TN: 2009 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie

Charles Joguet, really one of the all-time greats in the pantheon of Loire Cab Franc winemaking, once quipped that the sun always shines on Clos Rougeard. Leaving aside Rougeard - which stands supreme in Loire like d’Yquem does to Sauternes - Joguet has an amazing history of producing extraordinary cuvees from very distinct parcels. While one can quibble over which is best, Clos de la Dioterie is generally considered the flagship and is comprised of by far the oldest vines in the Joguet stable. This unique vineyard was planted between 1930 and 1940.

I cannot say Clos de la Dioterie is my favorite cuvee. For that, I would have to say the Franc de Pied cuvee which succumbed to the phylloxera louse by 2008 was hands-down my fave, and in quality years, Clos du Chene Vert is more of the archetype of a Loire Cab Franc. I always buy Dioterie as well, however.

So what’s unique about Clos de la Dioterie?

For me, it is the beefiest, meatiest, richest, and perhaps even the most dark-fruited Loire Cab Franc made. Period. The 2005 bottling walks that fine line between greatness and chaos, almost over the top in richness and structure. I still have some cellared waiting to see what ultimately evolves.

This 2009 is outstanding. Dialed slightly back from 2005, but wow still so dense, so meaty, so rich, so dark-fruited. But not OTT. Pinch the nose a bit, one might think a fantastic Pomerol from a ripe vintage. Love the deep, wet mossy taste and feel to this wine, a perception of rich riverside soils with old vines reaching down deeply into the rich strata. I feel and taste the iconic Loire River. “Loire” derives from the Gaulish word liga, which means "silt, sediment, deposit, alluvium.” Apropos, as you taste that in this wine, yet to be frank, I have no clue how close this vineyard is to this river. It doesn’t matter, the river is the lifeblood of this region. Heavy weight on the palate, deep rich dark fruits and a reasonable degree of red fruit structure and acid to give this large wine some lift. Closes with chalky, sweet tannins, in its lengthy, caressing finish.

This wine is still a baby. I am enjoying it immensely, but will try to hold off 4-5 years for the next bottle and guess that in 10 years it is singing in Gaul on ode to the beauty of this historic part of France. I had a 1990 Dioterie several years ago with Corey and MarcF, and it was outstanding. There is no doubt that this cuvee can age magnificently.

(94 pts.)

What a great note and introduction (for me) to a new Loire CF!

I am officially on the lookout.

Great note.

A brilliantly-argued hommage to a great wine. Well done!

Thanks for the update. I listed my drinking window starting in 2019 but I doubt I’ll even glance at one of these for another give years. A well aged example of this bottling remains one of the greatest wines I’ve ever had.

Great note, Robert - you surpassed yourself! I agree with your excellent description of the Dioterie style. I don’t know the Joguet wines as well as you do, but I get the impression that they are a good place to start for those who haven’t yet taken the plunge in the Loire, because of their rich, silkiness. You don’t mention Les Varennes, which I think is the most elegant of the three (remaining) top cuvées. The only problem with the Joguets is their prices, which are quite high. I don’t know what US prices are like, but over here, the Dioterie and Chêne Vert 2016s are selling for 34€, the Varennes for around 27€. That doesn’t put me off, but it’s a step up from some other domains.
The only 09 I had this year was the Varennes, which was good but not wonderful, unlike the 03 I had recently which was stunning.

Thanks, Julian.

The pricing on Joguet has always been an issue if you are price-sensitive, as they have always been higher than the competition, with the exception of Rougeard (which to be frank, has no competition). The recent release of Dioterie is in the mid-50s, placing it 5-10 bucks higher than Baudry’s Croix Boissee. Thus, I buy selectively in key vintages, whereas I typically buy Baudry’s three top cuvees in all years, and the base wines in excellent years.

Joguet seems to have a “hit and miss” reputation among Loire fans. It went through an odd period, perhaps more oak than necessary, and had exposure to brett, but I think we are long past the oak issue and my experience with bretty bottles is no different at this point than other Loire producers.

Les Varennes is an excellent bottle, and I did mention above the Franc de Pied version of Les Varennes. The last bottling of that special cuvee was 2007. If you see it grab it. Pay whatever, especially if 2005. A most fantastic wine. Caution, I have had some brett-ridden bottles, but damn, when it is “on” it is one of the best Chinons that I have ever had, and the 2007 is excellent as well.

For the record, I had three recent bottles of the 2003 Dioterie that I poured down the sink, a most foul wine that reeked of tomato soup. I almost garnished it with olives and bacon, to drink on the rocks, oh Mary. Clearly this batch was spoiled somewhere, likely shipping, as the person I bought them from had impeccable storage.

Killer note sir…looking forward to my '10

Nice to see a little history with the notes, but I always wonder how a word translates from one word into another. ‘Liga’ sounds nothing like ‘Loire’, as “Iroquois” sounds nothing like “Haudenosaunee”. Makes you wonder what people were thinking?

I had this Dioterie 2009 in a verticale in march 2013 : promising but not ready to drink …
Idem for Les Varennes du Grand Clos 2009 and Le Clos du chêne vert 2009 …

Last time I had this was 2012: deep, dark, complex, dark plum, dried cherry, maybe some oak? Might need to try one now.

I had the '05 this past January and it was still way too young with the oak not particularly well integrated. The '09 is a better balanced and more approachable wine, imo, but I find these still need to sleep awhile.

Surprisingly the 03’s were very nice several years ago. Surprised the oak shows so much on the 05 at this stage, but that was such a structured year.

Agreed. Every time I pop the 2005, I’m like wow, another 3 years. It’s not ready.

My experience with recent vintages is that they’ve been quite clean (day and night compared to Baudry, Couly-Dutheil, and several others).

Funny that I hear that from others here and there, but to me, Baudry is one of the “cleanest” Loire reds made. Compared that to Raffault, Joguet, Breton, Guion, Couly, et al. Not even close, IMHO. And I would not mind if they allowed a little brett to cultivate, see my signature! I have not had any Joguet from 2014 forward, by the way.

I had a bottle of the 2005 Joguet Dioterie from my very cold cellar beginning of the year. It’s going to be a great great wine. But it’s still a baby and I won’t touch another bottle for a decade at the earliest. I have quite a bit of 2005 Chinon and I haven’t found any to be close to ready. It used to be easy to get back vintages into the 80s. Not sure if that’s still the case outside France.

Thanks for jumping in. I feel like a broken record on that point.

To me, Baudry’s reds are generally so bretty that I have no idea how anyone would say otherwise. Of course, the context of Loire reds is a bit different from the context of wine in general as this goes, but what you say implies that there’s no brett in the wines, which I can’t even come close to getting on board with. I know from talking to a lot of people about this that there is a huge range of sensitivity. Considering that combined with the wide range of expressions that brett can take on in a wine, I don’t think anyone should ever be confident that it’s not there just by tasting, but I really can’t debate what you’ve said here as it’s about your impression. Someone who definitely knows what he’s talking about told me recently that Chave’s wines are usually overly bretty for him, and I’ve never known anyone else (including me) to think so!

I’m with Doug. I would never call Baudry “clean” in terms of brett. It’s the only producer I’ve repeatedly gotten brett from in recent releases. I like their wines when the brett level is low or non-existent but I’ve reached the point where they are a ‘taste before buy’ label. I’ve heard Joguet has had some mixed hisotry in terms of wine making and brett. I’ve only really drank wines of their since 05’s minus a couple of well aged bottles. I do not recall any brett from this label though it may have been more prominent since before I’ve started drinking them.