My little girl is about to start kindergarten next week so I took a two week paternity leave during which we would visit her group a couple of times to meet the other kids and the teachers and learn the facilities etc. Catching each and every seasonal flu is nothing new since my son is soon five but this was rather comical: after two short visits my daughter’s nose started leaking bad and the next day it was my turn. This forced me to stay dry for a whopping 9 days which is way more than I would like. I don’t consume a lot of wine but I do consume often, roughly five days a week normally. Fortunately it’s all behind now and I as such I wanted to open a white that would work with cold smoked salmon and deliver the goods.
There seems to be a really strong stylistic signature on these Taille aux Loups Chenins but thus far I’ve yet to have a bad one. While ultimately I may prefer a more acidity-driven style of Chenin I do enjoy these a lot too. I need to find out where I buried all my remaining 2019 single vineyards.
2022 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Remus - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire (14.8.2025)
A markedly woolly nose with notes of relatively complex fruits (lemon, tangerine, honeydew), plentiful leesiness and gentle woody tones. On the palate it packs more volume than the stated 12.5% would have you believe but as tends to be the case with this producer also good structure and energy. Quite concentrated especially for being the entry level product at this address but then in the grand scheme of things it is a rather serious wine. As far as the flavors go it understated more than a show-off but that is all relative, there is nothing neutral about it. More than anything it is about texture and layers. The acidity is not in your face but clearly there is plenty of it underneath the concentration. It remains somewhat backwards at this early stage but it is super food-friendly and with appropriate fare the glass is emptied alarmingly fast. It comes off as quite dry and has a savory feel to it. While not a wine of superlatives this is a really nice dry Chenin from a very reliable address.
Thanks for the note. I haven’t had Taille aux Loups in many years (and who knows how things have changed with Jacky Blot now gone), but I do remember the house style being a bit loose and imprecise, and therefore never my favorite.
I don’t have enough datapoints to make very strong statements but looking at my various notes I have at least liked every bottling I’ve had and absolutely loved some like the 2013 Remus and the 2019 Clos de Mosny. Seems like the more the acidity stands out the more I enjoy them. I need to try the 2021 Bretonnière soon, I reckon the cool vintage could appeal to my palate quite a lot. Safe to say the general style here is quite different from say Boudignon Anjou so maybe it is not the best address for those looking for maximum purity and a highly minerally expression of Chenin.
I visited the winery last September during my Loire trip, and it was a highlight of the trip. There were no other groups there so our experience was a bit more intimate, and they were really engaging and informative. They seem to be carrying on with Jacky’s legacy and methods. We tasted several wines from the 2022 vintage, some older vintage demi-sec and molleux, and a few sparklers (Triple Zero, Triple Zero traditional method, and a 2009 Triple Zero).
In my limited experience the wines have come across as all-around well balanced and concentrated, without the razor-sharp acidity of some more trendy addresses in the Loire (which I am also a fan of, to be clear). The 2022 wines had round fruit but were still quite fresh and lively. I took home some of the 2022 Clos de Mosny and Bretonniere, which were my favorites of that vintage. I also couldn’t resist taking some of that 2009 Triple Zero home. I’d never had a methode ancestrale with that much age on it, and it was killer for the price (under €40 I believe?).
I’ve also had the 2020 Venise before, which was another warm vintage. It seems like they do a good job retaining the freshness of the wine even in warmer vintages, as I never felt like any of these wines were overripe, simple, or lacking tension. I’d wager a cooler vintage like 2021 is really where the wines show best though.
Sounds like a really good visit with a nice number of wines to taste! I’ve only been to Loire once and tastingwise had a similar experience in Chidaine’s shop by the river. Anyhow thanks for sharing your thoughts, they mirror my experience pretty much. I need to find my remaining 2019s (Venise, Bretonnière etc) and the 2021 Bretonnière to keep on exploring further.
