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An Evening in the Loire Valley: Westchester Wine School

White Plains, NY

Tasted December 6, 2014 by cephomer with 527 views

Introduction

All whites at this tasting, and Ned did a nice job covering the spectrum of wines in this very diverse wine region, explaining the substantial differences in soil conditions moving between the eastern and western ends of this large area.

Flight 1 (1 note)

White - Sparkling
N.V. Château L'Aulee Crémant de Loire Brut France, Loire Valley, Crémant de Loire
90 points
Drank at WWS to open Loire tasting. Very nice sparkler. light with fine tiny bubbles, sweet nose of berries and lots of red berries on the palate. Some minerality, and herbal notes as well. Enjoyable

Flight 2 (3 notes)

White
2012 Lucien Crochet Sancerre Le Chêne France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
88 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting. Pale straw color, very light, very lean. Quite flinty, high acidity & very light bodied. Some citrus/grapefruit notes. Hard to drink or appreciate this wine without food. Not one of my faves
White
2010 Marc Deschamps Pouilly-Fumé Les Champs de Cri France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
89 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting. Pale to medium straw color. A bit deeper gold and weightier than the Sancerre we drank this with. Lots of minerality here, stones & slate. Not so much fruit. The 2 Fumes and 1 Sancerre in this flight were all much more in the mineral family than fruit. Need food with these wines.
White
2009 Michel Redde et fils Pouilly-Fumé La Moynerie France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
89 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting with another Fume and a Sancerre. This was the best of the flight as it was a bit weightier, with more fruit than the other two wines. Still quite acidic, and very much in the mineral/stone family. Some notes of melon here, along with citrus. Need food for these wines as very hard to appreciate at tastings without an accompanying meal

Flight 3 (1 note)

White
2011 Domaine de la Fruitière Sur Lie Cuvée Petit M France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
88 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting. Pale straw in color, light bodied. Lots of saltiness here, quite acidic with citrus notes. Real saline quality. This wine screams out for oysters or clams on the 1/2 shell

Flight 4 (3 notes)

White
2012 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières La Jalousie France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières
90 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting vs a Closel Papillon, which I preferred. Feint nose of green apples, light to medium bodied, good acidity, high mineral & stone quality, not as much fruit as I would have liked. Very much in the mineral, as opposed to fruit family, but bigger with more fruit than any of the Fumes or Sancerre had previously at this tasting
White
2010 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières Clos du Papillon France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières
92 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting vs a Closel Jalousie. This was voted overwhelmingly the WOTN. Medium bodied, pretty medium gold color. Slightly oxidized nose with mineral, apples & melon notes. Decent fruit level here, nicely integrated with the acidity & overall mineral quality of this wine. Some sweetness at the back end, on the fairly long finish. Good complexity & an interesting wine to drink, as alwasy. This was a bigger, more complex wine than the Jalousie, also a few years older. Still, both of these wines could use some more bottle age.
White
1994 Domaine aux Moines Savennières Roche aux Moines France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières Roche aux Moines
flawed
Drank at WWS Loire tasting. Totally oxidized. Dead!

Flight 5 (2 notes)

White
2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
flawed
Drank at WWS Loire tasting. Mineral nose, overwhelmed by dank cellar odor. Corked!
1 person found this helpful Comment
White
2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
89 points
Drank at Loire WWS tasting vs a Huet Clos De Bourg 2001, both blind. Pale straw color, chalky minerality, some melon notes. Some honey up front, but not sweet. A bit on the flinty side. Most, including myself, much preferred this over the other Vouvray
1 person found this helpful Comment

Flight 6 (3 notes)

White - Sweet/Dessert
N.V. Domaine des Baumard Coteaux du Layon La Cuvée Ancienne de Jean Baumard France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon
90 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting (my contribution). Dark amber color, Light to medium bodied. Apricot & peachy notes on the nose, slight oxidation that blew off. Decent fruit level, some sweetness but balanced by the wine's avg acidity level. Not particularly long or complex. The wine has held up well and still has a drinking window ahead perhaps for a few years. Note that it was difficult to drink after tasting the Quartz de Chaume that followed it.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2006 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru
91 points
Drank at Loire WWS tasting. Pale straw color-this wine is young! Nose of apricot, and orange peels. Fairly viscous, but nicely balanced by the ample acidity level. Vibrant and youthful, honey, orange peel, & peach/apricot. This is a lovely wine but needs another 5-10 years of bottle age to truly appreciate it
White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
90 points
Drank at WWS Loire tasting vs a Quarts de Chaume and a Baumard Coteaux de Layon. This was the biggest of the 3, with much honey on the nose and on the palate. Lots of apricot & peach here. Far sweeter than both, darkest in color as well--deep amber. Very long, and very viscous. Still, I was underwhelmed and found it a bit cloying (could be due to this being the final wine of a long tasting, and was accompanied by many sweets for dessert).
1 person found this helpful Comments (1)
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