It was with a mixture of delight and of mild dismay that I tasted this excellent 2008 Jasnières from Francine and Raynald Lelais (Domaine des Gauletteries). It has lovely, crisp citric fruit with a touch of honey and a little bit of sweetness to balance the razor precise acidity. This is a brilliant young Jasnières – great to drink now but should age beautifully with the honeyed notes probably becoming more present. I think this is the Lelais' Cuvée Tradition – in addition they made two superior cuvées in 2008: Cuvée Saint-Vincent and Cuvée d'Exception.
So why the slight despair? Well because I don't know this producer and have never tasted their wines before. With 16.8 ha of vines (14.5 Jasnières, 2.3 Coteuax du Loir) it is not as though they are a small producer in these parts as they have just over 23% of the entire area of Jasnières in production. Although I guess I have some slight excuse as they don't appear to exhibit at the Salon des Vins de Loire. Every time I feel I am beginning to get a handle on the Loire I discover that there a significant producer I know nothing about. The despair is only slight as it would be terrible to get to position where one could declare that one had discovered everything there is to know about Loire wines.
I have to say I admire Jacqueline Friedrich and Richard Kelley for taking on the challenge of trying to cover the whole of the Loire in virtually one stretch – Jacqueline with her new book/ completely revised edition of A Wine & Food Guide to the Loire and Richard's Definite Guide website. Trying to cover the whole of the Loire within a time span that means all the sections are reasonably up to date is like being asked to paint the Forth Rail Bridge with an interdental brush!
This 2008 Jasnières is available from Majestic Wine for £8.99.
So why the slight despair? Well because I don't know this producer and have never tasted their wines before. With 16.8 ha of vines (14.5 Jasnières, 2.3 Coteuax du Loir) it is not as though they are a small producer in these parts as they have just over 23% of the entire area of Jasnières in production. Although I guess I have some slight excuse as they don't appear to exhibit at the Salon des Vins de Loire. Every time I feel I am beginning to get a handle on the Loire I discover that there a significant producer I know nothing about. The despair is only slight as it would be terrible to get to position where one could declare that one had discovered everything there is to know about Loire wines.
I have to say I admire Jacqueline Friedrich and Richard Kelley for taking on the challenge of trying to cover the whole of the Loire in virtually one stretch – Jacqueline with her new book/ completely revised edition of A Wine & Food Guide to the Loire and Richard's Definite Guide website. Trying to cover the whole of the Loire within a time span that means all the sections are reasonably up to date is like being asked to paint the Forth Rail Bridge with an interdental brush!
This 2008 Jasnières is available from Majestic Wine for £8.99.
