Tasted Thursday, October 2, 2008 - Sunday, October 5, 2008 by tcfishler with 1,586 views
Somewhat challenging to find but worth a stop, the tasting room here is quite well appointed, and it's decorated in part with empty bottles from some of the other fine vignerons of the Loire and Burgundy, yet more testimony to Guy Bossard's palate. The vintage characteristics were on full display here, and I preferred the balance of Bossard's one example from the riper vintage.
Incredible consistency throughout the lineup, as you would expect, with the Clos du Papillon and Le Paon being particular favorites of this trip.
(10/2/2008)
Nothing much on the nose. Zingy but fuller than the Carte Turquoise.
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(10/2/2008)
Reasonably fine bead. Yeasty aromas, sharp palate. Sneaky, long and bready aftertaste.
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(10/2/2008)
Ethereal fruit, flint, and a hint of sweat on the nose. Lots of extract and impact, with a good acid spine. Can’t knock this.
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(10/2/2008)
More floral than the normale, but also more reticent. Flavors show off a huge sweetness of fruit that is carried on a wonderfully light frame.
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(10/2/2008)
Earthier, but still showing quince and nectarine fruit. Creeping towards demi-sec, and noticeably heavier in body, this is a cool wine that unfortunately finishes warm.
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(10/2/2008)
Interesting mix of botrytis and grainy fruits. Sugars are unintegrated, but the acids are pretty good. Great value.
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(10/2/2008)
Subtle, pure, and accurate nose, with a limpid, graceful palate that darts about the mouth. A regal sweetie.
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(10/2/2008)
A selection of botrytized grapes from throughout Baumard’s holdings in Layon. Expressive, with super high energy fruit that becomes powerfully seductive in the mouth. Fantastic acidity only heightens the pleasure here. Rather in-your-face compared to the Clos St. Catherine, but I love this stuff.
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(10/2/2008)
The terroir expression is greater here, with earth and herbs, presented in a sweet fashion. Super-concentrated but confidently balanced, you’d have to scrape this off your tongue.
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(10/2/2008)
Unfortunately closed aromatically. Huge flavors thankfully do no sledgehammer job to the palate, but instead build rapidly to form an exquisite presentation of fruit. Not as long as 2006 but even more delicious now.
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Beautiful grounds for strolling, but I frankly couldn't find as much satisfaction as I had hoped in these Savennieres. While it may very well be that they simply need more time, it is unfortunate that no older vintages were available to taste or purchase.
(10/2/2008)
From schist. Sweetly floral aromas, but the strong acids make this a little hard in the mouth.
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(10/2/2008)
From inauspiciously sandy soil, this was actually my favorite bottling of Savennieres. Just sea shell on the reticent nose, but the palate is rich and full of fruit, with none of the alcoholic warmth that marred the otherwise outstanding 2003 Trie Speciale from Baumard.
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(10/2/2008)
Wet hay figures prominently in this more typical Chenin. Flavors run herbal but the texture is smooth for such a Savennieres this young, with nice length. It’s a close call as to whether I prefer this or the preceding vintage.
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(10/2/2008)
Fresh and citric nose. Intense and concentrated flavors are yet unformed, and the finish is clipped. A classical expression that will demand old school patience.
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(10/2/2008)
Mostly botrytized in profile, and less well balanced than the Caillardieres of the same year.
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(10/2/2008)
Cigar-ish nose. Solid, workhorse type Loire Cab Franc, with the added bonus of length.
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(10/2/2008)
Much subtler aromas are floral and spicy. Cedar/herb flavors make this a more distinctive mouthful. Finishes with dry tannin.
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(10/2/2008)
Light cherry aromas are nothing special, but this is nicely juicy, with a great interplay between RS and acid. An admirable success in a difficult genre, and priced accordingly.
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Incredible expressions of Roche aux Moines here. The profile of these changes drastically from vintage to vintage, but the constant is the power that Madame Laroche manages to capture in her wines. The sweet cuvees, too, were revelations of what Savennieres can achieve with botrytized grapes. Speaking of botrytis, there was a good amount of it on display in Laroche's vineyards, so there's a solid chance that at least the Nonnes could be made this year.
(10/2/2008)
A real liqueur of stones. Great extract and balance, this is powerhouse Savennieres and I love it.
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(10/2/2008)
Closing up, the fruit here has crystalline quality. Here there is a larger palate presence to go along with the power of the above. Lingering finish.
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(10/2/2008)
Oyster shell and brine. More easygoing in the mouth, with an elegant feel.
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(10/2/2008)
Odd aromas of garlic skin are more curiosity-piquing than off-putting. Mouthfilling, and still with the good minerality if not quite the acidity of the cooler vintages.
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(10/2/2008)
The younger Laroche’s first vintage, and it’s a winner. Very mineral, very earthy. Smooth but lively, this is at a good point in its evolution.
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(10/2/2008)
Now there’s a slight toffee/butterscotch thing showing up in the nose. Correspondingly slightly evolved in the mouth. Broadly textured but not quite as full as some other vintages.
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(10/2/2008)
Here the nose is headier, with a big whiff of mushroom. But this comes across as slightly lacking in substance, at least after the blockbusters that preceded it.
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(10/2/2008)
Poured blind. Lots of youthful minerality balances the butterscotch in this nose. Mellow, with the flavors more toasty grain than fruit, although some sneaky baked peach shows up on the finish. Subtle but persistent wine.
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(10/2/2008)
Primary nose of sweet perfumey flowers, shampoo, and pear. Lively, bouncy, bright and cheery.
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(10/2/2008)
A more severe selection than the Nonnes. Only the second time this cuvee has ever been made here. Heady perfume of botrytis sans heaviness. Still some mineral to be crunched. Packed full of orgasmic plum and a miscellany of other fruits. Incredible, irresistible stuff.
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A corporation has taken over the reigns here from the Tijou family. I hope the level of quality and value so obvious in Tijou's wines continue. What's clear is that the new owners are pushing harder for representation in export markets and on restaurant wine lists. It's interesting how they vinify Chaume differently than Coteaux du Layon - the former sees only tank, while the latter goes into barriques. The difference in elevage makes it hard to pick apart the differences in the terroir, but all were outstanding without a doubt. The surprise of the bunch was the Savennieres, however - very serious stuff.
(10/4/2008)
Cool-fruited and nutty, this was surprisingly pretty and balanced for a wine from grapes out of their element and raised in American oak.
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(10/4/2008)
Full and broad, atypical by the producer's standards, but a fantastic value in Savennieres.
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(10/4/2008)
Here both the demi-sec sweetness and the greener aspects of Cabernet Franc are emphasized, with less than spectacular results.
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(10/4/2008)
Straightforward, tasty, yet a bit marred by green, and considerably less interesting than the wines to follow.
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(10/4/2008)
Restrained and intriguing, yet I'm not so sure I like what the oak is doing. Still, this has impreccable balance and evident breed.
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(10/4/2008)
Hugely concentrated and hedonistic, this seems considerably more youthful than the V.V. from this year. On a par with more exalted nectars of the Loire, and one of the finest values in dessert wine I've come across.
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(10/4/2008)
No barrique influence here, just reductively pure, ridiculously attractive fruit and low-moelleux range sweetness balanced by fresh acids. Not as complex as the oaked Coteaux du Layons from this producer, but in a way more obviously seductive.
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Tasting through this lineup give one a real sense of how the individual vineyards react differently to the conditions presented by each vintage. Although we were told that botrytis is the dividing line between the demi-sec and moelleux wines here, the transition from one to the other seemed quite gentle. There is a strong soil presence to these wines.
(10/2/2008)
Yeasty baked pear nose. Less gassy and denser than most Loire sparklers, but with a slight sharpness to the finishing acids.
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(10/2/2008)
A mousseux, more gassy yet more finely textured than the 01 Petillant, and showing a good clean mix of quince, pear and mirabelle.
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(10/2/2008)
From brown clay. Minerally exhaust; fruit that's warm but still an overall impression of coolness. Soft but slightly green, with an intriguing floral development.
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(10/2/2008)
Interesting manifestation of mineral here - organic, bringing to mind fine sand and earth. Full up front, this thins out subsequently. I agree with other tasters in my preference for the sec from Le Haut Lieu in this vintage.
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(10/2/2008)
Primary, reductively-styled fruit with minerality just peeking through. Dense and slightly grainy. Tart-ripe and invigorating.
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(10/2/2008)
High toned florality with low toned earth on display, although aromatically this is more muted. Packed full of acidic structure, this also grips the palate stronger than its stablemate. A sec for the long haul.
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(10/2/2008)
Subdued, but giving away some hints of botrytis. Building sweetness, then finishes bright, with good if not great persistence.
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(10/2/2008)
Low toned fruit aromas, followed by a bittersweet palate of plum and pear skin. On the simple side.
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(10/2/2008)
Expressive, with an abundance of fruit and, again, hints of botrytis (although botrytized berries here are supposed to be reserved for moelleux). Concentrated and vigorous, this also shows a slight, tannic skin influence and ever so slight warmth.
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(10/2/2008)
Sweet truffles and bread on the nose. The acids here easily outweigh the 22 g/L of sugar. Needs food but possesses sufficient density.
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(10/2/2008)
Rubber, car exhaust, and haunting fruit. Shows the bitter side of chenin, but the strength in body and sweetness provides balance. Great length. I'd be drinking this now.
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(10/2/2008)
Seductive, ebullient nose of creamy vanilla-edged fresh apple/pear. Definitely moelleux level sweetness but with a bright personality. Huet made only one sweet wine in 2007, but they are quite rightfully proud of it.
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(10/2/2008)
Somewhat closed unfortunately, but obviously very mineral, with a great balanced of flavors that just haven't taken on any recognizable form yet.
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(10/2/2008)
Interesting nose of brush stones, and bovine stink. Just a hair lower in acid than the other moelleux on the table, but still well within the balanced spectrum. Finishes with only ripeness, not warmth showing.
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(10/2/2008)
The aromas here say "rum," and yet there's no heat. Also some licorice and a slightly madeirized quality. Heavy and rich but decidedly less attractive than the regular moelleux from this site and vintage.
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We tasted just a small fraction of a nearly bewildering lineup of wines from Chinon and neighboring appellations. The domaine Chinons here are, broadly speaking, forceful yet not forced, with a feel of extraction but not spoofulation, with the exception of the over-oaked 2003 Crescendo. They deserve a better U.S. presence.
(10/2/2008)
Sour sauerkraut, in a nice way. Driving multigrain flavors show a fruitier side at the edges, and a malty finish. Complex and interesting; in retrospect, wish I had bought some.
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(10/2/2008)
Pure strawberry candy on the nose. Nicely dry and showing a slight herbaceousness. Feels fuller than 12.5%, though it's by no means warm. Good finish, although the package here is no greater than the sum of its parts.
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(10/2/2008)
Peppers (bell and black) dominate the easygoing nose. Seems to lack flavor initially, although some tobacco develops later. Good acids and a fair finish.
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(10/2/2008)
Medium ruby red. Perfumed with exhaust and ephemeral toast, as well as some mineral. Extracted, with charcoal/tobacco-leaning flavors. No real smokiness, just a dry/burned sort of profile. No great length.
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(10/2/2008)
Very dark red. Tobacco and stones, no green notes, and just subtle oak. Powerful, big Chinon, with a structure so intense it's hard to swish. But the flavors themselves have a nice sweet meatiness, and the finish is fruit-packed. This will be great...in a decade or more.
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(10/2/2008)
A very expressive nose full of baking spice. Integrating well, with a little acid poking out and an earthy finish.
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(10/2/2008)
Very dark red. Sweet fruit nicely accented by a melange of peppers. Possesses a combination of feel and flavor that's almost scrumptious, making this much more approachable than the Clos de l'Echo in this vintage, although I presume it lacks that wine's cellar potential.
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(10/2/2008)
The nose is positively flooded with sweet oak notes. The palate, meanwhile, is dry but rich in glycerin. Buth In the end, this an oaky monolith with splintery wood tannins.
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Another formerly family-run estate, but this time the buyer was an American, from Paso Robles. He was a bit disparaging of the wines made by the former winemaker (from 2005 and backward), stating that his preference is for a less vegetal red wine. But at the same time he expressed reservations about trying to make a pandering "Parker" type of Chinon. In any case, he did very well with the challenging 2006 and 2007 vintages.
(10/2/2008)
An odd combination of fresh, almost chlorinated smells and a faintly oxidative suggestion. Sharp flavors make for an idiosyncratic bottle of Chenin.
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(10/2/2008)
Fresh and elegant, with good minerality and driving acid. The new proprietor's first rose, and a superb one.
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(10/2/2008)
Medium light red. Sweet and slightly baked aromas are followed by a relatively youthful yet gentle palate.
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(10/2/2008)
Medium light purple. Primary, even liqueurlike cherry fruit without a trace of heaviness. Big and serious in feel, with fine structure and a small amount of ashy/licorice complexity.
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(10/2/2008)
Poured blind. Slightly jammy with much ripeness. Plentiful structure is most evident upfront.
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(10/2/2008)
Barrel sample, again tasted blind. Wildly expressive nose shows petrol and a solventlike quality. Sweet but unformed flavors, and not too oaky despite coming from a new barrel.
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Pierre-Marie Chermette is an incredibly affable host, and yet there is a measured pride about him appropriate for one of the very best vignerons in Beaujolais today. Absolutely everything in his lineup is superb. In fact, we bought everything except the Les Griottes (sold here as "Pierre Chermette") and Traditionelle, which we will be hunting for stateside as they arrive.
(10/2/2008)
A sweet nose of ripe pears. Nicely balanced with a bit of juiciness. Not long but pleasure-filled.
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(10/2/2008)
Slutty strawberry/cherry on the nose. Full and fleshy, but with sneaky acids and no excess sweetness of fruit.
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(10/2/2008)
Expressive, with weedy herbs in addition to generous fruit. Remarkably structured for a wine this low on the totem pole. This is the cuvee labeled "Pierre Chermette" in the U.S.
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(10/2/2008)
Less fruit forward than the baisc Bojo, and showing clay and tobacco notes. Sweet but ashy in profile. More structured still, with drier flavors. Very serious indeed.
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(10/2/2008)
Oh so concentrated, with ultraripe verging on liqueurlike fruit. Deep, tactile fruit almost covers the significant structure here. An AOC Beaujolais for the ages, made from 95 year old vines.
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(10/2/2008)
Inviting aromas are expressive yet easygoing. Lower acidity than the non-cru bottlings, though this still cannot be called fat.
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(10/2/2008)
Furry game makes for a thought-provoking nose. The largest scaled wine so far, but seriously dry, with grainy tannin. This is from the center of the cru, Pierre-Marie explained, and gives a wine that represents the femininity of Fleurie.
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(10/2/2008)
Less expressive than the Poncie. Muscular and packed; a great mouthful of punchy pleasure. This is from the eastern edge of the appellation, near the border of Moulin-a-Vent, and until relatively recently was classified as such.
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(10/2/2008)
Slightly fiery, with darker fruits that make a greater impact on the nose. Layered with ripeness, this is the most persistent wine in the cellar. Great now, and even greater in the future?
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(10/2/2008)
Has all the expressiveness of the current vintage from this site to go along with a pruney, plummy profile that even has some salted plum, umami-for-the-nose type of savor. The overall balance is tart-ripe, with impressive minerality that has been hard for me to find in gamay based wines. Pierre-Marie likes drinking his cru bottlingss around this age, and so do I!
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Raymond, Vincent's father, was kind enough to pour for us. The European labels bear his name rather than his son's. It was interesting to find nothing younger than 2002 being offered here, even when it came to Aligote and Passetoutgrains. But even those had aged better than many Cote d'Or Premier Crus from other producers!
(10/2/2008)
Poured with the vintage blind, this smelled unbelievably fresh, with an amazing retention of fruit. But it hits the palate like a clean, sharp scalpel.
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(10/2/2008)
Oddly less fruit-laden than the '96; more flowery and mineral, but also considerably fuller and fleshier. Almost resembles one of the more serious Muscadets from Pauvert or Ollivier.
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(10/2/2008)
Light and ethereal aromas of violets. Dry; steely yet approachably textured, with a lively finish.
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(10/2/2008)
Sweetly fragrant with gardenia and rose. Concentrated flavors finish mouthwatering, leaving a lingering nuttiness.
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(10/2/2008)
Subtle herbs and easygoing fruit. Resolved on first impression, but dryly tannic at the end, where a curious note of menthol becomes apparent.
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(10/2/2008)
Perfumed, with sweet tobacco and an insidious cherry fruit. Quite rounded, with resolving structure, although this can go a while longer I think.
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(10/2/2008)
Big ripe stink, deep too (no brett). Pleasantly chewy and chunky. Hard to ask for any more from the appellation.
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2006 Domaine de l'Ecu Gros-Plant du Pays Nantais
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Gros-Plant du Pays Nantais
(10/2/2008)
Clean and pleasant profile but sour! Still, a good option in the correct situation.
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2006 Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Cuvée Classique
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
(10/2/2008)
Expressive, with floral and mineral notes. Obviously broader and lusher after the Gros Plant, but still nicely balanced in an objective sense.
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2006 Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Expression de Gneiss
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
(10/2/2008)
A nose that is ripe throughout, but changes profile from fresh and flowery at first on to a mineral character that emerges and builds with swirling. There’s no mistaking the bony acid spine of this serious bottling of Muscadet, however.
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2006 Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Orthogneiss
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
(10/2/2008)
Rather closed on the nose, this cuvee is easier to warm up to in the mouth, showing more pronounced pear and gooseberry flavors, and finishing with a nuttier twist.
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2005 Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Expression de Granite
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
(10/2/2008)
Lower, riper tones of sweat and oil start to register at a somewhat higher octave with swirling. Vibrant yet dense, with grainy flavors and texture. I like what Bossard did here with the warmer vintage.
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