Joguet was a notorious brett bomb back in the day! I’ve not had any recent vintages. Have some 05s that I need to check on, such a great vintage for Joguet.
I’m sure they all were. I’ve been wondering when the style shifted.
I have not yet come across a bretty bottle of Bel Air. At this point, statistically-speaking, I would have expected to come across at least one ---- that is, if brett was a thing with them. It appears it is not.
Like @Troy_Stark , I have not come across a bretty bottle of Guiberteau, although maybe part of the reason behind that is — like @Robert.A.Jr — I’m not impressed much by them, so don’t drink them often.
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Yall are wimps, there ain’t no brett here! It’s just earthy savory goodness. The only brett I detect is emanating from my wife’s wild African print leather purse with metal studs! Red bottoms and all that.
PS. This 2012 needs more time.
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2005 Clos de la Dioterie from mag was great 3.5 weeks ago. Maybe a very small hint of Brett. I thought it came off pure of fruit and clean even so.
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Yeah, I never get Brett in Croix Boissée. I did get some in a recent bottle of 2015 Clos Guillot but I think that site gets riper. I’ve said this before but when I discussed this with Matthieu several years ago he had lab results for his wine and also for a famous right bank property with a heavy cabernet franc percentage. I think that Chinon is just by nature more savory so I think that similar amounts of brett found in a fruity wine is more pronounced. I also don’t think the wines are treated as well in the distribution chain because they cost so much less. I’ve never had mouse in a Baudry wine, but if one would have it, I would guess the Granges. I think my hit rate might be due to getting the wines directly from the distributor and going right into my cellar so they don’t really have a life above 70F where Brett starts to bloom.
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Surprising. I just had the 2019 a few weeks ago and it was pure bandaid and barnyard funk. Totally masked any elements of cabernet franc.
Damn! I’m guessing that’s the 2018? I passed on that one - looks like I was right, unfortunately.
2018, yes. I suppose adding 2004 gives you the vintage. A deep blue attack on the tongue and palate (elderberry, cassis, lilac) but not much else.
2010 Olga Raffault La Singuliere
Big fan of this producer and first time with this cuvée. Dark opaque purple in the glass, Bose of stewed blue and black fruits, distinct eucalyptus and mint, and a slight barnyard/sauvage element that doesn’t quite show as brett to me, but could be just a very light amount as I am not super sensitive to it. Palate echoes the nose with mostly resolved tannins and bright acidity with good concentration and medium plus length. This is a delicious wine with at least 5 more years left before peak imo
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Glad you liked it - now I’m not the only one! As you’re a Raffault fan, I’m curious, did you prefer it to Les Picasses?
I definitely preferred this particular bottle, but I don’t have enough experience with both to form an actual opinion
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Tasted a good Bourgueil last night:
Domaine de la Chevalerie - Bourgueil - Bretêche 2017
Very enticing nose - candies, blackberry leaves and fruit, all very mouth-watering, then a plump, joyful mouthful of quite savoury blackberry and blackcurrant, some redcurrant and red cherry, and winsome plum on the finish. Ripe but not overripe, crisp but not overly so, just the sort of wine to put a smile on anyone’s face. Not over-complex but delicious. 91 or 92 pts, not sure which. Room for further improvement over the next ten years.
I’m a great fan of this domaine’s wines. They make several cuvées, of which I would say Bretêche is probably number four in the hierarchy behind le Grand Mont, Chevalerie and Busardières.
Thoroughly recommended. Anyone in Europe can find this, right now, at iDealwine. This is not an auction but a fixed price sale, at a mere 17 euros (and if you’re a regular you get 5% off). It’s excellent value and there are 50-odd bottles available :
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cross-posted from it’s own thread in Wine Talk:
2020 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (7/14/2025)
– decanted approx. 30 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over 2.75 hrs on Day 1; revisited on Day 2 –
NOSE: immediately recognizable as Cab. Franc; sweet edge to the fruit aromas (grape soda); noticeable pyrazine; purple-fruited; expressive.
BODY: magenta-violet color of medium-deep depth; little bit of superfine particulate matter present; medium bodied.
TASTE: medium+ to high acidity; flavorful, but perhaps a bit reserved; Cab. Franc herbal wash; kinda halfway between usual Clos Guillot and usual Croix Boissee — this is not a vertically-structured Bdx.-esque vintage, which you sometimes get from this bottling; approachable for a Boissee; noticeable pyrazine, and it’s more jalapeno than it is bell pepper; medicinal cherry; plum; very fine tannins; there’s certainly a lot going on here; hint of tobacco; alc. not noticeable; a reduction or brett note (light) persisted over 3.25 hrs open on Day 1, but it’s not strong enough to turn me off of it. I quite enjoy this. Day 2: largely the same as Day 1 — still excellent; funk has stepped-back somewhat, but it’s not completely gone. Better with age, but surprisingly good for drinking now, too. I’m marking my bottles as “Drink By 2040” – I will adjust that in the future as I deem appropriate, but that feels like a good place to plant a flag for now.
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PSA: If you are in Paris, Parcelles has the 2014 Charpentrie on the list for a fair price. Don’t recall exactly, but under 200 euro. On par with Clos Rougeard, or better if you like more grip. Stunningly good wine and easily justifies putting Collier in tier 2.
A new one for me:
2019 Domaine de la Butte (Jacky and Jean-Phillippe Blot) - Bourgueil - Les Coteaux du Levant
Clean, bright, mouth-watering aromas of blackcurrants and dark cherries, very enticing indeed, then a similarly bright attack of the same, very juicy yet crisp and lithe. The middle section continues in much the same vein, with the addition of a rising wave of sour cherry, and the finish is very long and persistent.
Quite a change in style: normally Blot reds are quite funky, even bretty, also sometimes chunky, but this one is very clean and sleek, much more silky and elegant than any wine I’ve had before. In style, it’s like a cross between Alliet’s Coteau du Noiré and something from the Domaine de Bel Air stable. A recent addition to the range, the first vintage was 2018.
The different style could be down to the plot, or the ripe but crisp 2019 vintage, which I’m increasingly fond of, or the influence of Jean-Philippe, or most likely all of those factors, but it’s certainly impressive.
92 pts for now, possibly worth a point or two more if it fleshes out a little more.
Definitely recommended but don’t pay attention to the drinking window on CT - it needs at least another five years and will last for up to a decade more I would think.
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Lol, 4 years later I have succeeded in this mission 
I still haven’t tried my sole Rougeard Poyeux, a 2005, but since I purchased 6 of the 2020 Antoine Sanzay Poyeux recently, I decided to crack one open. I am happy I did so, and it is quite along the lines of the style of wine I currently enjoy (bold and hearty, terroir-driven, yet not overworked in the cellar).
- 2020 Antoine Sanzay Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny (10/25/2025)
Lots going on with this. Violets, olive, red currant, capsicum, loam. Medium plus bodied, very solid core of red and black fruit, with some cedar and menthol-like herbal brightness. Round and silky, but not due to overt oak, lovely underlying acidity maintains balance. Quite powerful, actually, for a Loire Franc, but not extracted or overworked. Firm but ripe tannins, strong finish, gravelly minerality, though as others have noted the alcohol shows a bit. Not the old lean and green style of the region.
Reminds me a bit of an elegant-styled Barolo or Barbaresco in terms of the mix of structure, complexity and weight, albeit Cab Franc from a warmer year all the way. Next bottle in 3-5 years. Easily 10+ years in this this, likely much more. (93 points)
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Great stuff Greg! Better late than never!
That Sanzay sounds good - I didn’t buy any yet because of the 14.5% ABV. I’d been disappointed by his 2018 for the same reason, but you’ve convinced me to try one.
This. Never had a bretty Roches Neuves I think.
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