I’m told there was at some point a Baudry Clos Guillot Franc de Pied, but other than a few one-off mentions I’m not able to find much info about it. Are any of those still out there / are they findable?
Similar questions re: Croix Boissee Blanc Moelleux. Heard about it, seen a picture of it once, never had any remote luck finding one.
I’ve also come across a few mentions of Huet Clos du Bourg “Temoin” and “Essai.” Can anyone shed light on what those might be?
Last but not least- thoughts on a drinking window / decant time for 2020 Bernaudeau Coqueries? I lucked into one at essentially wholesale + $20. Might be the only one I ever buy, and there’s very little info out there.
The 2011 Baudry France de Pied was its last vintage, the vineyard succumbed to the louse. I posted a note recently on my last bottle. They are wonderful, and well worth the tariff if you find one.
Below are Stephen Reinhardt’s notes on the Huet wines. BBR has bot available, Temoin by the half case and the Essai as a part of a half case. The half case of the Essai also has the Le Mont Vin Pressee. I’ve wanted to buy one of these for a while…
The intensely golden colored 1989 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Premire Trie offers a clear, deep, rich, spicy and intense stone fruit flavor intermixed with coolish earthy/mineral and some nutty flavors. Very fruit-intense, elegant and really sappy on the palate, with less concentration compared to the corresponding Le Mont but with a mineral and tannic tension, this is a full-bodied, dense and persistent Chenin that is still extremely young but should age well for for decades. According to Nol Pinguet there was no botrytis in 1989: The berries were absolutely healthy when they dried on the vines in a vintage that is the best I have ever made and stays side by side with the legendary 1947. (145 EUR) Stephan Reinhardt - 30/11/2015
Wine Advocate (Stephen Reinhardt) 99+
"1989 was the year when Noël Pinguet started his biodynamic farming in a parcel of the Clos du Bourg called Essai (by the way, the domaine never used weed-killers before). He picked and processed the grapes separately and vinified an independent wine: 1989 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie Essai. This wine has an exceptionally intense, deep orange to amber color and an explosive fruit on the nose. Highly ripe, concentrated and aromatic – more like an apricot or blood orange chutney or confiture – and underpinned with spicy and lemon-fresh aromas, this incredibly clear and precise nose indicates a great depth and concentration. Indeed this wine is like a syrup or nectar on the palate, so concentrated, so brilliant and intense in its fruit expression whereas the sharp, laser-beamy acidity is that of an Eiswein, as if the wine was still fermenting…! What I have here on my table is just the perfect bottle although one could argue the acidity is too dominant, the tannins are a little bit too grippy, and the style a little but too oxidative (think of white Port and sweet Sherries), but I love it when a wine is raising questions and doesn’t let you go ahead with the next one. Here is so much finesse and elegance but most of all drama in this wine, as if it were Shakespeare’s Macbeth interpreted by a winemaker. Exceptional. Eternal. According to Noël Pinguet, there was no botrytis in 1989: “The berries were absolutely healthy when they dried on the vines in a vintage that is the best I have ever made and stays side by side with the legendary 1947.”
I tried the 2016 Plouzeau, found it exceptional. I have a couple more socked away, will buy more if I can.
Opened a Chidaine FdP last night, and had the Huet last year at a dinner @ Chambers in NYC. Both exceptional too, each a clear step up IMO from the equivalent grafted bottlings.
Breton + Roches Neuves are on my list to try. My perception from searching around is that Breton + Roches Neuves = Fairly findable w/ some effort. Plouzeau a bit harder but not impossible. Huet + Chidaine only come up at auction rarely. Baudry + Joguet I’ve never even seen.
Easy to find in France for sure. I bought some 2016 this year for 35 euros (auction). The 2022 is 36 euros at Vinatis. This basically shows that it is not very sought after I guess. I like it.
The Breton and the Roche Neuves are nice but do not really move me enough to buy every year, like I do Plouzeau, and once did Baudry and Joguet. They are worth a try.
I like the Roches-Neuves one a lot, but I agree that the Breton is not really memorable, at least the ones I’ve tried so far.
Another FDP is Coulaine’s, but so far, for me it is like the Breton one - not really the best wine in their portfolio. It is at least fairly priced.
Now mind you, there are other vineyards and regions in Europe that have pre-phylloxera vines as well, such as Colares in Portugal. If you are into this pre-phylloxera experience, you must try a Colares. Up until a few years ago it was still pretty easy to find vintages from the 1950s and 1960s that were reasonably well priced, but I have not checked in the last year or two.
Could you expand on what the Colares are, even down to the most basic sense? Is it a region, or a vineyard, can you tell which bottles are from FdP vines, which producers are worth looking for, what are the wines like, etc.? I’m quite curious. Thanks.
Huet made a bunch of special bottlings in 1989. The Temoin is the control bottling for the Essai. Otherwise identical but the Essai is made from biodynamic grapes and the Temoin is not. Personally, I prefer the Temoin though the Essai is also fantastic,
There was also a Debut Presse made from the first pressing of Le Mont grapes and a Fin de Pressee made from the last pressing. I love the former, less enamored of the latter.
