Some good wines tasted recently, which I had set aside for Christmas but due to Covid was unable to enjoy.
Domaine de la Pépière - Clisson - Muscadet-de-Sèvre-et-Maine 2017
Quite a strange nose, with very strong notes of iodine and even some aniseed, which I was not too keen on, but with more attractive notes of lemon and hay in the background, and which gained in intensity after a few hours. The attack is very crisp and fresh, almost rocky - if you can imagine drinking granite juice, this would be it. Then the soft charm takes over, the lemon flavours, but also hints of orange and apricot, before a finish going from honey to citrus fruits. Excellent apart from the aromas.
Domaine de la Pépière - Château Thébaud - Muscadet-de-Sèvre-et-Maine 2017
Much more appealing aromas of lime, white peach, hay and vanilla, with seaspray and lemon. The attack is less crisp, less fresh than the Clisson, softer and rounder, with slightly mature tastes of citrus fruits and peach, warmer notes of honey, some broad strokes of crème brûlée, but with a satisfyingly crisp finish. I preferred it to the Clisson.
I’m sure many of you know all this already, but for me it was a discovery: these crus are much better served warmer, at cellar temperature, rather than straight from the fridge. When I tried them at first, they were fresh out of the fridge and the cool temperature blunted their flavours - in fact I was a little disappointed, because I was expecting the usual zest which these Muscadets do not have. But when they warmed in the glasses, they were transformed. Both wines are supremely subtle and elegant, with a richness that is not at all out of place nor overdone. Very impressive and excellent value.
Talbot - Saint Julien - 2001
Like my last bottle, typical Talbot nose with rich, ripe blackcurrant and tobacco, but without the coffee beans it suffered from in the past. Bright and cheerful attack with blackcurrants and dark cherry, then the trademark spice and somewhere in the middle some plums and cranberry, before the blackcurrant rises again, much more calmly, with hints of blackberry, finishing with a crisp, acidic flourish.
Talbot - Saint Julien - 2000
Similar to the 01, but the nose is richer, rounder and riper: it makes the 01 smell reserved, which it isn’t. The attack is along the same lines, less bright, less crisp, with sweeter blackcurrant and slightly jammy red cherry. The plums are there too, but there is more of them - that said, there is still a crispness with the wave of blackcurrant that saves it from tasting syrupy and the finish has a pleasing acidic slap to it.
I really enjoyed them both, they’re classically styled wines which have digested the initially toasty oak. For now, the 01 is better, but the 00 will last a lot longer. I’m pretty confident about the 00’s future and found it much better than Beychevelle, for example.