Coulée de Serrant - 1990 - 1999 and more Loire (Huet, Closel, Landron)
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Tasted December 30, 2013 by octopussy with 998 views
Introduction
Just before the year ended, I invited some friends to drink some 90s Coulée de Serrants I had assembled over year. I didn't have 1991, 1992 and 1993, but the rest of the 90s was complete. All Coulée de Serrants were opened 24 hours in advance, but not decanted. I chilled them to around 8° C and brought them in some two hours in advance of the tasting, so that the serving temperature was around 15° C, the older wines a bit warmer than the younger wines. I had bought the 1998 from a merchant, the 1994, 1997 and 1999 at auction (from the same cellar, which seems to not have had perfect storing conditions), the 1990 also at auction, but from a different pre-owner, and had swapped the 1995 and 1996 with a friend (from a perfect cellar). The different sources were noticeable in the wines, the 1997 was over the hill, the 1999 more advanced than it should be (two people at the tasting had had the 1999 before and said that it was fresher the other times they drank it), but the 1994 still fresh. The rest of the wines didn't show any signs of bad storage.
We started the tasting with two young Loire white wines, a Muscadet and a Cour Cheverny, then had the Coulée de Serrants and finished with 1990 and 1996 Huet Le Mont Moelleux 1ère Trie. The Huets were served with an apple tarte à l'Alsacienne and the Coulée de Serrants with four different Tuscan and Sardinian Pecorinos of different maturity, which was a good match, especially with the more salty Pecorinos.
Flight 1 - Prelude - Jo Landron Muscadet Fief du Breil & Tessier Cour Cheverny (2 notes)
To start the night, I had picked two 2009 whites from the far west and the middle Loire. The 2009 Landron Muscadet Fief du Breil was just barely typical of a Muscadet, but in my view (not in the view of everyone at the table) you could sense the characteristics of Muscadet in the wine, only it was marked by the fairly warm vintage. A great drink and the bottle was empty in the blink of an eye. Totally different was the 2009 Cour-Cheverny from Philippe Tessier, very ripe, full and round. I love the bright acidity of good Romorantin wines and their broad aromatic spectrum. At under 10 Euros, this is a steal and comes very close to my other Cour-Cheverny favorite Francois Cazin.
Flight 2 - Flight 1: Clos de la Coulée de Serrant 1999-1997 (3 notes)
The 1999 and 1997 came from the same cellar, which seems to not have had perfect storage conditions. The 1997 was over the hill and we couldn't drink it. The 1999 was advanced, but - at least in my view - a great wine, yet quite strongly marked by Botrytis and made from very ripe fruit. Also the 1998 was quite ripe, but much warmer and softer than the 1999. A good start into the evening.
Flight 3 - Intermezzo - 1997 Domaine du Closel - Savennières Clos du Papillon (1 note)
I had had the 1997 Clos du Papillon before and both bottles I had before were a bit fresher than this one. Yet, decanting it and serving it at a fairly advanced temperature helped it blossom. There were cleary some oxidative notes, but mostly this wine is extreme - as extreme as the Coulée de Serrants. It must have been made from extremely ripe fruit, ripe on the edge of overripe. You needed time to get used to it, but then it was marvellous. This wine was quite controversial at the table - two of my friends found it quite terrible, for some it was even Savennières of the night.
Flight 4 - Flight 2: Clos de la Coulée de Serrant 1996-1990 (4 notes)
Then we had the 1996-1994 and 1990 Coulée de Serrants. This set of wines started with a big bang: the 1996 was stellar and wine of the night for everyone. This may also be due to the fact that most people at the table are mostly Riesling drinkers and the 1996 Coulée was the closest to the tight, mineralic dry German Rieslings we all have gotten used to. Another friend of mine who usually drinks Burgundy Chardonnay said it rather reminded him of Bouchard Le Montrachet. In any way, this was one spectacular bottle of Coulée de Serrant, very young and quite monolithic. The 1995 was much riper and warmer in style, also very compelling. The 1994 was not disappointing, but was clearly not at the same level as the other Coulée de Serrants that night. It was simply lacking in structure and depth.
Then, as the last Coulée de Serrant we had the 1990, a really controversial wine. Everyone at the table smelled and tasted different things, we just couldn't agree. We could neither agree whether we liked the wine or not. For me it was almost wine of night because it was so individual. If every I have tasted a non-fruity wine, it was this one. There's even more fruit in Vin Jaune.
Flight 5 - Dessert - Huet Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux 1ère Trie 1990 and 1996 (2 notes)
To finish the night, we had the Le Mont Moelleux 1ère Trie from 1990 and 1996. I had had this wine before from 1953 and 1989 in two different renderings (1ère Trie and 1ère Trie "debut de pressée") and from 1996 also the Clos du Bourg 1ère Trie. Both wines were spectacular, but that night, for me it had to be the 1990 although the 1996 will likely turn out to be the better and longer lasting wine. It's just still a little young. In any way, I can't think of many more sweet wines in that price range that are equally compelling, consistently great and - most importantly - great to drink.
Closing
It was really fascinating, drinking these Coulée de Serrants in a vertical. I had only had youngish Coulée de Serrants before, which I mostly found difficult. There were certainly similarities between the wines, such as a razor sharp minerality and a very bright and lively mouthfeel. Still, every wine was different from the others. What I like about these wines in such state of maturity is that they show quite directly the year of their growth. They give you a feeling of almost standing in the vineyard and feeling the weather, seeing grapes get infected by Botrytis, etc.
The two Huets were absolutely marvellous as well. I'm often not so sure whether I like Le Mont or Clos du Bourg better, but I tend towards Le Mont. The 1996 is a monumental wine that will last forever. This can't be said about the 1990, which may or may not last as long as it already seems quite ripe. That night I preferred the 1990 for its Tarte Tatin characteristic and its expressive notes of almost burnt caramell. However, the 1996 is probably the better wine with more potential.