Prelude 25-an E&R celebration of the Loire Valley
E&R Wines, Portland OR
Tasted Wednesday, March 13, 2024 by KeithAkers with 144 views
Introduction
Thankfully I was in town for this one, unlike the Rhone tasting. These have been not to miss tastings as E&R heads into their 25th anniversary of being around! Its tastings like this that make me so thankful that such a great store is down the street from me.
2011 La Grange Tiphaine nouveau nez 88 Points
France, Loire Valley
The nose is balanced and mature with tones of lanolin, waxy notes, red apples, pears, yellow flowers, and nougat notes. There is good balance, but it does lack some depth to the nose. The Medium bodied feel is mature and balanced with tart, medium+ acidity that still has a bit of bite. This is a mature wine, but it also feels like it probably would've been better a few years ago.
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1989 Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie "L" d'Or 90 Points
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie
The nose is complex and intriguing with tones of pears, oyster shells, mineral notes, nectarines, red apples, doughy notes, and various floral notes. I'm happily shocked at how fresh this is at this time. There is good balance to the fruit and it's not showing much in the way of overly mature notes. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and textured with crisp, medium+ acidity. This is lovely and still going extremely strong.
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2022 Domaine Pascal Cotat Sancerre La Grande Côte 92 Points
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
The nose is extremely aromatic and electric, loaded with fresh tones of gooseberries, white peaches, green apples, nectarines, crushed rocks, white flowers, flint notes, and jasmine. There is excellent depth with this showing a lot of youth and immediacy that makes you take notice. The Medium bodied feel is vibrant and fresh with racy, high acidity that cuts and really makes your mouth water. This is clearly young and it could use a few years to round into form just a bit. That said, it's really friggin good and well worth your attention.
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2002 Domaine Pascal Cotat Sancerre La Grande Côte 90 Points
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
And now for something quite different. The contrast is pretty stark, yet interesting and fun as everything is toned down a bunch from the 22 with well balanced tones of pears, apples, flint, meyer lemons, capsicum, hot embers, and subtle floral notes. The Medium bodied feel is balanced and silky with integrated, medium+ acidity. I do like the contrast of a 20 year spread between this and the 22. That said, has aging it this much truly "helped it"? That I'm not so sure about. It isn't fading, but it is a lot more quiet than the 22 (which is totally fine) and yet lacks the expressive qualities that I'd really want. So it goes.
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1993 Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé
The contrast of this to the 22 Pascal Cotat is immense. This is fading, but still balanced with pears, apples, straw notes, yellow fruits, and nectarines. There is some depth, but the tones are kind of faint and mature (but not in a positive way). The Medium bodied feel is balanced and there is crisp, medium+ acidity, but it doesn't change around the lack of depth to the palate. I'm sure this was a lot better many years ago, but it's a relic of itself. It's good to have these data points, but I'd have preferred something younger that is actually showing.
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2002 Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) La Lune Flawed
France, Loire Valley, Vin de France
Womp womp. It's dead. Godspeed and good night.
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1999 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant 94 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières-Coulée de Serrant
There is always trepidation when approaching a Nicolas Joly. Will it be great or will it be a complete mess? Well.......this was a great bottle! The nose is deep and complex with tones of red apples, spiced pears, meyer lemons, yellow flowers, nectarines, lanolin, navel oranges, and some marmalade tones. The Full bodied feel is textured, silky, and deep with tart, medium+ acidity that really makes your mouth water. This bottle was a real treat! You never really know what you will get when it comes to a Joly. But when they are good, holy wow are they good!
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2002 Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny La Marginale 93 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
Let me just start this off by saying: I absolutely love Roches Neuves. It has a lot of personal meaning to me and I always smile when there is some in my glass. So.....upon seeing this as part of the lineup, I started grinning. When I put my nose to the glass, my grin went from ear to ear. This was firing on all cylinders in the way that only wonderful Cabernet Franc can with layered tones of pyrazines, herbs, red cherries, red berries, cigar wrappers, warm earth notes, leather, and violets. The Medium bodied feel is refined and elegant with crisp, medium+ acidity and integrated, medium+ tannins. This is just lovely. I can say so much more about this, but really that is all that matters. It's just lovely and perfectly mature Cabernet Franc in all of its glory.
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2002 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux 95 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
And well, well, well. Oh Clos Rougeard, my heart. If you are a fan of savory wines (like I am), then this is something to be truly experienced. This is soaring in all of its glory and showing off the immense quality that has made it the cult producer it is. The nose is so layered and deep with red cherries, red berries, violets, tobacco leaf, leather notes, savory spices, fresh herbs, celery seed, cedar, and some rose petals. The Medium bodied feel is pure satin with the depth and layering of the nose carrying through here along with integrated and crisp, medium+ acidity and silky, medium tannins that have all but resolved. So yea, this is a treat and thank you so much Ed for sharing this! There is a reason that E&R tastings are legendary and wines like this serve to show why!
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1995 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos du Chêne Vert 96 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
To have this right after the Clos Rougeard is to compare Toulouse-Lautrec to Van Gogh. While there will be a preference for one or the other, does it truly matter when both move you in ways that great wine only can? This, this is heroin in Cabernet Franc form. Legit, I closed my eyes and they may have rolled back as I took that second sniff just to make sure all of my faculties were together. This is pure elegance in ways that are hard to describe, yet I will do my best here. The nose is so layered, refined, and perfumed in Cab Franc ways that beguile the senses with red cherries, cranberries, raspberries, herbs, savory spices, rose petals, violets, warm earth, and a big of cigar wrapper just to round it all out. The Medium bodied feel is deft and silky with crisp, medium+ acidity and medium+ tannins that are really there for framing. I'm just so taken by this wine. It hits me straight into my soul and grabs it. I always look forward to drinking Joguet, but this has me seeing in color and I can't get enough of it.
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1989 Pierre-Jacques Druet Bourgueil Vaumoreau Flawed
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil
This is such a come down crash from the previous two wines. Yea, there is something pleasant going on here, but it's faded and has seen better days. So it goes.
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1995 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance 95 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Is there really any other way to end a Loire retrospective tasting than a Cuvee Constance? For me, this just feels proper. The nose is so melded and succulent that really drives me wild with deep tones of honey, nectarines, creamed pears, red apples, apricots, toast, custard, and melon notes, with just a touch of jasmine. There is so much depth and class to the nose that you just get lost in it. The Medium/full bodied is textured and deep with tart, medium+ acidity that has a nice bit of cut. This is just sailing along while still clearly being a mature wine. This is pure joy right now and what a way to end yet another great Prelude 25!
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