I have three Stephane Bernaudeau under the radar: Les Coqueries 2022, Les Ongles 2021 and Les Nourrissons 2022.
I haven’t tried any Bernaudeau yet but I am really enjoying Chenin Blanc as of late (Chidaine’s Choisilles, Morgat’s Fides, amongst others).
Could someone help me pick amongst the three? Ongles seems to be 15% more expensive than Coqueries and Norrissons nearly twice as much. Is this difference justified? Is the quality/style of these three very different?
I would avoid Les Coqueries in the 2022 vintage. I recently had it and it had mouse taint. Nourissons is the superior wine normally and the price difference is not by chance. I think it is also a bit more in the structured style, whereas Les Onglés is more floral. But the 2021 vintage Onglés was not as good as the 18 and 20 that I have also had. So all in all if I could part with the money and wanted the best possible Bernaudeau I would pick Nourissons.
Nourrissons is the better wine… give it some air/decant…
Ongles is really delish/pleasurable… but Nourrissons is much more complex.
put another way, on the wine list in france, and prices are similar. it’s an easy choice.
if you own them all and want to pick, it would depend on if you want to put a little more age on them.
they are all delish (unless mouse taint of course but i haven’t tried a 22 coq yet).
If you can I think you should get them both and drink the Onglés first. Other than the 22 Les Coqueries, Bernaudeau are really soma of the best white wines I can think of having tasted.
Well, not really. What I am seeing is Cocqueries at about 120 euros, Ongles at 140 and Nourrissons at 200. So the price difference already implies Nourrissons is the better one by some way…
I buy them all at the same price. I suppose the price is determined by how many Coqueries you get on one Nourissons, because it’s the more sought after cuvee.
My only consideration to add here is wether you like your Chenins young and fresh or older as @Mark_Y says. I’ve in time personally shifted from aged Chenin to young.
And thanks @Johan_R for the datapoint. Got a lot last year so I’ll pop one open next month and report back.
Get an Ongles or Nourissons and see how you like it — you can always get more.
I drink quite a bit of Bernaudeau and while Nourrissons is the better wine, it also requires age. To get a sense of his style, opening a young Ongles is not a bad idea…
I have the regular 2023 Coqueries and the ‘24 mois elevage’ 2022 Coqueries. Is the mouse taint only with the 2022 regular edition, or also for the extended elevage and/or the 2023 regular? Thanks