2019 Benoit Courault Gilbourg - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Anjou (7/23/2022)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over a few hours –
– 100% Chenin Blanc –
NOSE: skin contact type character – a bit gueuze-like; complex melange of leather, warm baking spices mixed with earthy Moroccan spices; kumquat.
BODY: medium to medium-full bodied; medium maize color.
TASTE: rich, with a little bit of skin contact character; mousy on the finish; a bit apple-y — apple cider; the mousiness is really unfortunate here, as I think I’d otherwise like this. NR (flawed)
2019 Benoit Courault Gilbourg - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Anjou (8/19/2022)
A bit mousy — not as bad as prior bottle, but still enough to be noticed and generally ruin the experience. NR (flawed)
Well, the apple cider note may have something to say about that …
I have a fairly wide tolerance for oxidative whites, so frequently don’t mind that so much. The first couple Gilbourgs I had came across that way, and I loved them; it was that experience that inspired me to buy a mixed case last year, 6 of which were this Gilbourg. So far, that mixed case has been a complete fail. I’m done with this producer unless/until I catch wind that he’s making more stable wines.
I have yet to drink a Courault wine I enjoyed. And it’s the purposeful oxidative character of the wine, not mouse, that was my issue. I don’t get the appeal of this style of wine making, but I know a few people whose palates I respect who love this style and these wines.
I’ve only had what I would call oxidative-tending white wines from Courault. The house style seems to me geared toward a skin-contact oxidative-prone style. Maybe you have been more patient. If it’s not purposeful, it’s even worse in some sense.
I realized we might taking about two slightly different things. And an autocorrect I fixed in my last post put me onto it. I am talking about oxidative character. I think wine can be made to have oxidative character young while still having freshness and without being oxidized. I personally haven’t experienced freshness in such a Courault but I do have a thing for the Chateau de Bonnezeaux wines not everyone shares and they are made slightly oxidative but also deliciously textural and flavorful and vibrantly to my taste.
With Chenin I don’t think an oxidative character bodes well for ageability, in other words it seems to hasten true oxidation. A number of houses went through that phase, in Savennieres in particular, like Closel and Epire, and one domaine doesn’t seem able to escape it, Joly, even if they have amazing terroir and occasionally get lucky and hit a home run.
I guess I have to concede that I don’t know for certain Courault intends to make somewhat oxidative Chenin. But if it’s not purposeful, then in any case it seems willfully blind. He espouses to the philosophy from what I’ve seen and heard that wine almost makes itself if you are a conscientious grape grower. Sort of like Joly. The empirical evidence is to the contrary I think, and Chenin that is protected from redox reactions whether by sulfur or winemaking or sugar or a combo tends to make wine I enjoy more personally.
I 100% agree with this, but for me it was the mousiness of all 6 bottles and not the oxidativeness. 3 Gilboug and 3 petit Chemin. Blindfolded, I would have guessed I was drinking a Jura red.
2019 Benoit Courault Gilbourg - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Anjou (7/27/2025)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over approx. 1 hr. on Day 1; revisited on Day 2 –
DAY 1: natty, but not mousy. High acidity. I like it, but past horrible experiences with this wine have me gun-shy with every sip. Leans a touch oxidative-apple on the Nose. Light orange color. Leans just a little orange wine-y. DAY 2: here’s a touch of mouse now … dammit! NR (flawed)
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… one more bottle left … maybe it will go alright with Thanksgiving turkey, after everyone is blotto…
