I thought this was just going to be filler in the 6 bottle fund raising case. Couldn’t have been more wrong. Simply gorgeous wine filled with granite rocks with a light coating of honey and citrus. Amazing nose.
There must have been a lot of work put in at the sorting table to make a wine this beautiful in a year like 2013.
Only caveat in our discussion was that we weren’t sure how it would age since it’s giving so much more than most new release Pinons. Though that might just be prejudice against wines that show so well on release.
The top domaines have on the whole made attractive 2013s, mostly in the sec to sec-tendre style. They are far better than many equivalent 2012s.
The wine was made using fruit from Le Noyer â l’Ame, near the road heading down to Vernou-sur-Brenne, which is predominantly clay, with small contributions from La Bataillerie and Chopet, both flint terroirs. The latter two gave a few bunches picked by hand into carried baskets, while Le Noyer â l’Ame contributed the much larger part. This reliance on the clay may perhaps contribute to the more ‘giving’ showing now.
I agree that I do not think the 2013s will be the longest-aging examples of Vouvray in the cellar, but they have in several cases been very good. Michel Autran made one of the best. Domaine Huet also made some top-notch wines taking into account the difficulties of the vintage.
Thanks for note, Jay. I had forgotten that there was a 2013 in the pack. Just opened the 6-pack to retrieve, and discovered a nice note from Francois to the customers.
Yep. That bottle was a beast, granted it was more Moelleux in style versus the demi-Sec for Huet and Francois’ father made the wines in a more old school style than Francois does.
Evan, I don’t believe that '59 had a sweetness designation on the label.
I wasn’t able to pull the trigger on the 6 pack, but did pick up some Petillant Non-Dose and Brut Rose, as well as a couple of other bottlings than Chambers had for sale. I hope all starts to look up for Pinon very soon.
Are the Pinon sparklers generally ageworthy (like the Huet), or are they more drink soon wines?
I’d say next time you’re over, but with my '02 Huet demis going up in premox smoke, I need to save a couple '02 Cuvee Novembre for my niece. I think I opened one at our Pinon-a-thon almost three years ago.
Btw, for anyone interested, here’s a link to some notes and pics (halfway down the thread) from that Pinon-a-thon: A Little Taste of Pinon in the Night.
David
I’ve just had the Vouvray NV Brut of their sparklers, but even that gathered some good complexity with 3-4 years age. Cheap enough to experiment with as well!
regards
Ian
Same. It’s all I can do to keep from opening a second one immediately after finishing the first.
For what it’s worth, I am also in the camp that says the 2013 Vouvray is not one for the cellar. But I have been out-voted on this issue on another board, so if aging wine is a democracy you should not listen to me.
PS - Regardless of what you may think of the ageworthiness of the 2013, it is damn good right now.