1934 Domaine René Couly, Couly-Dutheil Chinon

The labels are recent as the wine was almost certainly stored in a limestone cellar without a label

It was a great privilege to be at yesterday's vertical of Chinons covering vintages from 1934 through to 2005 held at at the Château du Rivau and many thanks to those Chinon producers who provided some of their precious old bottles to taste. Definitely the most extraordinary wine was the 1934 Domaine René Couly. Although not the best wine I tasted in this vertical, it was remarkable for its longevity – this was no faded ghost at the feast of Chinons! Wisely the tasting started from the oldest to the youngest so this 1934 was our first wine.

The 1934 still vibrant and a good colour

What was immediately striking was how vibrant and relatively youthful the colour of the 1934 was. I'm sure that if served blind no-one would guess that this is a 77 year-old wine. Of course a little bricky but not brown. The aromas were spicy, fungal – mushroomy in an attractive sense with touches of sous bois, sweet evolved fruit on the palate finishing with quite marked acidity. Ready to drink now, this 1934 could be kept longer, unlike some of the later vintages (subject of another post/s.)

Pierre Couly (Pierre and Bertrand Couly) gave us flowering and vintage dates for all the wines. The 1934 vintage started on 6th October, which, although it would be considered late today, was around the normal time to start in those days. It certainly wasn't a late vintage.

This bison, from the trophy room at the Château du Rivau where we had dinner on the Thursday and who expressed some clear reservations about the possible condition of the 1934, was happily proved to be mistaken.

La Vienne, the town of Chinon and part of the Château

Thursday: off to Chinon for a big tasting on Friday morning when the Chinon producers are showing a range of wines over 60 vintages for 1945 to 2005. This promises to be fascinating. Although I have tasted a few 1947 Chinons I don’t think I have tasted any since 1992 – some long time ago. Same for the famous 1964, which I have tasted but not recently – 64 has the reputation of being one of the great Chinons.

Of course it may be the famous vintages like 1945, 1947, 1949, 1959, 1964, 1989, 1990, 1996 and 2005 will shine but it will be equally fascinating to see how the less heralded vintages have aged – 1948 or 1951 for example – likewise 1963 or 1968.

First off it was the Eurostar to Paris and then across on the Metro 4 to the Gare de Montparnasse – not one of my favourite railway stations: a monument to concrete and very impersonal. It doesn’t have a scintilla of the charm of the Gare du Lyon or even the Gare du Nord.

This evening we will be at the Château de Rivau, where we are promised that the late François Rabelais, Chinon’s greatest ambassador may put in an appearance.

PS: I didn’t have a chance to post this before today’s fascinating and very interesting vertical of Chinon, although it wasn’t quite as advertised as we started with a 1934. More details of the tasting tomorrow.

Château du Rivau where the tasting was held

 Château du Rivau

Vente aux enchères au Château du Rivau
Du 17/09/2011 au 17/09/2011

Venez participer à la 5ème édition de vente aux enchères des différentes appellations de la Loire inscrites dans le périmètre du Patrimoine Mondial de l’UNESCO, mais aussi des appellations des autres vignobles européens inscrits au Patrimoine mondial.

Cette année l'accent est mis sur la vente de crus se finissant en "11".

Les bénéfices de la vente seront entièrement reversés à l’Association pour la Recherche sur l'Autisme et la Prévention des Inadaptations (ARAPI www.arapi-autisme.org).
Soutenir l'ARAPI, c'est se faire plaisir en oeuvrant pour une grande cause : tout un plaisir !

Entrance to main building

Lieu : Château du Rivau - Lémeré    
Renseignements : Maitre Rouillac
02 54 80 24 24
Voir ici et aussi ici quelques détails des vins en vente.

Gateway to main building

 

Ready for snow!