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Visits to Touraine Producers-Baudry, Huet, Foreau...
Vicinity of Tours, France
Tasted October 22, 2012 - October 24, 2012 by drwine2001 with 1,131 views
Flight 1 - Huet (11 notes)
I must say that this was a disappointingly variable range compared to the many great wines I have had from this domain. In particular, the set of 2011 secs was mediocre, lacking intensity and concentration.
White - Sparkling
2007 Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant Cuvée Huet Brut
Slightly sweet, strong brioche aromas. Lots of fresh cut citrus, mineral finish. Youthful and very good.
White - Sparkling
2007 Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant Cuvée Huet Brut
Darker color and lower pitched than the regular Petillant. Deeper pitched, less fruity, more obvious wood. Today I preferred the first wine rather than this methode traditionelle.
White
2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu
Slightly bitter impression despite low acid. Dilute mid-palate. Not good, reminiscent of some 2006s.
White
2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg
A huge step up from the Haut Lieu. Livelier, more complex pear fruit and a tad of residual sugar to give it some flesh. By far, the best of the 3 sec wines from this year.
White
2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Mont
Well behind the Clos du Bourg. Tart, less gracious mouth feel and the earthiest of the 3 wines with somewhat muddled fruit. This really needs to sort itself out.
White - Off-dry
2007 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu
Full yellow. Ripe with some pineapple. Much rounder than the 2011 secs which preceded it, yet lovely acidity and earth on the finish. Excellent and beginning to enter its window, I think.
White - Off-dry
2006 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont
Light golden-a bit of a shock for its age. Some sulfur. Orange rind and grapefruit. Dry and frankly bitter. The finish in particular lacks any harmony or charm. Disappointing.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2007 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg
Deep yellow. Clean and rich fruit, but it seems simpler and a little duller than the '07 Haut Lieu Demi-Sec. Hard to predict where this one is going.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2009 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu
Obvious botrytis. Interesting mix of grapefruit and herbal tones. Not terribly sweet. Lowish acidity. Underwhelming compared with some of their other sweet wines from this vintage.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Le Mont
Golden. Sultanas and figs. Syrupy for Vouvray and too sugary. Ironically, the acid level from this freakish vintage is okay, but the wine is still an aberration and not my idea of well balanced late harvest Chenin Blanc.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2010 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Mont
This followed the flabby '03 and was the wine of the tasting. Not botrytized. Fabulous, pure Chenin quince. Rich, moderately sweet, yet perfectly cut by strong acidity and a long, lemony finish. This should be one for the ages-fantastic potential. Immediately as impressive as some of the great '09s produced here.
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Flight 2 - Bernard Baudry (11 notes)
Tasting with the engaging, generous proprietor was a pleasure in and of itself, but the wines themselves were revelatory, perfectly displaying the attributes of their respective vintages and sites, and possessing textural allure that is unusual for Loire reds. The range of 2010 Chinons is nothing short of brilliant. This visit was clearly the highlight of our swing through the region.
White
2011 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Blanc La Croix Boissée
Light yellow. Fresh citrus nose. Good texture. Lovely salty, mineral finish. This had so much more snap than most of the 2011 Loire whites we tried.
Red
2011 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux
Olive aromatics. Good acidity and quite tannic, yet somehow supple and approachable with good texture already.
Red
2011 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Domaine
From barrel. Lightly herbal, black cherry fruit. Light, supple with a sour cherry aspect. Less tannic than the Grezeaux, for earlier drinking.
Red
2011 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée
From barrel. Deep purple. Not fruity but deeply fruited with red and black fruit and a good dollop of spiciness. Completely different from the domain wine. Delicious and also will drink early compared to more structured vintages of this cuvee.
Red
2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Domaine
Medium ruby. Floral, stony, lean and fine with more fruit than herbs. Reticent and reserved although clearly excellent.
Red
2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux
Lighter color than the domain wine. Anise and a touch of olive. Light, fine and focused with tremendous acidity. Not lush or sexy, but a beautifully pure rendition of light weight Loire Cabernet Franc.
Red
2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot
Deepest 2010 to this point. Brooding and smoky, very little in the way of herbs but deep blackberry fruit. Lush, tannic, serious and ageworthy. Impressive stuff that is well beyond most red wine from this region.
Red
2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée
Dark ruby. Not very forthcoming. The fruit is currently locked up behind a wall of acidity, stoniness and tannin, but the lovely, harmonious feel tells you that it is there. Noble, elegant, long young wine with a fascinating saline finish. It is poised for a long run and may be one of the greatest young Chinons I have ever tasted. Fantastic young red that should be great.
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Red
2009 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Franc de Pied
From ungrafted vines. Ripe cassis that is so different from the black fruit of the 2010s. Wonderful, sinuous mix of lush ripe fruit and olive tones. This was the only red we tasted here in which the finish was dominated by the fruit rather than minerality or tannin. I personally prefer the classic style of the 2010s, but it's hard to argue with the utter deliciousness of perfectly ripe fruit in this wine. Apparently not imported into the U.S.
Red
2004 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot
Medium light red. Typical underripe vintage nose of dill and green herbs. Saline, light, elegant, high acid. Just on the border of being a bit meager, certainly not a generous wine. Not bad at all. OK, when you taste through such a spectacular range of wines, something has to bring up the rear, and this was that wine.
Red
2005 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée
Good color, tawny rim. Excellent complex tart red fruit that has a baked character to it. Excellent acidity and some remaining tannins. This still needs about 5 years to fully resolve and become more gentle.
Flight 3 - Francois Chidaine (7 notes)
It was interesting and instructive to taste the difference between the Vouvrays and Montlouis of the same year, with the former wines generally showing more concentration and interest. Elegant style overall, many good 2007 wines in the range.
White
2011 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos du Breuil
Sec. Clean, dry lime. Light, zingy acidity.
White
2011 François Chidaine Vouvray Sec Les Argiles
Sec. Floral, sweeter and more concentrated than the Clos de Breuil, but still good lemony snap at the end.
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White
2007 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Bournais
Light and elegant, lots of earth more than fruit and good acidity. OK.
White
2007 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Choisilles
Sec. Like the Bournais, light weight and earthy, but more pear fruit here. Better balance than that wine. Also elegant in style.
White - Off-dry
2007 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux
Demi sec. Lovely quince fruit on a lighter frame. Slight amount of residual sugar. Good finish with soil element. Lovely and better than the sec wines.
White - Off-dry
2007 François Chidaine Vouvray Le Bouchet
Longer, deeper and sweeter than the previous Montlouis, but lifted by a wonderful, long mineral finish. Best wine of the range so far with the most to it.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2009 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Moelleux
Honeyed nose with a touch of fig. Elegant feel, not at all syrupy. Adequate acidity and again, as with many of these wines, discernible soil on the finish. At least very good if lacking the tension to become better than that. At any rate, a good mouthful and not overwhelming.
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Flight 4 - Taille aux Loups (Jacky Blot) (8 notes)
From the wines we tasted, we could only conclude that this is not one of the top flight producers in Touraine. Again, the 2011 wines were rather slight.
**Addendum-It's been brought to my attention that the Bourgueils appear under the Domaine de la Butte label rather than Taille aux Loups. My apologies for the confusion.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Triple Zero
Slightly sweet entry but then dry citrus and mineral finish.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Tradition Brut
Sweeter, weightier and yeastier than the triple zero.
White
2011 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Remus
Intense herbaceousness like Sauvignon. Some texture that is imparted by wood. Unusual stuff.
White
2011 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Vouvray Sec Clos de la Bretonnière
Dried fruit aromas. Rounder feel than the Montlouis. Adequate acidity but still bound for early consumption.
Red
2010 Domaine de la Butte Bourgueil Le Haut de la Butte
Medium dark. Aggressive Cab Franc nose. Herbal, lean, middle weight. Black fruit and olives, high acidity. Too extremely varietal and thin.
Red
2010 Domaine de la Butte Bourgueil Mi-pente
Darker than Haut Butte. Green olive with some florality. Sweeter, more flesh but still excellent back end structure, mixed red and black fruit. Nice puckery finish, persistent tannins. A clear step up.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2009 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Moelleux
Medium yellow. Pineapple, no botrytis. Not too sweet, not too complex either, but some nice back end citrus.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Cuvée des Loups
Golden. Exotic honey, mango and passionfruit. Syrupy with some underlying acidity. Shorter finish. Not for me.
Flight 5 - Foreau (3 notes)
As below, a very limited sample, but the quality and purity of the wines at each level of sweetness were striking. This visit did nothing to reduce the extremely high esteem I have for this estate-bravo!
White
2010 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Sec
Fresh, pure, concentrated. Great acidity and drive, more citrus than pear fruit. Long finish. Prototypical Vouvray sec.
White - Off-dry
2007 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec
Medium yellow. Grapefruit and a whiff of truffle. Off dry. Beautiful amplitude and length with nice acidic bite and soil at the end. Young and classic.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2010 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux
Clean, incredibly bright orange fruit. Moderately sweet, flavors an essence of oranges, great refreshing acidity and a fantastic, puckery youthful finish. Outstanding and should develop for a long time.