+1
Awesome wines. Feel free to explore up the ladder the Clos de la Hutte is exceptional in a great line up.
But the Anjou Blanc is my go to Loire Chenin Blanc.
PS-bear in mind that 2018 and 2019 are as warm, relatively speaking, in the Loire as Burgundy. The Bourdignon wines are still dynamite but the 2017s were electric.
And for those that can afford where Keller is going, Bourdignon wines are…nothing to see here 
Awesome note Julian. I’ll definitely add this to the short list.
I had a pair this weekend which really emphasised the difference between “new” and “old” styles:
Chateau de Plaisance - Anjou - La Grand Pièce - 2020
Typically bright, sharp nose of orange peel and lemon, plus a little spring flowers and chalk. The attack is fresh and arresting, lemon and lime to the fore, before the gently sweet orange kicks in with a slightly richer vein of honeysuckle. the finish is a little grippy for now, but this is clearly going to improve with time. 14° ABV but I would never have guessed it was more than 12.5°. A delicious wine from the new kid on the block.
Vincent Carème - Vouvray Sec - 2016
A little reductive on opening, but then notes of hay, honey and lemon, before an attack of slightly bitter lemon and crisp lime, then some fairly rich honey and butterscotch, with quince and some ageing apple on the finish. 13.5° but it didn’t really show. A very good Vouvray in a traditional style.
I like Vincent Carème’s wines a lot, but the comparison did it no favours whatsoever. I think on its own would have been fairer, especially since it’s a lot cheaper than the Plaisance, but I’d rather pay the difference and have something special.
“Modern” can so often be a double-edged sword these days but for Loire chenin secs, there’s nothing remotely pejorative about the term.
Not Vouvray but all chenin… Clos du Papillon - Domaine des BAUMARD - Loire Valley Wines
I find them to age well and now under screwcap so oxidation should be a non-issue. I bought a case of the '15 last year (close out?) and it has been great through the first few bottles.
Priced reasonably. Surprised it hasn’t already been mentioned here.
Cheers,
fred
I served the 2017 Thibaud Boudignon Anjou Blanc blind to a tasting group on Monday. It was a nice wine you could serve to almost any company and they would enjoy it, it would go well at the dinner table or by itself, and at the $37 I paid from Golden 8 Wines (next lowest WSPro is $45) was solid if not exceptional value.
Nice purity of peach, orange and pineapple flavors, clean finish, avoids overripeness or too much weight. But for me, and I think most others around the table, it didn’t have either any electricity or wow to it, or any real geeky cerebral dimensions. It was just a nice, tasty white wine.
And that’s not a dig at it, nor do I mean to imply a demand that a base Anjou Blanc be anything spectacular, but at the same time, I don’t think I or anyone else at the table was compelled to go out and buy some either. If it were $25, sure, but not really at the actual pricing.
At about the same price, I liked the Guiberteau Saumur Blanc Les Moulins 2018 (my tasting note is upthread) a decent amount more.
I used to buy that wine and liked it a lot, and screwcaps would be a big plus.
However, that wine isn’t very widely available in the US, and it sells usually for $55 and up. Which may not be overpriced for the quality, but at $55, there are a lot of really good white wines in the world it’s competing with too.
Quite agree about the Boudignon - nice wine but a little overpriced.
Yes, again I agree. Baumard wines were my introduction to Savennières and I had many wonderful bottles from the late 90s. Then the prices went up and I had a run of premoxed bottles that put me off buying more. I did try a couple from 2014 but wasn’t bowled over compared to so many others.
Some you win some you lose - this is one, for me at least, to avoid:
Clos Galerne, Anjou Les Rouannières 2020
Unfortunately I didn’t know before buying it that this wine has 15° ABV.
Sadly, that sums it up.
Quite intense aromas of orange peel and lemon, then some white peach, and the first sips were promising, showing some fresh citrus flavours before the rich middle section sent it spinning up into exotic land with hints of pineapple.
I can’t say that the alcohol really showed at first, because the balance is quite good and the finish wasn’t especially hot, but after half a glass, the effect on the head was obvious - 15° is 15°, it’s as simple as that.
Unless you’re built like a steamroller, this is problematic and personally, I don’t want to feel tipsy after half a glass of white wine, so no - not a winner.
Cédric Bourez is another of the Young Turk Anjou producers and I had high hopes for this, but unlike the others, he doesn’t pick early, hence I suspect the high ABV.
So it tasted balanced and you didn’t detect excess alcohol in the smell or taste, but it was just the impairment you felt after a glass that was the negative?
I’m not sure if the difference between 14% and 15% in one glass of wine would do that. That’s the same difference as if the pour of a 14% wine had been 3.2 ounces instead of 3 ounces.
I wonder if you would have perceived the same thing if you hadn’t seen the number on the label?
I think I’m more sensitive than some to high alcohol, or perhaps the combination with glycerine- I don’t know. Anyway I tried another glass last night after dinner which wasn’t any better.
Thanks for this report. Very interesting and it inspired me to get some of the Vent de Spilite which I am drinking right now. Very tight and reticent nose initially that really took some coaxing to open up. But when it did, what a delicious wine this is. There is some pear and honey, but what really stands out are the non-fruit flavors - minerals, wet stones, salt, and a sappiness that speaks more of plant than grape. I am really happy to have more of this still very young wine. Your report mentioned cellaring this one. What time frame are you considering? Thanks again.