I just received a shipment including several bottles of Andre Clouet 1911, which I believe is a multi-vintage blend. Each bottle came with a hand-written pamphlet stating that my bottles are numbers 931-936 of “Cuvee 17”, disgorged June 10, 2009.
Does anyone know what is in this wine (i.e. what vintages are in Cuvee 17 specifically, and how this wine is assembled)? The pamphlet has a bunch of reviews describing the 1911 as being from '95, '96 and '97, but that’s an older review, presumably of a different “Cuvee”…
There is also a lot number on the bottle, but without a magnifying glass (which I don’t have handy), it’s impossible for me to make out the characters…
Hi John,
I might be mistaken seems like the new multi vintage though (trying to get a hold of my national importer as well). If so, 50 % of the wine is made out of the 2002 vintage and the rest is made from a solera blend of vintages from 2000-2005 vintages (usually three vintages). Other than that the regular, 100 % pinot from their best vineyards in Bouzy and oak barrels from Doisy Daëne in Sauternes for the aging.
Hope that helps, will let you know what they say!
Cuvee 17 is not the same wine that was tasted for the reviews included in the pamphlet. It could be that the only difference is disgorgements dates, but I think they are different blends. The first time I had this was at EMP in July '08 and I was sitting next to AG. He just gave it 94 pts and it was a great wine. I had it there again the next month and still great. I ordered a bunch from my LWS and it was different, but still good. I believe that was cuvee 14 or 15, so AG probably reviewed 12 or 13. I went through 2 cases and ordered more. This time the OWC’s were stained and the cuvees were 16 and 17. John - I believe the disgorgement dates are listed using the European date format, so my 16 pamphlet would indicate a date of Sep 9, 2009 and my 17 pamphlet Oct 6, 2009. 16 drank ok, but 17 is not for me. What really burns me is that they continue to take advantage of the reviews which clearly state vintages that are probably not represented in the bottles attached to pamphlets. Retailers do it all the time with NV’s, but this goes beyond that. I never buy NV anymore without drinking a bottle first and then I only buy more from the same lot. I am glad to see to more producers listing blends and disgorgement dates - on the bottles, not in pamphlets attached to straw wrapping attached to the bottles.
The booklet in the Andre Clouet 1911 has been unchanged for years - the tasting notes and corresponding years mentioned in the booklet have no correlation with the wine in the bottle anymore. In fact, I don’t think they ever did (IIRC, notes were always about previous releases). The most recent release I know of is Cuvee 20 which was released in the late summer/fall of this year.
They’ve never been super open about the vintages in the bottle (meaning like most NVs, the labels didn’t tell you the years in the blend). The other interesting aspect is that more than one cuvee can be made/released in a year. They are on Cuvee 20 and this wine has not been released for 20 years. Also, the base vintage in the first release of this wine was from the early 1990s so, again, twenty different base vintages are not possible. In the past 24 months, I have seen 6 different cuvees of this wine released. It seemed to start out as a once a year kind of cuvee, but something else is going on now.
I would be extremely shocked to learn that Cuvee 17 was a late release of the 95/96/97 blend, but stranger things have happened. As Christofer said, this is all Bouzy Pinot Noir and comes from a selection of their best plots - up to ten of them, but not always all ten or the same mix.
I’ve never tried to deep dive into exactly what’s going on or what is up with this wine, but I probably should. Regardless, I think this wine rocks and it is always a favorite of mine.
This Clouet and the Bereche Reflet D’Antan are the two NVs that are moderately obscure that you have recommended that have become my favorites. Any others (especially under $75) that you would put in that category?
A few more that I really, really like that are both in the bigger style like the above two and from the same Pinot dominant areas are:
Paul Dethune (Ambonnay) - NV Cuvee a l’Ancienne: 50/50 Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, aged in 205L oak barrels, normally from a single vintage and not released until 7+ years after the vintage. Bigger, richer, creamy, and spicy. Price is around $100 in the US though (less expensive in Europe).
Roger Pouillon (Mareuil-sur-Ay) - NV Brut Vigneron: 50/50 Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, this is a enamel lined-steel aged solera dating back to 1997 where 50% of the blend is always a base vintage. Crisp, spicy apples and citrus. This has a great mix of young and more mature characteristics. Price is sub $50 though it is difficult to find in the US right now.
Roger Pouillon (Mareuil-sur-Ay) - NV Fleur de Mareuil: 50/50 Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, aged in oak barrels, a blend of at least 2 vintages. Big, bold, baked apples and creamy vanilla come through, but so does a nice dose of citrus minerality. Price is sub-$75.
I received an email from the folks a RWC with a scan of some of the paperwork associated with my purchase. It showed a 9/29/2007 disgorgment date, and the following…Cette bouteille est la --hard to read-- but it looks like 14 18 then another word I can’t read…and then words that look like they translate to Cuvee 11. There is also a Richard Juhlin review with the review indicating the 95/96/07 blend.
Does this do anything to help confirm the bottles…??? Damned if I know!!
I just got back a response from the importer, the whole thing, as Brad suggests, is kinda hazy. She didn’t know for sure but believed it to be the previous release the 50% 1996/ 25 % 1997/ 25 % 1998. This all in regards to John’s wine of course, don’t know how much further that takes you but an email, if there is one, to Clouet?
Hope some of it helped!
There is a good shot that you have one of the better bottles. There is only one way to tell for sure - pop n pour. 1418 would be the bottle number, out of 1911 for that cuvee.
Had the Cuvee 19 last weekend (Disgorged in 5-2010) and it was very good. Sadly I have no notes as we were at our company holiday party in a limo bus with very loud music playing (thank you Stefan for providing the mixed tape).
are NM 501-001 - on my bottles.![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
