In the recent thread about a theoretical classification of Loire reds, this estate was put among the “Third Growths”. I suggested putting it there myself on the basis of reputation alone, since I had never tried any of their wines, and since nobody questioned the idea, that’s where it stayed. The domain’s top wine is Clos Nouveau, followed by Grand Mont, with Les Marsaules coming in third. So I was keen to try a bottle with a little age and found this at auction recently.
The bouquet is sweet, strong and inviting: it’s not always easy for a non-pro like me to really say what a wine smells like and I don’t think I’m particularly good at it, but this one is clear - blackcurrant, blackcurrant and more blackcurrant, like sniffing a glass of blackcurrant cordial. It does have a little black cherry and leather too, but the blackcurrant gives a clear indication of what is to come. The attack is bright, quite rich, quite plush, but very pure - crunchy dollops of blackcurrant. The middle section will develop further with time, but for now it features dark cherry with a lifting hint of raspberry liqueur, before a very long, slightly chalky finish.
This is really impressive. I have read that Clos Nouveau is rather oaky and that Les Marsaules spends three years in oak barrels, so I was afraid that the oak would show, which it didn’t. The purity of the fruit is similar to other organic wines like Roches-Neuves, but so far, none of the latter’s wines I have tried has shown the depth of Les Marsaules. This is round, pure, but also profound. The fruit tastes unforced, not over-concentrated, without the zinging sweet notes that some Loire reds offer. Still very primary, it needs another four or five years but it’s already very enjoyable, another option for those who are still hesitating about getting into Loire reds, since there is no green pepper.
This costs 20€, putting it in the same category as Yannick Amirault’s wines, Jacky Blot’s, Domaine de la Chevalerie, or from Chinon, Le Clos Guillot by Bernard Baudry, for example. I think it compares well with all them but it would be fun to do a comparative tasting sometime. In the meantime, it left the remnants of the GPL 04 for dead!