TNs: Loire / Jura night

WINE TALK
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LOIRE / JURA NIGHT - (5/9/2022)

Had the opportunity to bring a couple of wines for friends who didn’t have wines from the region, so decided to do a horizontal of 2018 Jura whites for the three wines that I brought (and also because I didn’t have time to go down to storage to pick other wines). Was telling them that these areas remain a great value (relatively) as top producers such as the three I brought were all available for around 50 euros still.

  • 2017 Tissot (Bénédicte et Stéphane / André et Mireille) Savagnin Arbois - France, Jura, Arbois
    Nutty and oxidative, almost like a vin jaune. Not a fan of sherry notes in wine so definitely down as an acquired taste in my book.

  • 2020 Nicolas Joly Savennières Les Clos Sacrés (Les Vieux Clos) - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières
    Excessively high alcohol (said 14.5% on the label) that gave the impression of a plodding wine, despite having a good intensity of ripe exotic fruits such as pineapple and melon. Thought that the wines from this domaine were a little more restrained after the changing of guard but guess I was wrong. Definitely was well-made in terms of the intention of the winemaker but it was too much for me. (86 pts.)

  • 2018 Caveau de Bacchus Melon à Queue Rouge Arbois Cuvée des Docteurs - France, Jura, Arbois
    Similar impressions to my previous note. Classic and restrained in a Burgundy Chardonnay sense. Good entry point for people who didn’t have many Juras before, as they voted this to be their favourite. (91 pts.)

  • 2018 François Rousset-Martin Côtes du Jura Sous Voile Beaumont La Chaux - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
    Quite natty and the most aromatic on the nose. Strong hint of barley, round and ripe greenish-yellow fruits. Most oxidative and nutty out of the three. Had a lovely saline finish, liked this a lot more than the previous FRM white that I had. (91 pts.)

  • 2018 Tissot (Bénédicte et Stéphane / André et Mireille) Arbois Les Bruyères - France, Jura, Arbois
    On opening this had a little too much alcohol and tropical fruits, but settled to show more restrained yellow citrus fruit. Love Tissot’s wines for their balance between power and tension, and this showed beautifully for a warmer vintage. Believe this was voted to be the favourite, marginally ahead of the Aviet. (92 pts.)

  • 2015 Niepoort Bairrada Lagar de Baixo Quinta de Baixo - Portugal, Beiras, Bairrada
    Intermission red which was a leftover from a friend - turned out to be my favourite red. Rather tannic most usual Portuguese reds but this had plenty of restrained, pure red fruit. Good freshness but slightly harsh finish. 11.5% alcohol! (90 pts.)

  • 2005 Domaine de la Chevalerie Bourgueil Chevalerie - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil
    Rather inky and extracted, an easy guess to be a Bourgueil Cabernet Franc but everyone thought this was a 2015 or 2018. Remarkably fresh for a wine that is over 15 years old, but this was a product of its time - too much purple fruit. Probably was over-extracted such that the tannins were rough and dusty. (88 pts.)

  • 2019 Alphonse Mellot Sancerre Rouge La Moussière - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre Rouge
    Wasn’t a fan of this. Tasted overripe for a Pinot Noir and was discussing with a friend that perhaps not all Loire makers have had the same experience in adapting to the warmer vintages like their Burgundy counterparts. Dark red cherry fruit, a little too concentrated (not in a good way) for my liking. (88 pts.)

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Great notes. Tissot’s Savagnin bottling spends a few years sous voile, so it is definitely a “mini” Vin Jaune and an acquired taste indeed.

If you want to taste ouillé Savagnin from Tissot then you need to look for the bottling called Traminer. It is really good (the 2016 is atleast).

If you like Jura wines and have any of these producers available in your market, then i would recommend them: Labet, Les Dolomies or Domaine des Marnes Blanches.

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Thanks Lasse for your input! I think the Savignin interesting enough with food but not something I would seek out on my own. I do have some Puffeney though but have not opened them, are they along the same vein?

And yes! I love Labet as well but unfortunately they are out of reach now, saving what I have for special occasions. Have not tried Dolomies so will keep a look out for them, like Marnes Blanches too from what I have tried - would say they are more Burgundy-like similar to the Aviet.

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Sorry you didn’t like the Chevalerie 2005 - but sadly not very surprised. I like the wines from this domain a lot but the style does vary according to the vintage. The 05 I tried was just as you describe - not my cup of tea either, whereas the 09s have been a lot crisper and fresher.

I’m just musing, but I wonder if with the 2005s, many producers felt that it was then or never to finally convince RMP that Loire reds could be to his taste, hence some overblown wines, the worst offender of which was Couly-Dutheil.
It’s very ironic really - if Parker had tasted any Loire red 2005s, he probably would have liked them, since there was no trace of the greenness he hated, but I don’t believe he ever did and I’ve never seen any tasting notes. So it was a waste of time and I think, a wasted opportunity to produce much better wines.

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I have not tasted anything from Puffeney in many years and only had one or two bottles so i cannot really remember the wines well.

I agree Marnes Blanches is more “Burgundy like” at youth atleast. But they move more towards what you would expect from Jura with age.

Les Dolomies is probably what comes closest to Labet.

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Thanks for the thoughtful response as always with respect to Loire (and also Bordeaux!) Julian. Indeed, it was a wine trying too hard to mimick the style in vogue at the time. These wines remain cheap at auction so I do have a couple still that I look forward to trying from this era. I do remember you loving the Couly-Dutheil from the 90s and I definitely agree with you that the wines from the era were something else, especially for the price.

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Thanks for the input Lasse, will look out for Les Dolomies for sure :slight_smile: