2017 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Blanc Brézé - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur (10/5/2025)
Touch of color, light, classic, slightly waxy Chenin nose; restrained but flavorful fruit on the palate, with good acidity, some nice light salinity and touch of mouthwatering tartness. Seems to be just slightly underripe, might just need a few more years of bottle age. Still, quite enjoyable. This is the second night, and the wine is a bit more open after 24 hours. (90 points)
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Cross posting from here.
Friday was a great dinner and wine party in Seattle. Amongst the amazing wines, there were three Loire Valley white wines.
1959 Moulin Touchais Anjou Blanc; my bottle. Medium to deep tawny in color, with notes of honey, lanolin, butterscotch, toffee, spice, and preserved lemon. A gentle sweetness and firm acidity gave it balance. Mature but still fresh. Really good, but not my best bottle of this (I’m lucky to have tried several). No photo 
but for some reason captured the cork:
1924 Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu. That’s not a mistype of the vintage; so much fun to drink a 101 year old non-fortified still white wine. Only it wasn’t still. The cork looked much younger than the wine, so I think it was reconditioned and topped off, and that resulted in a refermentation. And it wasn’t a mild one; this had as much fizz as the champagnes! I suggested Steve cover the top and shake it, not yet knowing the extent of the bead, and this resulted in a big spray of old wine on the floor. Despite the flaw, I still loved it. Nectarine and marmalade, lanolin. I loved it despite a second flaw in addition to the secondary fermentation. I thought there might be a touch of lactic contamination giving a subtle sauerkraut-juice note, though no one else seemed to notice it even when I pointed it out.
2005 Domaine Huet Cuvée Constance Both rich and crisp, and fantastic. Marmalade and other sweet citrus, honeyed apricot. What a night!
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Clos Roche Blanche - Sauvignon 5 2008
Pine, grass and diced yellow apples, same as last visit a year ago.
Grapefruit and a creamy lemon thing going on. Healthy dose of ripe bruised fruits and subtle caramel notes, which is not a surprise with the age. Beautiful wine but feeling the age. Drink up if you have.
*I didn’t really expect it to, since all bottles have been enjoyed in one evening, but it’s opened up a lot on day 2. I saw it in fridge without a cork and thought to myself “oh damn, it’s gotten too much air now”, but… The grapefruit is stronger than before with more body and a tiny salinic touch. These wines are magic.
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2024 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Blanc Les Moulins
Nice nose with some pleasant chenin notes. On the palate, the first thing that stands out is the razor sharp acidity, which stays throughout. 12 percent ABV. Very citrus-driven, lemony and dry. Then wet stones, and a pleasant crisp, salty finish. I don’t exactly mind some biting acidity – I enjoy my Mosel rieslings – but here I find it over the top, without the requisite depth of fruit to balance it out, IMO. If Boudignon typifies the lean and chiseled style of chenin, this is the raw-boned cousin. Those drawn to the very leanest expressions of chenin will enjoy it more than I did, and I’m guessing it would mellow out a bit with some more age. But as it is, not entirely my style.
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In my limited-ish experience, Le Moulins and Guichaux are the two most razor-y bottlings of Guiberteau’s blancs.
Makes sense.
I’m guessing there might be a vintage effect at play as well, with 2024 being on the less ripe side. This clocked in at 12.0%, which seems to be a bit lower than some earlier vintages of this one.
Yeah, that’s pretty low. The Moulins sounds like something I’d love.
12% alcohol is just perfect. That’s the goal!
I’m sure 2020, 2022 and 2023 were higher but those should not be the norm. Unfortunately, climate change is punishing us…
Yeah, I’m not meaning to say that 12.0% is inherently bad in and of itself. I have had what, to me, were perfectly balanced chenins in that ballpark.
But if this is a less ripe vintage of what is normally an acidic-leaning cuvée (and, I believe, a winemaker who leans to that side of the spectrum generally), it makes sense to me that this ended up being particularly tart. I am sure many won’t mind, but to me this went too far in that direction.
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one time. Just one time am I going to go on about this wine like this.
2023 Domaine de Gaubourg Anjou Grand Pierre - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Anjou (7/17/2025)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 3 hrs on Day 1; revisited on Day 4 –
NOSE: expressive; bright; pear; a touch herbal.
BODY: luminous 14k gold color; medium bodied. Conglomerate cork closure which seemed to be seated just loose enough to make me worry a bit, but wax top (soft) helps allay concerns a bit.
TASTE: high acidity; salty; ab-so-lute-ly love this!; glycerin mouthfeel – lots of dry extract; 12% alc. not noticeable; tiny hint of pyrazine or something similar (jalapeno); stunning; excellent. DAY 4: good god — this is teeth-clenchingly amazing! So intense! — a neuron star of concentrated fruit and mineral; some oak is noticeable. Lands like a super-f******-serious white Burg. This is head-shakingly, tear-inducingly, incredible … waves of intense salty green pear on Day 4, with fairly pronounced oak – I’d call it “medium”. The concentration of fruit, dry extract, and acidity balance the oak well. Really impressive. This is just an incredible saline-fruity-acid-hound dense crazy good Chenin! Emotional gut impression score of 97-98, ratcheting down to 93 - 95 if I try to shove my excitement to the side. It bears noting that I’ve since had a couple other bottles that did not hit the heights of this first bottle, so there’s apparently some bottle variation, but the sheer glory of this first bottle was real — Day 1 and Day 4 — both awesome.
— since this bottle, I have purchased 13 more over three separate purchases. #I’mabeliever.
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Wow Brian, that sounds stupendous! Coincidentally, I had been eyeing some 2024s last week - I had never heard of the domaine but was curious. Now you have convinced me so I bought some - thanks for the tip!
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Wow, ok. Picked up 2 from K&L and left 2 for someone else 
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Very interested to hear how they go for you. The three bottles I’ve had so far have been: (1)mind-bending; (2)low-level excellent; and (3) excellent.
Has anyone here had the 2019 Huet Clos du Bourg Sec recently? I have a bottle of this stashed away, and was reading CT reviews just now. They’re all over the place. Some people are rating it in the 80’s and saying it’s over the hill and becoming oxidized, while others around the same time are rating in the 90’s and saying it needs more time.
What gives? Are the low ratings from people who had bad bottles? I didn’t think premox was generally an issue with Huet’s wines. Maybe it’s just an example of differing tastes?
I’ve noticed this quite a lot on CT (and in wine reviews more generally) and usually chalk it up to differing preferences. It’s just weird a wine like this has such opposing feedback.
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Assuming youre talking the sec? Would also love to know. Ive got a couple but I usually like these with another 5-10 years
Yes the Sec! Thanks for asking, edited the post to clarify
Another bottle of 2020 Ogereau Clos le Grand Beaupréau Savennières last night. Lovely easy rich and round, while also precise and elegant. It doesn’t thrill me but it is very nice, and guests enjoyed.
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I’ve been seeing more dry Chenins from previously well-known sweet wine vineyards in Anjou as this is apparently part of a recent-ish movement towards vinifying dry instead of sweet.
I’m not entirely sold. I think the RS can really help balance the intense acidity early on and add interesting flavor and weight as they age. I have had some good versions of a drier Chenin before (the Belargus “Roncerey” 2018 was excellent). But I recently opened a 2018 Domaine de la Bergerie “Zerzilles” from parcels that span the Eastern edge of the Quarts de Chaume/Chaume boundary. It was tight, dry, and very austere with lots of salinity. Seemed a bit unbalanced. Not very pleasurable to drink. Have had a few other mixed experiences with the “new style” as well.
Not sure that the “new style” is always going to be the best choice for some parcels. Or is it that these need even more time to come together?
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Also if temps keep rising, completely fermenting down will result in some high abvs. I’d rather see more off dry whites.
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Oldest Boudignon I’ve had was a 2011 a few years ago. It had not fallen apart at all but it seemed on the decline and, IMO, was better nearer to release with more tension and fruit (if you want to call it that).
I’m not so sure I would put Chidaine squarely in the new style although it’s not exactly old school. I haven’t found those to age all that well although haven’t tried across vintages and range.
Huet, Epiré, and to a lesser extent Baumard secs have aged pretty well.
To @gavin.f point, I have a rough time with the high abv dry Chenins. Just too heavy and hot. I put Marc Angeli in this camp and I really love La Lune but it can be tiring.
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