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2016 Philippe Alliet Chinon - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (4/21/2018)
I was at Varimax in Portchester picking up a case of Gruet for a party and there was a Skurnik guy pouring wines. Loire Cab Franc not being my thing, I decided to give this a try. Very pleasant wine. Yes, it was light. No, it didn’t have the punch of my normal collection. No, I didn’t have to worry about driving after drinking an ounce or two (I think the ABV was 12%). But once you get past that, it was a nice, well made wine.
I have trouble describing the taste of Loire cab franc because the descriptors are not part of my normal wine vocabulary, but this was unmistakable and good. I went to CT afterwards to see how other people described Chinon and it didn’t help much becase everyone is all over the lot. There was a smoky component to it and an earthy component,but not like corral floor or horsey leathery earth.More like soft light herbs. One guy described complexity without fruit, which I think is fair, but there was fruit mixed in the profile.
I commented to the Skurnik guy that this was obviously cab franc and he agreed that it was absolutely typical of what cab franc was supposed to taste like. Not wanting to get into a philosophical argument about terroir, I merely said that it was a matter of wine philosophy and he responded, jovially, that he thought cab franc from the Loire was what cab franc was supposed to taste like.
This was, by the way, CHEAP. I would have bought a bottle or two, but it is a store that winds through an odd shaped building and I ended up leaving with two cases and a hand truck from a door at the other end, so I forgot to go back and get it. BUT I will not be adverse to picking it up next time. (90 pts.)
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