Noël Pinguet, Domaine Huet

Today there was one of those must attend tastings – Richards Walford at the Baltic Restaurant, London SE1. Although the Baltic is a good venue with excellent food, Richards W has to an extent become a victim of their success as the tasting area soon became quite cramped.

I concentrated on the smallish selection of Loires on show dominated by recent and some older vintages from Domaine Huet. Noël Pinguet was there as well as Anthony and Evelyn Hwang, who were also presenting wines from their Kiráyudvar estate in Tarcal, Tokaji.

First four other Loires with the crisp, lemony and quite austere 2007 Touraine Sauvignon from Jean-Christophe Manard of Mareuil–sur-Cher. Next another Sauvignon this time the 2007 Reuilly from Denis Jamain, this was again crisp and lemony but with more weight than the Mandard. Unfortunately Jamain's delicious 2007 Pinot Noir wasn't in the tasting. Then changing to Chenin Blanc with the 2007 Saumur Blanc from Frédéric Mabileau. Although this has some weight, it is considerably leaner and less expressive than it was before bottling. There is certainly potential there but it either needs time or out into a carafe for an hour or two before serving. Also on show was Frédéric’s vibrant 2007 Les Rouillères, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.


Then nine wines from Domaine that included several that I had tasted on 12th January. Confirmation that though the 2007 Le Mont sec is lovely, the powerful 2007 Clos de Bourg sec is even better with great mineral purity. The 2007 Le Mont demi-sec again showed well and was partnered with the golden hued 2000 Le Mont demi-sec showing greater complexity from its time in bottle gaining a long lasting, dry honey flavour that carries on into the quite austere finish.

Following Noël’s instruction I tasted the 1986 Le Clos du Bourg moelleux before the richer 2005. The 1986 has 32 gms of residual sugar – “a moelleux before global warming,” commented Noël. The 1986 has a typically pure and austere Huet finish preceded by a honeyed nose and a beeswax and mineral palate. Then the still very youthful, rich and honeyed 2005 Le Mont moelleux – only hinting at the complexity to come with age.

The 2002 Le Clos du Bourg moelleux 1er tri (58 gms rs) with its sweet honeyed fruit with hints of lychee, wonderful balance and length shows again what a marvelous vintage 2002 is. The hope, of course, is that 2008 will turn out equally well as September and October resembled 2002. The 1993 Le Haut Lieu moelleux 1er tri completed the line up. It was just as fascinating as it was when I tasted it with Jean-Bernard.“

Antony and Evelyn Hwang: Kiráyudvar estate and Domaine Huet

While Noël poured Vouvray, Anthony and Evelyn Hwang poured their Tokaji starting with the widely contrasting secs from 2005 and 2006. The 2005 slightly oxidative in style giving additional complexity, some beeswax and minerality, while the 2006 was more opulent, richer and less mineral. From the five other Tokajis on taste – a demi-sec and four sweet – the last two (2002 Aszù 6 Puttonyos and 2002 Aszù Lapis) really stood out. Here the richness in sugar (197 gms rs and 235 gms rs) is balanced by high acidity (9.5 and 9.2) giving the wines a thrilling tension. Perhaps inevitably this quality comes at a price – £56.49 and £84.49 a bottle respectively.

Richard Kelley MW

Also had time to catch up with Richard Kelley MW, who has nearly finished writing up his recent researches in Jasnières and the Coteaux du Vendômois. They should appear on his site soon. Richard has just become one of the world’s leading authorities on Châteaumeillant as well as exploring the Côte Roannaise.

I dropped in yesterday to Vinopolis for this annual event featuring some 75 independent wine producers from around France. Although the event was advertised to finish at 5.30 even at 4.30 when I arrived a number of the producers had already left. I was later arriving than I had intended, so it was a bit of a rush and naturally concentrated on Loire producers. Although I did manage to taste wines from a good number of them I didn’t manage to get to all of them.

Sadly there was little here to get excited about – certainly nothing sensational.

Probably the best wine was a 2007 Coteaux du Giennois (Sauvignon Blanc) from Domaine Langlois Père et Fils, run since 1996 by Catherine and Michel Langlois, which had attractive grapefruit character, some weight and good length. Their 2008 version – gooseberry and grapefruit – looks promising and will be bottled in February. The Langlois white’s showed better than their reds, which helps to confirm the disappointment I felt at the poor showing of Coteaux du Giennois reds at the tasting of Central Vineyard reds I did in Sancerre on 19th December 2008. Putting the light bodied 2007 Le Champ Galant (90% PN, 10% Gamay) in barrique for a year doesn’t strike me as a good idea and has imparted some harsh wood flavours to the finish. However, their 2005 was certainly the best of the Giennois I tasted in Sancerre.

A couple of other wines to mention – a 2008 Touraine Sauvignon and a 2007 Pinot Gris from Reuilly.

The 2008 Touraine Sauvignon from Domaine Le Haut Chesneau of Thesée in the Cher Valley is from old vines and a yield of 45 hl/ha per hectare looks promising with good concentration. Currently on its lees it will be bottled in May. Owners Jean-Marc and Béatrice Villemaine have 23 ha of vines with 10 planted with Sauvignon Blanc. Jean-Marc told me that they had been lucky in 2008 harvesting with their normal yields of around 60 hl/ha. Apparently the frost that hit Muscadet on 7th April also affected parts of the Cher Valley even though the young buds were still in their cotton bud stage then. Initially it had been assumed that they had escaped with damage only becoming apparent later.

Unfortunately the Villemaines’ other wines are less impressive, especially the reds. The difference being, I suspect a question of higher yields. Take the 2007 Gamay, which is dilute. This is hardly surprising given yields of 60-62 hl/ha. This Gamay’s limitations were all too clearly revealed by the 2006 Gamay from the Clos Roche Blanche, just across the Cher Valley from Thesée, that we drank over dinner last night. Admittedly 2006 is a different vintage but this has fruit, texture and concentration. Why? Because of significantly lower yields.

2006 Gamay Clos Roche Blanche: Touraine Gamay
doesn't have to be dilute

This is a pity as these wines are well made and a reduction in yields, would soon reap rewards qualitatively. I suspect that bringing the Gamay down to around 50 hl/ha would make a significant difference. However unfortunately the increase in quality might well not allow the Villemaine’s to charge a little more for their wines. This is one of the problems of the Cher Valley and, indeed, many other parts of the Loire – it is often possible to make a better living from making dilute wines from high yields than making high quality wines from low yields. Although in Sancerre and Pouilly people are prepared to pay a decent premium for high quality, the same is not true in a number of other Loire appellations, so quality is not rewarded and the quest for quality brings the penalty of a lower income. Of course, there may come a time when the market no longer wants dilute wines. Indeed it is difficult to see that dilute Touraine Gamays can have much appeal in the UK

The 2007 Reuilly Rosé, made from Pinot Gris, came from Domaine Jacques Vincent. Of their nine hectares, 4.5 are planted with Reuilly’s traditional variety – Pinot Gris. The naturally pale coloured 2007 is lightly spicy with good mouth filling ripe fruit and good length – a delicious and charming rosé. Unfortunately Pinot Gris here is in decline in favour of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir – just 34 hectares now in Reuilly out of a total of 192 ha in production. The Pinot Gris rosé is Reully’s most individual wine – I hope it continues to be made.

There were a few 2008s on show and these confirmed that high levels of acidity could well be a problem for those who picked too early. A few shares in Rennies might be a wise investment.

(28th December 2008)
Tried another Pinot Noir from the Central Vineyards last night. This time a 2007 Reuilly Rouge from Denis Jamain’s Domaine de Reuilly. Light to medium-bodied with bright, youthful red fruits this very enjoyable and easy drinking wine turned out to be a perfect match with a rissotto con radicchio. An instance of where a lighter style red works well where a heavier, more structured one would have overpowered the risotto.

I haven’t yet visited the domiane but from a search on the net it has 15 hectares of vines: 10.5 ha of Sauvignon Blanc, 3.5 ha of Pinot Noir and a hectare of Pinot Gris.

Denis Jamain, Domaine de Reuilly, Chenin des Petites Fontaines, 36260 Reuilly.
Tel: 02.38.66.16.74
Email: denis-jamain@wanadoo.fr