An Evening in the Loire Valley: Westchester Wine School

White Plains, NY
Tasted Saturday, December 6, 2014 by cephomer with 528 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)

  • NV Château L'Aulee Crémant de Loire Brut 90 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Crémant de Loire

    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

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 2012 Lucien Crochet Sancerre Le Chêne 88 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre

    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

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  • 2010 Marc Deschamps Pouilly-Fumé Les Champs de Cri 89 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

    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.

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  • 2009 Michel Redde et fils Pouilly-Fumé La Moynerie 89 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

    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

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

Flight 4 (3 Notes)

  • 2012 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières La Jalousie 90 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières

    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

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  • 2010 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières Clos du Papillon 92 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières

    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.

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  • 1994 Domaine aux Moines Savennières Roche aux Moines Flawed

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières Roche aux Moines

    Drank at WWS Loire tasting. Totally oxidized. Dead!

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Flight 5 (2 Notes)

Flight 6 (3 Notes)

  • NV Domaine des Baumard Coteaux du Layon La Cuvée Ancienne de Jean Baumard 90 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon

    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.

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  • 2006 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru 91 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru

    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

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  • 2003 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance 90 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

    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).

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