe and high alcohol (many >15%) vintage so it depends on personal preference.
I recently drank a bottle Huet Le Haut Lieu sec. Very shrill acidity and bitter on the finish. But I’m not really sure what they’re supposed to taste like this early.
Elliot
Ugh.
Not so pretty sounding to my taste, Kevin and Elliot.
My favorite source for Huet told me this year is the first ever that he is unable to offer Huet wines due to importer restrictions. The amount of Sec produced is very low due to the warm year, and the distributors are being forced to take as much or more of the sweet wines as they do Sec. Due to this restriction some distributors are opting out.
Kinda odd seeing as how the Hwang’s were purportedly reducing the focus on the sweeter wines in favor of Sec bottlings. I’ll still kick down as I want the stickies for my daughter’s birth year, but the Sec does not sound particularly appealing.
Kevin,
If you can, please let me know which wines did you taste that are 15%+ alc?
Talking to some ITB folks in Europe and a few growers, i’m hearing contrasting reports.
Latuchie posted a note on the '15 Briords that sounds tastay and balanced.
Thanks for your time/thoughts.
Santé
Robert,
I would prefer not to be specific. There are many excellent wines made as well so I would recommend tasting those that you are considering to see if they are in your sweet spot.
I’ve tried a couple of wines and am very optimistic about the vintage. I think it’s a nice vintage for Briords. Gerard Boulay Sancerre Chavignol is brilliant for something at that price. I think both are balanced, delicious wines. They’re a bit more concentrated than in some cooler vintages, but for me, that’s a good thing, and it’s not so much that they don’t taste like classic examples for their regions. Both are firmly centered on a core of intense minerality.
Thanks, Doug.
Indeed, I knew Gérard’s entry level is smokin’, as well as his rosé. They’re already sold out…
I’m hearing similarly about the strengths of the vintage, much as you’ve attested to, of concentration and length, but not atypicity.
I’ve got Chidaine in the offer crosshairs: anybody taste any of his '15s?
Has anyone tried the 2015 Huet demi-secs? Thinking it may be a better vintage for those than for the secs, but I’m wondering how much freshness they retained.
For whatever it is worth, sounds good:
Here are some notes on Huet '15s from the Vinous board, a fellow named Stephan Bauer:
And then we had the 2015 Huet wines, the full or almost the full range. I know the Huet wines quite well, having been to several tastings of the then most recent vintage and lots of older bottles from their library going back to 1919. I also have a lot of Huet wines in the cellar. It’s one of my favorite estates for Chenin Blanc, I love the variety in their portfolio with the three vineyards and various degrees of sweetness. I met Noel Pinguet once, sat next to him at a dinner. I found that he is a very charming and inspiring person. I also met Jean-Bernard Berthomé once, the successor of Noel Pinguet as the person in charge in the vineyards and cellar who had been working under Noel Pinguet for many years already before Pinguet left. He seemed like a much more timid and shy person, but nonetheless like someone with a deep passion for the wines he’s making and a very thorough and perfectionist approach in the vineyard and cellar.
I was unsure how things at Domaine Huet would develop after Noel Pinguet left (and he didn’t leave in quiet, but with quite a lot of press coverage). There were rumors that the portfolio would move more towards dry wines. There were also quarrels with two well-known bloggers/journalists with a focus on Loire wines (Jim Budd, Chris Kissack). It all seemed a bit confusing. When I tasted the 2012s and 2013s, I wasn’t blown away by the wines and didn’t buy any. They were lacking focus and personality for me. I wasn’t sure whether it’s just a result of the weather conditions (both 2012 and 2013 were difficult at the Loire) or whether there are indeed changes at the wineries that result in the slump in quality. I didn’t get a chance to taste the 2014s afterwards.
Domaine Huet has three vineyards:
Le Haut Lieu: 9 hectares, on the plateau above the village of Vouvray. Fairly heavy brown clay soils.
Clos du Bourg: 6 hectares, shallow upper layer of clay and limestone and tuff underneath.
Le Mont: 8 hectares, pebbles, clay and limestone and silex in between
I don’t know many wineries where the differences between the wines from the different vineyards are so apparent as at Huet. Le Haut Lieu is (at least young) always the most fruit forward, friendly and transparent wine with the brightest acidity. Clos du Bourg is almost always the most intense, powerful and earthy wine. And Le Mont is almost always the most spicy, the most reserved, mysterious and complete wine. I’d say the differences between Le Mont and Clos du Bourg are not as big as the differences between those two and Le Haut Lieu.
This was a long introduction and the following notes are way shorter, just quick snippets:
2015 Vouvray Sec
2015 Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Sec (13% Vol.). Imminently likeable, will last, but not forever. Bright acidity.
2015 Vouvray Le Mont Sec (13% Vol.). Way more complex and reserverd than Le Haut Lieu. Fantastic, multi-layered minerality, already now.
2015 Vouvray Demi-Sec
2015 Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec (13% Vol.). Slightly closed down nose, red currants and vegetal aromas. Not very sweet, fairly light in the mouth, tobacco and bitter notes.
2015 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec (13% Vol.). My favorite of the three Demi-Secs. Very structured and firm, but finely woven. Fantastic mouth feel, creamy, mild in acidity on the mid-palate, but very bright and fresh in the infinitely long finish.
2015 Vouvray Le Mont Demi-Sec (13% Vol.). More mysterious and harder to initially grasp than the other two. Very spicy, tobacco and garam-masala, ginger. Quite a lot of white tannin in the mouth, decidedly unfruity, very complex already now. One to cellar for a long time.
2015 Vouvray Moelleux
2015 Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Moelleux (12.5% Vol.). Mango, passion fruit and ginger. Very high-pitched notes in the mouth, fresh acidity, great complexity and length.
2015 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux (12.5% Vol.). I took the remainders of this bottle home to re-taste the weekend afterwards, so I had a chance to follow this wine a little more. A real stunner and a must-buy for the cellar. Smoked hay and quince notes in the nose, very complex. Super complex in the mouth, fine bitter notes, English wine gum, huge extract, it’s sweet, but it doesn’t taste sweet. Outstanding wine.
2015 Vouvray Moelleux Première Trie
2015 Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Moelleux Première Trie (12.5% Vol.). Dried Mango in the nose, very bright and clear, some red fruit as well. Slightly caramelly in the mouth, medium sweet, fresh acidity, great length.
2015 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie (12.5% Vol.). The most Chenin Blanc typical wine of the bunch with hay notes, quince, wet wool and tonic water notes in the nose, huge extract, great freshness, spicy notes and medium sweetness in the mouth. Infinite finish again.
2015 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie (12.5% Vol.). Slightly closed again relative to the other wines, very spicy, slightly smoky, rather on the vegetal side, very fine. Extremely complex in the mouth, spicy, minerally, this unfolds very slowly and shows layers and layers of complex aromas and impressions.
I was deeply impressed by this set of wines and will buy these (especially the Demi-Secs and Première Tries) in larger quantities. It felt to me that these are true classics in the making with lots of patience required though (these were already delicious and complex now, but there’s so much more to come).
Not a white, but the '15 Chidaine Touraine rosé (the blend with Grolleau, PN and Gamay) is just gorgeous–nice incisive structure, very compelling. Had a bottle just yesterday.
Just off of the phone with François Chidaine.
He told me that the '15s are almost analytically identical to the '14s in acidity and alcohol, with a smidgen more richness in a few cuvées (but literally only a single gram of residual sugar higher in the richest cuvées Bouchet/Habert etc). He said that the acidity of the '15s isn’t perceived quite as prominently as the '14s, and that the balance of the wines is outstanding.
Sounds terrific to me.
Gross disclaimer for those who want it: I import Chidaine.
Thanks Robert. Does anyone know why Chidaine releases so much later than Huet? Is it a longer elevage or are they just held back more? Or, to put it another way, does anyone know why Huet releases so early? I’m always taken aback and not mentally prepared when I get a Huet offer so early in the spring following the vintage.
I tasted Chidaines 2015 line-up last sathurday in Montlouis, I was particularly impressed with the Clos Baudoin and the Bournais. Especially the Bournais was very mineral which I really liked. All wines had really good to very good concentration. We didn’t taste the franc de pied. We had the evening a Bournais 2013 at dinner and this was clearly a step below in concentration and complexity than the 2015 earlier that day.
Thanks for the report. How would you say the range compares with the 2014s?