I knew that La Porte Saint Jean produces great Cabernet Francs but was yet to try a white from them. This is a bit of a head scratcher - it drank well with Toast Skagen (and on its own but then I happen to like painfully intense and acidic dry whites more than most) but how good of a wine it is really? Chenin Blanc often matures slowly but this one feels like it is going to take a veeeeeery long time before showing significant development. It tastes significantly younger than the 2016 Domaine du Collier Saumur Blanc a few years ago and that wine did not exactly taste developed. I find myself digging this wine but I am sure many would not be thrilled with this austere style. Maybe I’m over-thinking it - there is 1/4-1/5 left in the bottle despite the missus not drinking much so I guess the wine performed just fine.
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2017 La Porte Saint Jean Vin de France La Perlée - France, Loire Valley, Vin de France (12.8.2022)
Quite an interesting nose here. Tight lemony fruit, a touch of honey, a strong sense of oak without anything overpowering and then popcorn reduction. Not a delicious nose really, but nothing wrong with it either. On the palate it is tart-fruited and nervous - not unlike licking a battery - but it also has some pleasant texture from the extended ageing in foudre. The intensity is through the roof and there is a sense of class about this wine despite how hard-to-get it is playing. Due to its neutral fruit, reductive nature, high acidity and oak handling it does resemble to some degree some high tariff white Burgs. However where it goes from here is the question, as it is by no means a very giving wine today. It could become a masterpiece one day but I probably will never know as it is surely all sold out by now. I do however look forward to seeing how it shows tomorrow!
Posted from CellarTracker