Last bottle. Nice stony forest floor, leaf mold nose on a bit of cherry skins. A fairly lightweight entry and mid-mouth. I would even call it a bit thin and hollow. Finishes with some decent tannin backdrop. Tannins fine and coming quite late. I can only assume the thinness and lack of energy mid-mouth is the age showing. I am going to drop the drink Latest to 2022.
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Not much evolution from 2018 - very young and juicy still. Nothing burnt, neither on the nose nor the palate, just a little more concentrated than a normal vintage, with tightly wound dark cherry and blackberry, saved from syrupiness by a wave of cool, fresh blackcurrant mid-palate.
A little too compact and tight for my taste, but this is a lot better than many other Loire red 2003s. I think it'll always be an "in spite of" rather than "thanks to the vintage" sort of wine, but much more restrained and classic than some more recent Clos de L'Echos.
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De mémoire, vin à maturiter avec des tanins fondus, mais soutenu par une fine amertume. Quelques arômes de poivron rouge, marqueur du cépage, mais très agréable. Bien ++
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Good nose with stony fruit, baked blackberry; all well integrated. Mouth is nice and fairly weighty. Finish comes on quickly with liquorice, tobacco, white pepper. Quite a peppery, drying finish. This remains surprisingly lively considering its age. From the record heat of 2003. Still life to go. 2026+
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Good nose, stony. All well integrated blackberry baked fruit. Nice mouth is fairly weighty. Finish come on quickly with liquorice, tobacco, white pepper. Quite a peppery, drying finish. This remains surprisingly lively after 17 years. It is from the record heat of 2003. Extend to 2026 but at this point could likely last longer without losing it's stuffing.
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Not very open on a light stony nose. Entry is smooth and very juicy cherry. Pulls back mid mouth and a bit chalky. Finishes spicy with fairly fine tannins. This is good but lacking a bit of energy mid mouth. The tannin indicate a few years left but on the down-hill side. Drink by 2021.
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The nose was reminiscent of a Bordeaux 2003: very intense, very ripe aromas of cherry and blackberry with a strong wave of forest fruits. The attack was arresting, tongue tingling, highly concentrated, so much so that it was hard to separate the black cherry from the blackberry and then from the redcurrant. They were tightly blended, too much so at first, but they loosened up after a couple of hours in the decanter. The impressive thing is the middle section - cool as a cucumber, it calms down the fruit and rises gently to the top of the palate, with the same sense of chalkiness as the Chevalier 01, before a long, persistent finish with a touch of black peppercorn right at the end. It clammed up later, tasting a bit porty, so it certainly needs several more years. But great potential.
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Forceberry's note below is stunningly accurate for us. What a pleasant surprise was this wine. We purchased at least six bottles approximately eight or nine years ago, happily consumed five, and this straggler was left behind. My wife needed some cooking wine, so -- without bothering to check on CT first -- we pulled it from the cellar, took a test sip to see if it was OK, and she poured off a cup. Many hours later we decided to give the remainder a try. Wow. Highly enjoyable, and we spread the rest of the bottle over the next two nights.
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Made from the fruit sourced from the Couly-Dutheil monopole Clos de l'Echo, a 17-hectare vineyard. The wine is fermented with natural yeasts and macerated with the skins over a period of 30 days, after which the wine is aged in stainless steel. 13,5% alcohol.
Completely opaque, concentrated black-red color with quite broad, brick-orange rim. Meaty, dark-toned and quite ripe nose with robust and somewhat smoky aromas of charcoal and charred meat, sunny dark fruit, some smoked bell pepper, a little bit of very ripe blackcurrant, a hint of sweet plummy fruit and an almost jammy nuance of soft, sweet blackberries. The aromas are very enticing and suggestive of a very warm vintage. The wine is remarkably complex and velvety smooth on the palate with full body and rich, nuanced flavors of sunny, ripe fruit, roasted meaty notes, some sweet and slightly wizened dark berries, hints of leather and a touch of raisiny fruit. With only moderate acidity and amply, but very ripe and mellow tannins, the wine lacks the typical brightness and crunchy quality of a classic Chinon in favor of a softer and smoother body. The finish is very rich, long and somewhat developed with mature flavors of wizened, dark fruits, some raisiny fruit, delicate and floral dried flower notes and a sweet hint of blackberry jam. The aftertaste is somewhat grippy from the ample tannins and quite brooding with very ripe and somewhat dried flavors of dark-toned fruits.
Despite being quite atypical for a Chinon with its remarkably ripe, quite concentrated and even somewhat sweet fruit, this is still quite attractive a wine. It might lack those leafy, vegetal and somewhat bitter qualities of a classic Loire Cabernet Franc, but the wine still comes across as remarkably balanced and harmonious with impressive complexity. If this wine is at least somewhat representative of the style of the top tier wines of Couly-Dutheil, I need to get my hands on the cooler vintages of Clos de l'Echo. Even though this is very big wine for a Chinon, it's still remarkable stuff; no wonder Couly-Dutheil's Clos series are so highly regarded wines. At only 12,95€, this wine shows simply ridiculous value.
Dark brick colour. A lot of forest floor and truffle must on the nose. Entry is sweet fruit with a very silky smooth profile. A decent density to the mouth and a fairly tight finish with some nice tannins well back in the mouth. Very nice now, fairly rich wine.
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Dark Ruby. Nose is earthy although slightly closed on opening. Entry is sweet plum and mid-toned fruit. Good density to the mouth that grows full and juicy to a dark, dark fruit, herbal finish with good tannins and structure left. This is a bit of a bomb really. A great example of what pure Cab Franc can be as well as telling of how it adds body and weight to a merlot.
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A very nice wine. Good tanin, a little green, but not in an unpleasant way, tobacco, dark medium-bodied fruit, dark stone fruit, graphite - and all really well-balanced. Nose and mouth-feel remind me of bordeaux, but not in a hot vintage and without gobs of new oak.
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R11.1 nose closed on opening. Nice entry and smooth blossom to a fairly heavy dark, fruit and herbal finish. Tannins well back. A bit chalky in the mouth.
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Fragrant vegetable with dark toned fruit and pencil lead; typical Loire nose. Entry is light but then comes on with a lot of punch. Good acidity with dark fruit and decent if not really strong tannins.
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Nice and fragrant vegetable nose. Cabernet Franc with little barnyard, all vegetable. Smooth entry light on the mouth with a nice spicy radish finish. A bit chalky with interesting drying tannins arriving very late. A touch of heat on the end. It is from the 2003 scorcher summer after all. This is well done; dry and complex. Will not be to everyone's taste but give it a good decant and it smooths out to a classic, well executed and tasty cabernet franc.
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Loire Cabernet Franc tasting (flat of a friend, in Budapest): Beautiful nose of tobacco, forest floor, tar, mushrooms, paprika, bay leaf, licorice - a great, mature Cabernet with real complexity. Slowly mellowing on the palate, but still has good concentration; acidity nicely integrated, it's fully dry. Tannins still firm. Bordeaux-like. Serious wine. Drink from now, but no hurry, will hold for a few more years easily.
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Not your typical cabernet franc. Although still vegetal, much less than usual. Not much green pepper. Balanced. As good and if not better the next day. Seems ready to drink.
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Rich colour; deep, dark, sweet, crisp and delicious fruit, pepper, slightly coarse, minerality, satiny texture; on the palate the fruit is doing battle with the dry tannins - who will be victorious?
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Monthly Tasting Group HWS #038; Loire red wines. (By WG): Spicy/herbal bouquet. Full bodied and juicy. Ripe forest fruits and cassis. Good balance between sweetness and acidity. Soft tannin. Really a pleasant surprise for me. Ready now, but no real hurry.
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i just love cabernet franc. Not an easy wine for many winedrinker since it is really a 'vegetable' wine instead of a 'fruit' wine. great with pork tenderloin.
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9/13/2022 - riskun Likes this wine: 89 Points
Last bottle. Nice stony forest floor, leaf mold nose on a bit of cherry skins. A fairly lightweight entry and mid-mouth. I would even call it a bit thin and hollow. Finishes with some decent tannin backdrop. Tannins fine and coming quite late. I can only assume the thinness and lack of energy mid-mouth is the age showing. I am going to drop the drink Latest to 2022.
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6/27/2022 - Julian Marshall Likes this wine: 92 Points
Not much evolution from 2018 - very young and juicy still. Nothing burnt, neither on the nose nor the palate, just a little more concentrated than a normal vintage, with tightly wound dark cherry and blackberry, saved from syrupiness by a wave of cool, fresh blackcurrant mid-palate.
A little too compact and tight for my taste, but this is a lot better than many other Loire red 2003s.
I think it'll always be an "in spite of" rather than "thanks to the vintage" sort of wine, but much more restrained and classic than some more recent Clos de L'Echos.
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2/23/2021 - GAET Likes this wine: 89 Points
De mémoire, vin à maturiter avec des tanins fondus, mais soutenu par une fine amertume. Quelques arômes de poivron rouge, marqueur du cépage, mais très agréable.
Bien ++
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11/14/2020 - riskun Likes this wine: 92 Points
Good nose with stony fruit, baked blackberry; all well integrated. Mouth is nice and fairly weighty. Finish comes on quickly with liquorice, tobacco, white pepper. Quite a peppery, drying finish. This remains surprisingly lively considering its age. From the record heat of 2003. Still life to go. 2026+
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10/30/2020 - riskun Likes this wine: 91 Points
Good nose, stony. All well integrated blackberry baked fruit. Nice mouth is fairly weighty. Finish come on quickly with liquorice, tobacco, white pepper. Quite a peppery, drying finish. This remains surprisingly lively after 17 years. It is from the record heat of 2003. Extend to 2026 but at this point could likely last longer without losing it's stuffing.
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4/29/2019 - riskun wrote: 90 Points
Not very open on a light stony nose. Entry is smooth and very juicy cherry. Pulls back mid mouth and a bit chalky. Finishes spicy with fairly fine tannins. This is good but lacking a bit of energy mid mouth. The tannin indicate a few years left but on the down-hill side. Drink by 2021.
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11/19/2018 - Julian Marshall Likes this wine: 92 Points
The nose was reminiscent of a Bordeaux 2003: very intense, very ripe aromas of cherry and blackberry with a strong wave of forest fruits. The attack was arresting, tongue tingling, highly concentrated, so much so that it was hard to separate the black cherry from the blackberry and then from the redcurrant. They were tightly blended, too much so at first, but they loosened up after a couple of hours in the decanter. The impressive thing is the middle section - cool as a cucumber, it calms down the fruit and rises gently to the top of the palate, with the same sense of chalkiness as the Chevalier 01, before a long, persistent finish with a touch of black peppercorn right at the end.
It clammed up later, tasting a bit porty, so it certainly needs several more years. But great potential.
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11/6/2017 - Deux Chevaux wrote:
Forceberry's note below is stunningly accurate for us. What a pleasant surprise was this wine. We purchased at least six bottles approximately eight or nine years ago, happily consumed five, and this straggler was left behind. My wife needed some cooking wine, so -- without bothering to check on CT first -- we pulled it from the cellar, took a test sip to see if it was OK, and she poured off a cup. Many hours later we decided to give the remainder a try. Wow. Highly enjoyable, and we spread the rest of the bottle over the next two nights.
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5/13/2017 - forceberry wrote: 94 Points
Made from the fruit sourced from the Couly-Dutheil monopole Clos de l'Echo, a 17-hectare vineyard. The wine is fermented with natural yeasts and macerated with the skins over a period of 30 days, after which the wine is aged in stainless steel. 13,5% alcohol.
Completely opaque, concentrated black-red color with quite broad, brick-orange rim. Meaty, dark-toned and quite ripe nose with robust and somewhat smoky aromas of charcoal and charred meat, sunny dark fruit, some smoked bell pepper, a little bit of very ripe blackcurrant, a hint of sweet plummy fruit and an almost jammy nuance of soft, sweet blackberries. The aromas are very enticing and suggestive of a very warm vintage. The wine is remarkably complex and velvety smooth on the palate with full body and rich, nuanced flavors of sunny, ripe fruit, roasted meaty notes, some sweet and slightly wizened dark berries, hints of leather and a touch of raisiny fruit. With only moderate acidity and amply, but very ripe and mellow tannins, the wine lacks the typical brightness and crunchy quality of a classic Chinon in favor of a softer and smoother body. The finish is very rich, long and somewhat developed with mature flavors of wizened, dark fruits, some raisiny fruit, delicate and floral dried flower notes and a sweet hint of blackberry jam. The aftertaste is somewhat grippy from the ample tannins and quite brooding with very ripe and somewhat dried flavors of dark-toned fruits.
Despite being quite atypical for a Chinon with its remarkably ripe, quite concentrated and even somewhat sweet fruit, this is still quite attractive a wine. It might lack those leafy, vegetal and somewhat bitter qualities of a classic Loire Cabernet Franc, but the wine still comes across as remarkably balanced and harmonious with impressive complexity. If this wine is at least somewhat representative of the style of the top tier wines of Couly-Dutheil, I need to get my hands on the cooler vintages of Clos de l'Echo. Even though this is very big wine for a Chinon, it's still remarkable stuff; no wonder Couly-Dutheil's Clos series are so highly regarded wines. At only 12,95€, this wine shows simply ridiculous value.
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1/25/2015 - riskun Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark baked fruit and very earthy nose. Entry is dark, classic Cabernet Franc with a vegetable and nice acidic finish.
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10/11/2014 - riskun Likes this wine: 90 Points
Dark brick colour. A lot of forest floor and truffle must on the nose. Entry is sweet fruit with a very silky smooth profile. A decent density to the mouth and a fairly tight finish with some nice tannins well back in the mouth. Very nice now, fairly rich wine.
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9/29/2014 - riskun Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dark Ruby. Nose is earthy although slightly closed on opening. Entry is sweet plum and mid-toned fruit. Good density to the mouth that grows full and juicy to a dark, dark fruit, herbal finish with good tannins and structure left. This is a bit of a bomb really. A great example of what pure Cab Franc can be as well as telling of how it adds body and weight to a merlot.
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9/7/2014 - ekenneth wrote: 91 Points
A very nice wine. Good tanin, a little green, but not in an unpleasant way, tobacco, dark medium-bodied fruit, dark stone fruit, graphite - and all really well-balanced. Nose and mouth-feel remind me of bordeaux, but not in a hot vintage and without gobs of new oak.
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5/10/2014 - riskun Likes this wine: 89 Points
R11.1 nose closed on opening. Nice entry and smooth blossom to a fairly heavy dark, fruit and herbal finish. Tannins well back. A bit chalky in the mouth.
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6/23/2013 - riskun Likes this wine: 90 Points
Fragrant vegetable with dark toned fruit and pencil lead; typical Loire nose. Entry is light but then comes on with a lot of punch. Good acidity with dark fruit and decent if not really strong tannins.
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2/25/2012 - riskun wrote: 91 Points
Nice and fragrant vegetable nose. Cabernet Franc with little barnyard, all vegetable. Smooth entry light on the mouth with a nice spicy radish finish. A bit chalky with interesting drying tannins arriving very late. A touch of heat on the end. It is from the 2003 scorcher summer after all. This is well done; dry and complex. Will not be to everyone's taste but give it a good decant and it smooths out to a classic, well executed and tasty cabernet franc.
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2/10/2012 - chri5b wrote: 90 Points
Great bottle, great PQR. Not too fruity, quite tannic but not excessively so. Very Nicely balanced.
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11/25/2011 - Zoltán Németi Likes this wine: 91 Points
Loire Cabernet Franc tasting (flat of a friend, in Budapest): Beautiful nose of tobacco, forest floor, tar, mushrooms, paprika, bay leaf, licorice - a great, mature Cabernet with real complexity. Slowly mellowing on the palate, but still has good concentration; acidity nicely integrated, it's fully dry. Tannins still firm. Bordeaux-like. Serious wine. Drink from now, but no hurry, will hold for a few more years easily.
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9/19/2010 - PourritureNoble wrote: 90 Points
i'm a fan of this type of wine. lots of vegetables
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8/9/2010 - Alcide23 wrote: 92 Points
Not your typical cabernet franc. Although still vegetal, much less than usual. Not much green pepper. Balanced. As good and if not better the next day. Seems ready to drink.
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1/10/2010 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 89 Points
Rich colour; deep, dark, sweet, crisp and delicious fruit, pepper, slightly coarse, minerality, satiny texture; on the palate the fruit is doing battle with the dry tannins - who will be victorious?
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8/17/2009 - Itriolo wrote:
Ripe, rich Loire red. Refreshing tang at the finish, but no sign of the typical cab franc green-ness.
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7/8/2009 - Zweder wrote: 89 Points
Monthly Tasting Group HWS #038; Loire red wines. (By WG): Spicy/herbal bouquet. Full bodied and juicy. Ripe forest fruits and cassis. Good balance between sweetness and acidity. Soft tannin. Really a pleasant surprise for me. Ready now, but no real hurry.
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2/22/2009 - PourritureNoble wrote: 90 Points
i just love cabernet franc. Not an easy wine for many winedrinker since it is really a 'vegetable' wine instead of a 'fruit' wine. great with pork tenderloin.
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11/26/2008 - winejnky wrote: 88 Points
Nose: Rose petals, violets, ganache
Flavor: Tar, pine, resin, stones, earth
Feel: Ripe, plummy, Pinot-ish
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8/11/2008 - SLMTcellar wrote: 90 Points
Silky, smooth, cab franc at its best.
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2/16/2008 - PourritureNoble wrote: 90 Points
very nice. Good QPR. It is sometimes nice to drink a wine that is not an overextracted fruitbomb.
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5/3/2007 - bk wrote: 90 Points
Coffee and mocha. Still better the second day.
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5/1/2006 - peternelson wrote: 87 Points
LV Road Show: North of the Chateau; Low nose, very velvety mth, rich soft t’s; very earthy, no oak.
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1/2/2006 - bk wrote: 92 Points
Big, round. Dark chocolate, mocha, and blueberries. An unexpected joy. This needs more time, much better day 2 with second half of bottle.
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