September 26, 2022 - Day 1 - Light straw color. Nose - honeydew melon, honeyed apple core, quince, yellow/white flowers, and some seaweed. In the mouth, extremely deep - high acidity that intensifies towards the end is typical of Chenin, but its surface is exceptionally seamless and delicate- waxy body is almost sucking all over my tongue and inner cheek, like receiving a slow deep kiss by the nature. Some residual sugar is totally in sync with the acidity and enhancing saline richness. Long long finish.
Day 2 - Color turned into deeper golden. Begins with melty ripe pineapple, finishes with nostalgic peppermint candy. Beautiful concave shape in the mouth - initially sweetness backed by acidity, dissolves into total salinity, then comes back with sunny warm-bright acidity - the shape comforts me like swimming over slow big ocean waves.
July 18, 2022 - Lots of bruised apples upon opening but got better with more air, is that possible?
Bad vintage, to say this is declassified trois argiles or silex noir would be a stretch, but I am perfectly happy to support a producer that has been a favourite of mine for over a decade.
September 26, 2021 - What a charmer and a nice Vouvray in the mid-$20s and fine QPR at the $20 I'd paid. Just the right among of sweetness in balance with the acidity. Purity and length. The orchard fruit is ripe but restrained, tropical fruit hinting. Very good+. 12% abv.
June 30, 2021 - 12% abv.
Louis Dressner selection.
“Soil: clay with flint over limestone bed rock
Vineyard work (plowing, tilling and hoeing)
Manual canopy management and pruning
Hand harvest, grape selection
No added yeasts
Area of the estate: 37 acres
8 generations of winemakers since 1786”
Transparent straw golden.
Nose faint lanolin, some white peach and florals.
Palate slightly off dry but high tart orange acidity, a green apple note, balanced with some fruity richness and honey.
Really nice. Still young. Perfect balance.
June 12, 2020 - Orange golden color. Nose slight lanolin, honey, a sultana note. Palate strikingly fruity — golden apple, a honey note, with time a hint of green apple tartness. Richer body.
Very good if some concern that this might oxidize in time. 91 pts
January 21, 2019 - Smells like sweet jasmine, gardenia, super green and bright. Taste is very sweet and just enough tartness. Texture is middle of the road - nothing really of interest. Thin, not grippy or velvety. Color is a gold, old book sort of look. After taste is sweet and bit of lead.
December 27, 2018 - Dark gold. Very fragrant nose of white flower, tropical fruit. Rich yet refined at the same time. There's some RS, but such striking acidity that it doesn't really register immediately. Lots of tropical fruit, nutiness, toasty flavors, with a full bodied texture.
April 18, 2018 - "Le 2016", according to the label. 12% alcohol.
Obviously ripe and beautifully luminous pale golden yellow color. Somewhat restrained, savory and pretty nose with attractive aromas of red apples, some beeswax, a little bit of smoke and a woolly hint of lanolin. The wine is medium-bodied, medium-sweet and ridiculously focused on the palate with crisp acidity and intense flavors of steely minerality, lemony citrus fruits, tart green apples, some quinine bitterness and a hint of key lime. Overall the wine comes across as pure, vibrant and very fresh, the racy acidity masking most of the sweetness away. The finish is crisp, pure and mineral with long, medium-sweet flavors of saline tang, steely minerality, key lime, lemony citrus fruits, some tart green apples and a hint of apple peel bitterness.
A wonderful, pure and focused Vouvray with terrific balance between the residual sugar sweetness and the piercing acidity. The wine might be even sweeter than it actually comes across, as the racy acidity makes it impossible to evaluate how much there is sugar. Overall the wine is still very young and primary, but I have no doubts whatsoever that the wine will continue to develop beautifully over years, maybe even decades. Delicious stuff, stunning value at 15€. Heartily recommended.
March 8, 2018 - Pinon's "Le 2016" has a faint lovely nose with hints of dried quince. This lacks the immediately loveliness of "Le 2013" (the last year he produced a single bottling due to low yields) but is remarkably comforting, a bit like snuggling under a warm down quilt on a cold winter's night. A wine of character and a further testimony, as if any were needed, to Francois' talent and dedication.
February 5, 2018 - Medium lemon in color, fast sheeting. Clean on the nose with medium- intensity, developing aromas of candied lemon, candied mango, grass, and green apple. Off-dry with medium acidity, medium+ body, moderate flavor intensity and medium length finish. FLavors of candied lemon rind, lemon drop with a hint of honey, eucalyptus and all-spice. Good balance, length, intensity complexity and structure — overall, a very good wine. Good now with potential for further aging.