1996 Vieilles Vignes  Domaine de la Perrière

Tasting of some 2010 Loires at the RSJ Restaurant (Waterloo, London) on Monday evening

For me one of the stars was the 1996 Chinon Vieilles Vignes from Christophe Baudry’s Domaine de la Perrière. Obviously not a 2010 wine but one we put in at the end of the tasting to show how the 2010s may evolve. Although a number of 1996s, such as Le Grand Clos and Vieilles Vignes from Château Villeneuve as well as the 1996 Bourgueil served at Vins et Livres, are still on very good form, I hadn’t tasted the 1996 VV Perrière for some time, so wondered how it would show.

The Baudry Vieilles Vignes comes from the gravel vineyards close to the River Vienne. In general the wines from the limestone Coteaux are longer lived. I shouldn’t have been concerned as this 1996 had complex and attractive aromas of evolved fruit and seductively soft, supple fruit texture. I doubt if it will get any better but it is likely to continue in this vein for certainly at least another three or four years.   

 

We opened two bottles of the 1996. There was a slight difference between the two with one being rounder and the other showing a little more acidity. Sometimes bottle variation can be very significant with wines of this age.  

List of 2010’s tasted:

Aperitif:

Sauvignon VDP du Val de Loire, Domaine de Bablut

Whites: 

Touraine Sauvignon, Clos Roussely, Vincent Roussely

Quincy, Domaine des Ballandors, Jean Tatin and Chantal Wilk

Chenin Blanc, Château de la Roulerie, Philippe Germain

3 Coteaux, Chinon Blanc, Baudry-Dutour

Reds:

Anjou Rouge, Château de la Roulerie, Philippe Germain

Clos de la Bienboire, Château de Villeneuve, Jean-Pierre Chevallier

Saumur Champigny, Domaine des Roches Neuves, Thierry Germain

1996 Vieilles Vignes, Chinon, Domaine de la Perrière

Comments on the 2010s to follow

Christophe Baudry: Baudry-Dutour and Maire of Cravant-les-Coteaux

Following our morning in Saumur we headed to AC Chinon and to Panzoult for a tasting at the Baudry-Dutour winery. Given that they are now the largest invididual producer in Chinon with some 120 hectares, the standard at Baudry-Dutour is impressively high across their range. 

From the easy drinking red cuvées Domaine de la Perrière has more interest and concentration in 2010 than the leaner Domaine de la Roncée. It was the other way round in 2009. Christophe Baudry explained that due to a spring frost Perrières' yield was some 36-38 hl/ha compared to 45-47 hl/ha for Roncée. Both of these 2010s are in bottle. The mid-weight 2009 Perrières Vieilles Vignes has a smoky character, an attractively soft texture and can be enjoyed now, while Clos des Maronniers is more closed and needs a little time. 

The 2009 Château de la Grille was next up. This is the first Baudry-Dutour vintage from this previously underwhelming and expensive property. The 2009 is certainly an improvement on previous vintages with a good concentration of red and black fruits. Although the tannins are better handled there is a still a bite of tannin in the finish. However, there will be time for this to soften as it won't be on the market until the end of 2012. The fine 2008 Château Saint-Louans was the last red. Now on sale it has a good  balance of structure and fruit.

Jean-Martin Dutour: Président of Interloire   

Following the tasting we paid a quick visit with Jean-Martin to Château de la Grille, which is on the outskirts of Chinon just to the north of the main road that by-passes the town. They have recently pulled down part of the old chai and are putting up a new visitor centre. The château is now empty and will need extensive renovation.

Postscript:
The plan is to keep the existing special bulbous and heavy La Grille bottle. I think this is probably a mistake as I don't think Château de la Grille has a very good reputation (see comments). Better to start afresh with a new bottle and design to show that there really has been regime change at La Grille.  

Area where the chai was demolished

 

Visitor centre

The President on the phone

Visit to Jérôme Billard (Domaine de la Noblaie) will be an additional post.

This is an impressive and ambitious Chinon from the 2007 vintage, which is generally light with the fruit rarely ripe enough to make a weighty and concentrated wine without extracting green tannins. This Château de Saint-Louand, which comes from Baudry-Dutour's small property in Saint-Louand – a western suburb of Chinon. Aged in oak it still has considerable oak spice; it is drinking well now but would probably benefit from another year to let the wood and the oak marry more completely.