1990 Clos de l'Echo

 

Last night at the RSJ Restaurant there was a dinner and tasting of Chinons stretching from 2009 back to 1990.

Aperitif

2009 Sauvignon Blanc Domaine de Bablut, Vin de Pays 

Tighter, more mineral and refreshing but less opulent and exotic than it was last year.  

2009 Domaine de la Perrière, Baudry-Dutour
This is Baudry-Dutour's easy drinking cuvée from gravel vineyards close to the Vienne. Attractive red fruits with refreshing acidity.   

 

2009 Chinon Beaumont, Catherine and Pierre Breton

From vineyards on the undulating clay and limestone slopes around Beaumont-en-Vèron. This had considerably more weight than the Perrière – partly due to the different terroir but also from doubtless lower yields. With black fruits and spice, soft tannin, the Beaumont is drinking well now but can be kept for a good five years. I have been critical of some of the Breton wines but this 2009 was showing well.   

These two wines were served with a balontine of foie gras & confit of duck with fruit chutney.

Then onto two vintages of Baudry-Dutour's Vieilles Vignes
2006 Vieilles Vignes Domaine de la Perrière, Baudry-Dutour

2002 Vieilles Vignes Domaine de la Perrière, Christophe and Jean Baudry

These, which come from gravel vineyards, showed the importance of vintage in the Loire. The 2006 being fuller and richer with plum and liquorice flavours reflecting the good summer of 2006, which was potentially a very good vintage until the rain and the onset of rot at vintage time meant that the grapes had to be hurriedly gathered in. However, there are some very good 2006s, if not quite at the level of 2005. 

2002 was one of those Loire years when September and October saved the vintage after a poor summer. Sunshine and an easterly wind allowed the grapes to ripe and the drying conditions concentrated the grape juice. Less concentrated than 2006 and more in the red fruit spectrum with more present acidity. Like many 2002s it has lovely balance.

Both cuvées are aged in barrique. The 2002 was made before the creation of Baudry-Dutour in 2003.

1999 Coteau de Noire

Next up two wines from Philippe and Claude Alliet. Philippe is a cousin of Christophe Baudry and he set up his domaine in 1985 and is widely acknowledged as one of the top Chinon producers.

1995 Vieilles Vignes

1999 Coteau de Noire, Philippe Alliet

1995 Vieilles Vignes, Philippe Alliet 

The Alliets acquired the Coteau de Noire in the early 1990s. On the steep limestone coteau a little to the east of the town of Chinon, the 1999 comes from vines of less than 10 years old and is all the more impressive for this. Elegant concentration, structure and length, this is another example of how well the rather unregarded 1999 vintage is now showing.

Without food the 1995 Vieilles Vignes (from vines on gravel) shows some of the angularity that has been typical of this vintage with present tannins and acidity. With food the sweet, evolved fruit comes through.  

1990 Clos de L'Echo, Couly-Dutheil (in magnum)

When this was first opened we were rather concerned that this might be past it, initially light and quite bricky in colour this developed in glass with attractive and charming sweet fruit with a touch of rather grainy tannins. Given that the storage conditions for these two magnums of Clos de l'Echo had not been the best, they were showing pretty well. Doubtless any examples of the 1990 stored at Couly-Dutheil's cellars in Chinon would be more youthful. 

Served with braised veal, mashed potatoes, carrots, spinach, red wine jus.

B-D's Chinon Blanc is closed with a screwcap

2009 Chinon Blanc Baudry-Dutour

We created some controversey at the end of the evening by deciding to serve this with the cheese – a Brie de Meaux. Tasted blind few people I fancy would pick this out as Chenin Blanc – many would opt for Sauvignon Blanc with its zippy, grassy, citric fruit although in the finish it does have that characteristic touch of bitterness typical of many Chenins.

Along with a number of the assembled company I thought it went well with the cheese bringing out the wine's fruit, while others thought that it didn't work at all and were rather aghast at the idea of serving white wine with cheese.

 

Main street in the pretty little village of Crissay-sur-Manse

 'Le chinon vaut le détour pour les sommeliers coréens

C'était une première. Cinq grands sommeliers coréens ont dégusté les crus de Joguet, Baudry-Dutour et Alliet à Crissay-sur-Manse. Une belle découverte.'

Report in today's La Nouvelle République. Read the rest here.

 

 

2007 Coteau de Noire, Philippe Alliet

A very enjoyable lunch last week with Jean-Ernest and Liliane Sauvion at their lovely Western Touraine retreat, we drank a quarto of Chinons – one from 2007 and three from the 2005 vintage. A very enjoyable bottle of Château de Targe, Saumur Mousseux (70% de Chenin Blanc, 30% de Cabernet Franc) as an apéritif to prepare our palates.   

We tried them blind. First up was the dense, powerful and well structured 2005 Vieilles Vignes from Philippe Brocourt in Rivière on the south side of the Vienne. I guessed that this was either 2005 or 2006 and said that I like the concentration but that it needed more time. Brocourt is not a producer I know and we were impressed, especially as it costs around 7 or 8€.

 Saumur Mousseux, Château de Targe

The second Chinon was both lighter in colour, less structured, softer and more ready to drink. I guessed wrongly that it was older. I should have thought that it might be a 2007, which indeed it was – the Coteau de Noire of Philippe and Claude Alliet. Although it was well made its price tag of some 20€ made it less good value than the preceding Brocourt. Admittedly, however, we are not comparing the same vintage and the cost of production is at least the same, if not more, in a difficult year like 2007. Furthermore Philippe Alliet has a deservedly high reputation built up over a number of years, so can fairly charge a relatively high price for his Chinon. 

The third Chinon – 2005 L'Angelot, Domaine de Beauséjour from Gérard and David Chauveau in Panzoult – was our least admired wine of the four. Less concentrated than the Brocourt with more acidity and some dryish tannin, it was also the most rustic of the Chinons. 

We finished with a very recognisable flange bottle – could only be a Couly-Dutheil. I guessed 2003 Clos de l'Echo because of the rich, concentrated, soft but slightly cooked fruit with some granular tannins in the finish. In fact it was the 2005 Clos de l'Olive.     

 

Château de Chinon from Coteau du Noire

If I remember rightly (and I must check) Claude and Philippe Alliet started planting the steep slopes of their Coteau du Noire during the 1990s. Slopes that had not seen vines since the time of phylloxera because there are many easy sites to work in Chinon rather than these magnificent south facing slopes on one of the steep parts of the limestone coteau. The Alliets are based in Cravant les Coteaux but the Coteau du Noire is a little further west in the commune of Chinon, itself, and not far from Joguet's Clos du Chêne Vert. 

 Steep slopes of the Coteau du Noire contrasting with the slopes gravel terraces of the Vienne  

  

Not quite as steep as parts of the Mosel but far from flat!

  

The small chai (above and below)

 

  

From the Coteau through the rather grand entrance  

 

2009 Cabernet Franc 

2009 Chenin Blanc 

Clos de la Grille, domaine at the base of the coteau

Had another wonderful lunch at Jacky Dallais' La Promenade. The food is always great and inventive, the wine list excellent, the restaurant completely unstuffy and relaxed and to cap it all it's excellent value for money. Madame Dallais looks after the front of the house assisted by Xavier Fortin, the excellent sommelier. All too many sommeliers are useless, not so Xavier who is enthusiastic and really knows his wines, especially from the Loire but also the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon.

Jacky Dallais' presence in the dining room

Jacky Dallais stays in the kitchen, so there is none of the celebrity chef nonsense with the chef pressing the customers' flesh rather than getting on with the business in hand in the kitchen. I don't know of another restaurant in France that offers such quality at such good value as you'll find at La Promenade.



We took the menu tradition – 50€ for three courses plus cheese and dessert or 40€ for two courses.

2005 Le Volagré, Montlouis, Stéphane Cossais

For our aperitif we had a bottle of 2005 Le Volagré, Montlouis (38€) in memory of Stéphane. It was delicious and a very sad reminder of Stéphane's potential. Initially it showed some wood but this disappeared as it cooled down and had time to breathe and showed the richness of 2005 along with clean and precise minerality.

Huîtres speciales, compôte d'artichaut, citron confit et consommé de tomate

My first course was an amazing dish with a number of plump oysters hidden under the thin, brown biscuit. We had Didier Dagueneau's 2005 Pur Sang, Pouilly-Fumé (70€), which was good with attractive concentration and pure clean length but it didn't really quite have the complexity of Le Volagré. Didier's wine may just need more time.

Cabillaud cotier en croute de persil et coquillages

The cod was perfectly cooked – wonderfully moist and flavoursome.

Canard: le filet cuit rosé à lolive noir, le foie gras juste poelé, croque tomate acidulée et jus d'abat au vin rouge

With the very fine duck we had the 1999 Coteau de Noire, Chinon, Philippe Alliet (48€), which was attractively leathery with a touch of earthiness/sous bois. Philippe's Chinon brought to an end our sad series – Stéphane and Didier – of drinking bottles from top Loire producers cut down in their prime. I shouldn't forget the wickedly rich mousseline of potato – a Dallais speciality – believed to be 55% butter to 45% potato.

1999 Coteau de Noire, Chinon, Philippe Alliet

After the cheese I chose this strawberry dish – unfortunately I don't have the description but it was strawberries souffled sitting on little disks of jelly made from Gamay.

The only one small problem with La Promenade is that it is 50 minutes drive away deep in the unspoilt countryside of La Touraine Sud and it is difficult to find a good chambre d'hôte nearby. It is, of course, worth the journey. le Petit Pressigny has a population of 373.

Summer hours for La Promenade: open all week apart from Sunday night, all day Monday and Tuesday lunchtime. Booking is strongly advised.

11 Rue Savoureulx, 37350 Le Petit Pressigny‎. Tel: 02.47.94.93.52‎

Au Bon Coin: Le Petit Pressigny's other restaurant