1988 Marc Brédif Vouvray Grande Année

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 90.8 points

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  1/7/2023 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine:

  Retail $30(?). 100% Chenin Blanc. Under cork. I have opened a number of bottles of this wine, and with each successive bottle, I amazed at how incredibly well it is holding up. Similar notes for this stellar wine. 95 Points.
  
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  1/7/2023 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine:

  Retail $30? 100% Chenin Blanc. It's with a heavy heart that I pop this one. With similar notes.
  
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  4/27/2022 - The Drunken Cyclist Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Retail $30? 100% Chenin Blanc. It is not all that often that you get to drink a wine that is about to have its 34th birthday but when my dear friend suggested I bring back some bottles from her recently deceased husband's cellar in Paris, I knew this would be one. I knew Nicolas for nearly thirty years, but this wine still predates that by a half-dozen years. I had just graduated from college when the grapes for this wine had been harvested and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life (a double-major in French and Political Science is not exactly a formidable résumé builder). Little did I know that many years later, I would be riding my bike through Vouvray, leading bike tours for Nicolas' company, even stopping by this winery on at least a couple of occasions. I could not hazard a guess as to how many bottles of Vouvray (both still and sparkling) we shared over the years, but I wish, as I sip this golden elixir, that this bottle would have been added to that list. Sure, he was a complicated person who left behind a bit of a troubled legacy for his wife and two daughters, but he was a boss, a mentor, a friend, a brother and I never got the opportunity to thank him for all the shared moments, the gleaned knowledge, the friendship that he so willfully provided. Yes, we had our arguments and there were times that I might have cursed his name, but in the end we always forgave one another since that is what brothers do. Not that it matters all that much, but I prefer to think that he'd be happy knowing that I was the one that pulled the cork on this memorable bottle and that all the while I thought of the town of Vouvray, along the Loire River, lined with its ancient troglodyte homes, and how Chenin Blanc, in my opinion (one I know that was shared by him) reaches its apogee in the Loire Valley. But mostly I thought about what it would be like to share one last bottle with him, have one last conversation (or argument) about politics, the French rail system, why he should wear a helmet while riding a bike (he never did), or how Texas (he never visited me here) was perhaps the *worst* manifestation of the American psyche. No. None of that transpired tonight. Instead, I made a simple yet tasty meal that would enable me to focus on the wine, which he taught me was paramount when opening a special bottle. The wine? While it might not be the *best* Chenin I have had in my life, it was still fantastic and doing quite well 34 years in. Golden color revealing its age, plenty of tartness, and just a hint of sweetness. Yes, a bit like our relationship. And I loved every drop of it.
  
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  9/4/2016 - RieslingFanatic wrote:

  Preferred the entry level 1985 to this when tried together. Nose is stone fruits, lime cordial, hint of mushroom/truffle, some "wet dog" notes too. Palate still shows life, lime marmalade, honey, smoke/char, but maybe a touch hollow?

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  12/24/2014 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Andrew brought a bottle of this to taste because I had recently had the 1996. This was better than the 1996. Light gold colour. A nose of talc, lemons, limes and greengage, with a little spice and a touch of honey. The age is evident in slightly cheesy aromas (Cheddar?) with a suggestion of kero but this is a fairly primary bouquet for this age. In the mouth, the sweetness and residual sugar is the first impression. An attractive tactile, viscous, glycerol mouthfeel, that improved with 6-8 hours' air. I found flavours of grapefruit, greengage, golden peaches, lemon honey and lovely minerality. It finishes long, on that residual sugar. Relatively primary, for its age, held together by good acidity. It is a wine to drink now but there is no hurry. This wine is labeled 'Grande Année'. These older bottles are being currently released on the market - I'd strongly recommend them as a buy for something interesting.

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