Given what has transpired to some of my personal favorite wines that have turned unicorn on me, I’m a bit reluctant to post a note on this wine, but ultimately wine is about sharing. Plouzeau’s Franc De Pied is my favorite Loire Cab Franc next to Rougeard. And since Rougeard is now off my allocation list, I guess it makes this wine my favorite. I’m also quite partial to Franc de Pied wines.
A bit about the wine: Reputedly one of the oldest Cab Franc vineyards in Loire, with vines dating back more than 200 years. It’s a tiny little plot enclosed by walls, only 0.4 ha. Small production, about 1000 cases. This is original root-stalk. It is not grafted.
I have found the 2015 Chinon vintage reasonably ripe and approachable, compared to the more classic 2014, but still quite balanced. This Chinon is the most structured and tannic 2015 that I have had, suggesting ten years before I crack another and easily going 25+. Such a myth that Franc de Pieds cannot age. The nose is still a bit primary, muted, but after several hours open has a gorgeous, smokey perfume with cigar leaf, brambly dark fruits and other dry earth elements. The palate is insanely deep, layered, but not heavy, with a broad range of dark fruits, wild red fruits, earth, tar and tobacco, buttressed by firm, chewy, chalky but sweet tannins. Incredible finish, great texture and depth. Best Plouzeau FDP since 2010. And for the more timid of Chinon fans (Blanquito?), no green notes. While I like the herbaceous quality of Loire Cab Franc, I also really dig these riper vintages that create such world class wine. Now bear in mind, “ripe” in Chinon is not the pejorative that it is too me in, say, Bordeaux!
2012 is a more fruit forward vintage, 2013 is a lower-quality, lean vintage. I like them both, but not at the level of 2010 and 2015. I love how Plouzeau handles the vagaries of Chinon weather. He turns out quality stuff in all years; I buy them in every year.
Need to track this down as I’ve never tried it. Also love FdPs and have really enjoyed the few Plouzeaus I’ve tried. Drink a few bottles of their rosè every summer.
this inspired me to pop my '13 tonight. First impressions: would be downright excellent if it didn’t smell and taste like new French oak. Will see if more air does something about that. Really unfortunate, as the underlying wine strikes me as compelling.
So you’re one of the reasons this wine suddenly became unavailable
I bought '06 and '07 (after Gilman’s review) and then my supply dried up. I should monitor for it more closely but maybe it’s best if I don’t. I’m already embarrassed enough on the Inventory Reduction thread.
It’s good, but is it actually better than Croix Boissée, Clos Guillot or even Grézeaux (or Alliet Noiré or VV, Rafault Picasses)? That’s quite the statement. I won’t argue with your preferences, because they’re yours, I’m just surprised. I’m not really sure how much better Rougeard is than Croix Boissée is anymore anyway.
Is it in the Chinon AOC? I thought it was outside.
Preferences are what they are, but damn do I buy a ton of Baudry as well. Definitely much better than Ailliet, And way better than Raffault in the early to mid period. What I cannot say, is whether these wines will be as good as vintage Raffault from years like 1990, 1989 and 1977. I just have not had that comparative. My educated guess is that these wines, especially this 2015, will be better. Obviously that is speculation.
I doubled down on the 2015 Baudry Guillot and Croix Boissee after trying the Guillot. It’s excellent. The $20 Plouzeau that I reference above, is every bit as good.
That’s all fair enough. I seem to like Alliet more than other folks and haven’t liked the Plouzeau Chinon as much as you seem to (or Pallus). What do you think of Coulaine (Bonnaventure) wines? I used to really like them, but they can be difficult to come by in the states.
Go back and buy more 2014s if it’s convenient, might be a better vintage. BTW, 2016s are great and will be scarce. That being said, I probably have more Loire Cab Franc than makes sense for our consumption habits.
Nathan, you and I are on the same page re: vintages. And quantity/consumption. About 1/3 of my cellar is Loire Cab Franc, but then again, I also drink them regularly. I went deep in 2014, including multiple cases of the Baudry base cuvees for daily drinking. Such a classic vintage. Having heard that 2015 was “ripe,” I did not do full cases on the big cuvees that I liked, but then after trying some, went back for more. I said to someone jokingly last week, can Chinon ever be too ripe? Of course yes, but more often than not, a ripe vintage just means purer, bigger fruit (less pyrazine notes), not necessarily the resulting alcohol level issues that we see in ripe vintage Bordeaux, Southern Rhone, etc. Beaujolais is similar to me, while I went deeper in 2014, I bought some delicious 2015s.
I think another thing to keep in mind with the newer riper vintages is that the vignerons (and Matthieu in particular) are much better at tannin management and the viticulture is better than it was for the 2005s, so I expect more supple wines rather than the bruisers that 2005 produced. 2014 is actually quite ripe, historically, for Chinon but the young wines hit a real sweet spot for me. I didn’t buy enough Clos Guillot, probably. The best vintage to date for that wine.
Nathan do you know whether The FDP sees new oak and if so in what percentage? Brian’s note surprises me.
Here is my note on the 2013:
Checked CT, and did not see any other notes regarding oak. I’m generally quite new oak averse, and have never thought Plouzeau was overboard on oak. Funny how we can all see things so incredibly differently.
The Plouzeau website and tech sheet on this wine do not comment about oak.
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