Have to thank my old mate Kent Comley for gifting me this cracking bottle of Chenin Blanc.
Rich and heady and bursting with south East Asian tropical fruits. There’s rockmelon, paw paw and perhaps even a suggestion of durian, all of the fruits that have a somewhat meaty edge. A little residual sugar adds fat to the palate and contributes a honey and brown sugar sweetness and it is indeed textured and mouthfilling. Some serious green apple acidity lurks just below the surface and it is a little chalky on the finish along with a light astringency that is reminiscent of biting into the aforementioned apple when it’s just under ripe.
Great note, just as I remember it a few months ago - so wild, interesting, alive. We just got back from France, where we spent a couple days in Loire and stopped into the Chidaine tasting room (it’s a storefront, very nice, with all the Chidaine wines and a bunch more). I have never opened a Chidaine I didn’t enjoy
Glad you enjoyed it.
I cracked a bottle this week and was super impressed by the richness and minerality. The RS was up there, but the structure could handle it. Interesting wine!
I tasted both the Clos du Breuil 2009 sec and Moelleux 2009 when I was in their tasting room a three weeks ago. I thought they were both pretty nice. I have had the Breuil 2008 as well but I don’t recall which I liked better. The Breuil 2009 was overshadowed by the Les Bournais 2007 sec that I had next.
I just went off budget today and bought another 4 bottles 09 Breuil and more 09 Bouchet. I haven’t tasted the Bouchet yet but if it’s as good as the 2008 has been so many times for me, then I’m set. I can say this, that the 09 Breuil I drank this past weekend was head turning good, full of acid, fruit and minerals. Easy to go long on this one and just load it into my cellar. 22 bucks, its like theft without the jail.
It was a much more favourable vintage than 2008, although that is not to say that 2008 was a bad vintage! There were some superb 2008s made, including the Clos Habert, which is one of the most bretahtaking young wines I have tasted in a long time. But 2009 was warmer and the weather more setlled than 2008, and the range of wines is broader, running the full spectrum of possibilities, right from the bone-dry Montlouis Clos du Breuil with just 2 g/l residual sugar right up to the moelleux cuvées Les Lys and an as yet unnamed (last time I checked) moelleux Vouvray, which boast 105 and 135 g/l residual sugar respectively. It is rare for François to produce such a broad spread of styles, and it is also not that often we get to see Les Lys, this being the first vintage since 2003.
The wines tend to feel slightly richer but there is no hard and fast rule on residuals, except perhaps that those with lower levels (say sec and sec-tendre) tend to be quite similar (eg. Montlouis Clos Habert 2009 = 12 g/l, 2008 = 15.5 g/l, Montlouis Le Bournais 2009 = 2 g/l, 2008 = 5 g/l, Montlouis Les Tuffeaux 2009 = 19 g/l, 2008 = 17 g/l) and if anything slightly higher in 2008 but when the levels start to rise 2009 starts to climb away (eg Vouvray Le Bouchet, 2009 = 27 g/l, 2008 = 19 g/l plus thise sweet cuvées never made in 2008 of course). On the whole quality is very good and in many cases I prefer 2009 to 2008 but I doubt think any wine will surpass the 2008 Clos Habert - it’s just such a stunner!
Chris - I agree on th '08 Habert-just a stunning wine by any measure. My concern with the '09s are the acid levels. Thanks for posting the rs levels. The comparison is quite shocking-I expected '09 to have higher rs. I have not tasted any '09s and have avoided buying at this point. I bought considerable amounts of '08 Chidaine and Huet, so '09 was not such a hard pass at this time.
2009 does seem to be a richer vintage. Some of the sweeter wines are amazing (Huet’s Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie was stunning last week) but the drier wines might not be for everybody. I like them but I’m a bit of a Vouvray slut and look to Muscadet and Sancerre when I really need acid.
G2, do you mean too high, too low relative to the acid on the 2009s?
I intend within the next week to drain at least one more 09 Breuil and the 09 Bouchet and I will bring some notes back to the board for some discussion.
Yes I was referring to the sec and demi-sec wines and potentially lower acid (levels vs perception) in '09. Early in the release of '08s, I tasted through a dozen or so sec and demi-sec Chenins. For me, they hit highs I had never experienced in young Loire Chenins. There was a balance and finesse I felt really took these wines to new level. I have had only two examples from '09, both Huet, which seemed richer and less enticing. It was easy for me to pass on the vintage, as reports on '10 appears to be outstanding. Thanks to an email I had just received yesterday, more '08 coming my way in the form of Beleviere, a domaine I’m familiar with through LDM. Can’t wait to sample some Jasniere.
And btw for those not aware, Chidaine, Belleviere and to a slightly lesser degree Huet, are well embraced in the ‘real wine’ community.
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