Loire Greats. Hot Take - Vatan over-rated. Cotat is King!

WINE TALK
,
1

Forgive the spammy headline, but with Tiktok going away I wanted to pay homage.

SommCellars Loire tasting. 02/29/2024. $149.95 pp. Great line up. Nice staff knowledge of the wines. No seating and a preamble that ran longer than the aperitif were the only flaws.

Every time I drink Loire, I re-realize that I want to drink more Loire. The quality across the board, the qpr, the range of styles - all a treat.

   Bubbles

NV Jacky Blot Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis Brut Tradition: Clear, light gold, peach and flowers on the nose. Has some weight in a good way. Nice personality - especially at $28. Will explore this producer some more.

   Whites

2021 StĂ©phane Bernaudeau ‘Les Coqueries’ VdF: Heavy reduction and supporting wood notes dominate this. Personally, I wouldn’t touch it for 10 years. $350 @ release and really not drinkable is a tough sell to me.

2014 Richard Leroy ‘Les Rouliers’ VdF: Corked :frowning:

2009 François Cotat Sancerre ‘La Grande Cîte’: Really Excellent. Deeply complex nose, most salient for me were almond flowers, marzipan, and light blue cheese. Mouth follows with the most beautifully integrated jalapeno note. Well balanced. My first time trying aged Cotat and just makes me remember how endlessly deep the wine world is. 91/92

2010 François Cotat Sancerre ‘Les Culs de Beaujeu’: And for my second aged Cotat
 also great! The nose here has some botrytis, little pineapple, general ballet. The mouth has a little RS, but not too much - just a chef’s kiss. Baked fruit. Medium + weight. Long finish. Good supporting acidity. 92/93

2022 GĂ©rard Boulay Sancerre ‘Clos de Beaujeu’: Classic Sancerre. Clear color. Nose is more restrained with some grass, cheese, and lees. Ripe apples. Little bitterness on the end (refreshing). More basic than the Cotats, but what does that actually say? Very good. Solid wine. $65.

2007 Edmond et Anne Vatan Sancerre ‘Clos la NĂ©ore’: This was a complete nothing-burger. Hugely confusing given the reputation here. There were no faults, but past some faint grass and orchard fruit, no one was home. Could this have been that shut down? Some slightly annoying showmanship here (the gentleman leading the tasting tried the wine, knew it wasn’t on all cylinders, but then tried to lead folks by the nose a touch). I answered honestly (expecting to get the shepherd’s crook) when asked “How good is this” and, as others moved through, the truth became apparent.

2012 Domaine Dagueneau Pouilly-FumĂ© ‘Silex’: I wanted to dislike this, but it was wonderful. The oak and smoke dances with cheese and tropics. Not clear who is leading. Wonderful ripe cantaloupe and even slightly bubblegum in the palate. Continued to evolve until the last drop dropped. $260. 92/93

1994 Nicolas Joly Savenniùres ‘Clos de la Coulee de Serrant’: I put my nose in this glass, made a face, and immediately took it out. Joly is such pain for me. Every time it’s been a complete intellectual exercise and this was no exception. Smelling this wine felt like walking into the malt room on Islay except they are malting almonds
tremendous amounts of almonds. Hint of wet dog? Peach? I will say, this wine was bright and clear and didn’t look at all like it was from 1994. $215
.
2017 Domaine Mark Angeli (Ferme de la Sansonniere) ‘La Lune’ VdF: Great. Mushroom and smoke on the nose. Rounds out in the mouth with a lovely giner candy finish. balanced. yum. $65.

2020 Domaine Belargus Anjou Blanc 'Quarts:** Overall, middle of the road. Nose is pleasant. Full and ripe pear with a creamed feeling. Mouth is more apple and oak. Revisit in 6 years.

2018 Domaine AndrĂ©e Anjou Blanc ‘Les FarauniĂšres’: Compelling. Opens up with lemon curd and gunsmoke. Light oak. In balance. $70.

  Reds

2002 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil ‘Les Perriùres’: Pretty light red, some bricking, more transparent. What a nose! Complex, spicy, weirdly strong dusty chocolate, pyrazine. Lovely! Tannins are also dusty, some tart cranberry red berries. Very dry finish. The mouth is nowhere near as good as the nose, but overall a great experience. 89-91.

2002 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny ‘Le Bourg’: Super disappointing. The nose is closed at best with diapers as the salient feature. The mouth is tight and unyielding. The sediment is high. Prehaps this was mishandled?

2008 Olga Raffault Chinon ‘Les Picasses’: Compelling nose - bell pepper, jalapenos, stems, jam. The fruit is fading here and I worry it will fall out soon. Tannins are dusty and the structure still solid.

2021 La Porte Saint Jean Saumur-Champigny: Completely different than the above. All tart fruit, red cherry in the lead, acidic. One dimensional, but still good 85-86.

2022 Domaine SĂ©rol CĂŽte Roannaise ‘Eclat de Granite’: Prunes on the nose. Prunes in the mouth. Prunes on the finish.

Sweet

2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Clos du Bourg’ Moelleux: Light golden color, a touch thin. Not where I would go for my sweet wine kick.

7 Likes
2

Honestly surprised you said this tasting made you want to drink more Loire - I struggled to find many positive notes in here!

2 Likes
3

Drinking Loire makes me want to drink more Loire :slight_smile:, but I don’t think the event got too much in the way of that.

Def a lot of bummers, but the Cotats, the Silex, and the value sparkling - all good in my book. Did you enjoy any of those?

4

I didn’t go, I was just commenting on your recap.

5

I own a little bit of Vatan, but don’t own any 2007, nor have I tasted any to my recollection. Your notes are nothing like any Vatan I’ve tasted. I’ve tasted some that were oxed and others that were overtly corked, but nothing remotely like what you describe. I wonder about the soundness of the bottle you tasted, including low-level TCA, which can act to strip aroma and fruit, but not rise to the level where its aroma is overtly TCA moldy cardboard.

3 Likes
6

Plus 1

The note and description sound like low level TCA. I’ve never had 07 Vatan so I can’t speak for sure. And the wines are not forward but that seems like sub-threshold TCA interfering.

2 Likes
7

Fighting words in that thread title, though obviously your clickbait worked for me


That said, last year I bought some Cotat as the ‘baby Vatan’ since Vatan is stoopid money, and waiting for Scott Kulek to let me know it’s in
though it’s 2020 vintage so not sure I’ll crack it too quickly

8

2007 Edmond et Anne Vatan Sancerre ‘Clos la NĂ©ore’: This was a complete nothing-burger. Hugely confusing given the reputation here. There were no faults, but past some faint grass and orchard fruit, no one was home. Could this have been that shut down? Some slightly annoying showmanship here (the gentleman leading the tasting tried the wine, knew it wasn’t on all cylinders, but then tried to lead folks by the nose a touch). I answered honestly (expecting to get the shepherd’s crook) when asked “How good is this” and, as others moved through, the truth became apparent.

Hmm interesting I was at this tasting and agree that this was shut down / underwhelming but I got some more out of the nose in the forms of tropical fruit, cut grass & mint. Although I cant really comment on the TCA as I have a pretty high tolerance it was quite muted so wouldn’t surprise me.

Sillix and Quarts were the WOTN for me.

1 Like
9

I’m with you on the Joly. I’ve had all of the different cuvees and in various vintages (and fairly confident I’ve had that 94), and I always come away thinking “wine shouldn’t be this much work to drink”. We’ve all had ‘intellectual’ wines that are enjoyable for the ways they challenge our conceptions, or their astonishing complexity, or both. Joly is not that for me. It’s just laborious and often possibly oxidized. I know he claims it needs days of air to ‘truly open’ but c’mon man.

4 Likes
10

@M.Kaplan / @Marcus_Goodfellow - ahh, you know, that makes perfect sense.

Didn’t know that about low-level TCA.

1 Like
11

Well put. I don’t even mind occasional putting in that much work, but don’t want to every
single
time!

Greg, have you run one that long? I have followed for 48 hrs and found it changed, but did not experience a wildly rapturous revelation.

12

I’ve had the 07 a few times. I thought exactly the same when I read the note. low level TCA. My last bottle was corked as was the last note in CT.

When on, the wine is astounding.

1 Like
13

I was there for the Tuscan tasting.

Daniel is a great guy and I love all of the events that they are doing. But I agree with you on the introduction being too long.

1 Like
14

i have very much enjoyed the wines i have had from both Cotat and Vatan

1 Like
15

I think the longest I’ve followed a Joly wine was about 3 days. It didn’t budge and I concluded it was just oxidized.

2 Likes
16

My future as a NY Post writer is practically secured!

T$, exciting to hear. This has become a cellar wine for me, even from just this small sample size. I’m still figuring out where to source through. Who did you buy from?
I see that Thatcher seems to currently have the best prices. If you have any interest in backfilling at all, the '09/'10 really were enjoyable, and well worth what they are at currently.

I wanted to like the Quarts a lot, but ended up at ~ this is good now, but really needs more time.
I’ll cellar the Cotats. You cellar the Quarts. We have a blind battle in 5 years? :slight_smile:

17

Im game for that :slight_smile:

Not sure if you are a Winebid fan but there are some 2012 and 2014 Cotats that went up this week. Both La Grande Cote and Les Monts Damnes

18

If Cotat is king, than Boulay is the God Emperor!

19

Coincidentally having a 17 Vatan today. Opened last night. Packed wine. Passion fruit, peaches and an almost oily/glycerin palate with a spicy fennel thing. Very interesting wine.

20240321_181109
20240321_1811091920×1440 258 KB

1 Like
20

Sounds about right! I think it’s almost an acquired taste. I’ve liked the few I’ve had the chance to try, but not sure Vatan is what I would consider “classic” Sancerre.

1 Like