TN: 1996 François Pinon Vouvray 1er Trie

Just a beautiful bottle of wine… Poised and quite simply one of the most incredibly balanced wines I’ve experienced. Redolent with scents of honey and apricots, but in a refined manner, rather than being overwhelming. Tastes of honey and beeswax, tea leaves, apricot and some quince or lemon… I think it could stand to gain some additional complexity with time still.

Not nearly as perceptibly sweet as I might have expected from a 1er Trie… this was very poised and elegant… probably a product of the wine’s balance and the vintage, which I understand was very good, but not over the top or heavily affected by botrytis. Unfortunately, I do not know the technical data on residual sugar).

I thought I recall hearing that Pinon’s terroir wasn’t as privileged as some in Vouvray… I can’t imagine that’s true after having this wine!