June 7, 2023 - Very much a red fruit wine. Red berries on the nose, along with a little paprika and cinnamon plus some faded flowers. The attack is fresh and relatively light, red cherry and redcurrant, with strawberries not far behind. The fruit has an immediacy and purity common to all FDP wines, but there isn't the same depth as a Roches-Neuves, for example.
I get the feeling that this would have been better a few years ago - the CT window is until 2020 and I agree with that - the fruit is on the wane and there isn't the body or grip necessary for a longer future.
I hadn't tried a Breton FDP before - very enjoyable but not at the same level as other FDPs.
July 18, 2021 - Last bottle of three I bought on release. The first was delicious, the second a bretty train wreck. This one is excellent, showing some softness, so I am glad to be drinking it now. Earth, herb, red cherry and a little bit of cinnamon stick on the nose, is followed by fresh acidity, tart fruit and more cinnamon on the palate. At the back there is a hint of fresh cloth band-aid (not a plastic strip), but it's a clean note that adds complexity rather than detracting.
I don't find the same depth to this wine as with the Baudry FdP, but it's a very fine wine on its own terms.
November 20, 2016 - Brett Favre, Brett Hull, Brett Bodine, Brett Cecil, Brett Butler...
My last bottle of this was fantastic. This one smells like a horse covered with band aids. Oh well
April 11, 2016 - Last of three bottles tasted since 2014. Much softer than the last and no longer herbaceous, rather the dark red fruit is dominated by new dusty notes from entry to finish. Not unpleasantly so if you like dusty wine (I do, but where did that come from?), but we needed to move the wine to a smaller, narrower glass to punch up the CF character.
April 3, 2016 - I am not sure what to think. In a way I like it, old world mustiness. In a way it is too musty and wet cardboardish. I don't think it is corked though, I think it is just the way the wine is. My couldn't stand it so more for me.
Not much changed on the second day.
June 15, 2015 - Silken, fragrant, pure and delicious. My only minor, nitpick is that I wish it had just a touch more depth. If Baudy Grezeaux had this texture it would be Cabernet Franc perfection.
That's just me being ornery. This really is fabulous and drinking so well if so young.
April 22, 2015 - This wine has softened considerably in the last year. Lots of inviting fruit, together with tobacco leaf and just a touch of graphite on the nose and palate. It softens further with air and seems to have lost some of the iron and green herbs of its youth. I preferred the relative firmness of the previous bottles and was quite surprised by how fruity this was. I think I'll leave my remaining half case for a while and see where it morphs to next.
December 15, 2014 - This one has definitely turned the corner to goodness. Lots of tannin resolution, even if it still has plenty, but they don't hide the fruit. Really nice light bodied red fruits and berries. All that green stuff has gone to a nice spice profile. There's a touch of herbaceousness from that still, but mostly just a beautifully natural layer of spice. Gorgeous wine that taught me a lesson about aging Loires.
October 31, 2014 - Starts out quite funky, almost a little musty at first, but that quickly blows off with a few minutes of air and with time it settles into its usual self with lots of pure red and dark berried fruit tinged by gentle green herbal and more savoury earthy notes. The palate presence again shows that remarkable lightness and finesse, and this is a really easy wine to drink now, even though the structure and balance suggest there's plenty of time ahead.
April 21, 2014 - Rumors of this wine's demise (or at least downward turn) prompted me to pull one of these and find out for myself. Luckily, this wine is still going very strong. The nose has grown even more expressive, with the telltale aromas of crushed berries, tobacco smoke, tilled earth, and a whiff of green pepper having only grown more intense and well-delineated with time. Tannins are mostly resolved, making it very gulpable, but with no shortage of sappy red fruits and balancing acidity, so there's plenty of life of left here. Another remarkably pure and delicious expression of cab franc.