Chenin Fest: 28 Loire Chenin Blancs from 1995 - 1997.
Don Rice's.
Tasted Saturday, September 19, 2015 by BradKNYC with 706 views
Introduction
This past June I began thinking it was time to put together a a 1995 horizontal of Loire Chenin. Big anniversaries are always fun to celebrate, afterall. No sooner had a come up with that thought when Jayson Cohen gave me a ring and suggested we should have a Chenin dinner encompassing the three great vintages of '95, '96 and '97. Hey, the more the merrier, I say and I thought this would be a great look back at the wines and vintages that many of us in the NY wine group cut our teeth on as these were the new vintages available when a number of us were not only new to wine, but were just beginning to explore the wines of the Loire Valley.
A date was set, which, coincidentally, was only two days removed from the 15th anniversary of the Huet-a-thon that many in the group attended back in 2000 and like that event, Don and Melissa Rice hosted. Additionally, the date fell around the time when we remember the passing of our dear friend Joe Dressner, whose portfolio was and remains instrumental in our exploration and love of the wines from the Loire Valley and whose wit, wisdom and knowledge is missed everyday. We also remembered our good friend and fellow Loire and especially Huet aficionado, Joe Dougherty, who, no doubt, is sharing "Dressner pours" of the '47 Huet with Joe at the great big jeeb in the sky. Both are desperately missed.
Surprisingly, there was not a single corked bottle, though a few had seen some heat damage. My biggest takeaway from the tasting was that Chenin grown on limestone is where it's at. Those wines showed younger, fresher, had better acidity and more of a mineral character than those grown on other soil types. Indeed, while a small sample, the Coteaux du Layon and Bonnezeaux we had were largely disappointing and all showed better in their youth. That said, almost all of the wines were enjoyable and the tasting bore out what a remarkable trio of vintages 1995, 1996 and 1997 were and are.
Flight 1 - Sec Flight. (9 Notes)
Flight 2 - Demi-Sec Flight. (6 Notes)
Flight 3 - Moelleux Flight I. (4 Notes)
Flight 4 - Moelleux Flight II. (9 Notes)
Closing
Some pictures from the evening.
The group.
Sec flight.
Demi-Sec flight.
Moelleux flight I.
Moelleux flight II.
1995 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Pétillant Brut Réserve
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant
Quite yeasty and bready on the nose and palate and surprisingly ripe. The fruit is more in the stone fruit realm, whereas I find the Brut Reserve usually resides more in the quince acacia side of the spectrum. Fairly big on the palate with nice mineral notes. Perhaps a little clunky, but quite nice. B+.
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1995 Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant Brut Flawed
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant
Unfortunately, heat damaged. A real shame as I was looking forward to catching up with it. It's consistently been my favorite Petillant from the domaine. NR.
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1995 Domaine Renard-Potaire Jasnières Saint-Jacques
France, Loire Valley, Jasnières
A unicorn wine if there ever was one. Connell didn't think it existed, but Don explained he purchased it at a restaurant in France back in '97 and brought it home. 1995 was the first vintage made and there was apparently a '96 made, but it either didn't get bottled, or wasn't sold. Anyway, there was much anticipation, but when opened, it was clear the wine had undergone secondary fermentation, which, it was explained, shouldn't have been that unexpected given the not so clean cellar practices. Despite the spritziness, the wine showed beautiful aromatics of stone fruits, quince and acacia. Still demi-sec sweet, but there's some bitterness on the palate and the back half really falls off and it does show some unclean notes. A real shame the bottle was flawed. NR.
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1996 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Beautiful aromatics dominated by earthy tones, stone fruits and bergamot. Fresh on the palate and surprisingly rich and ripe, but there's tremendous structure here. That said, the edges have rounded out significantly in the past few years, so it's not as severe as it has shown in the past, creating a delightfully luscious mouthfeel. No real signs of oxidation. With air the fruit started to freshen up and shift more from orange toned to yellow, with quince leading the way. Gorgeous wine and one of my favorites of the evening. A/A-.
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1996 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Sec
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
As usual, this is a leaner wine than the Huet, but, like the Huet, this, too, is showing a softer side, with some of the sharp edges rounded off. Apricot, bergamot, mineral and bee's wax are present, as is a bit of oxidation, which the wine didn't show the last time I had it. Quite tasty, but this bottle was outclassed by the Huet. Low A-.
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1996 Château du Hureau Saumur Blanc
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
I remember trying this wine back on release and not being particularly impressed by it and I haven't been a fan of it the times I've tasted it since then. This bottle was more of the same. It's always suffered from unclean cellars, indeed, it's clear that there's a fungus among us, though not tca. Just a clumsy dry wine that shows dirty barrels with some quince, stone fruits and mineral. B-/C+.
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1995 Domaine des Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières
My last bottle and perhaps its best showing. Just a hint of normal oxidation given its 20 years, but no real nuttiness. Clean and big boned with plenty of palate presence. There's a pleasant waxiness to the wine as well as an enjoyable creaminess to the mouthfeel and maybe just a touch of alcohol sticking out on the finish. Plenty of quince, yellow fruit and mineral showing. Wish I had more. A-.
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1995 Olga Raffault Chinon Le Champ-Chenin
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
A rather bizarre showing. Amber colored and showing a bit of oxidation, I find this to exhibit few Chenin characteristics. Not much cut here and the fruit comes off a bit tropical, but without having any real presence. A bit of dirty barrels and tea. The mouthfeel is light and there's really not much one can wrap their arms around here. Not my cup of tea. C+.
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1996 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Remus
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire
Shows nice minerality and quince flavors and on the nose and palate with a bit of tart citrus. Dry and solidly built with crisp acids. Unfortunately, there's too much of an oak presence here for my tastes. The grapes come from 50-80 year old vines, but the wine is fermented for six months in 25% new oak, 25% one year old barrels, 25% two year old and 25% three year old and that's left too much of an oak imprint, imo. Indeed, there's a bit of caramel and vanilla on the finish. B.
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