Chronicle 16. Unchaptalised sweet white wines from the Loire valley (Part 2).

Jean-Marc Quarin Carnets de dégustations An independent buyer's guide to the wines of Bordeaux www.quarin.com Chronicle n° 16 (February 1st, 2006) UNCHAPTALISED SWEET WHITE WINES FROM THE LOIRE VALLEY (continued) DOMAINE DELESVAUX, Coteaux du Layon / DOMAINE DE BELLIVIÈRE, Coteaux du Loir This report is designed to bring to your attention the estates of the Loire which seem to me to be the most thorough and still not very well-known. These wine-makers all work without recourse to chaptalisation which is a fine feat in a vineyard situated rather to the North than to the South. As regards the sweet white wines, the 2003 vintage is a great year, sometimes superior to the famous 1977 vintage. For the dry white wines, 2002 is the reference like 1996. DOMAINE PHILIPPE DELESVAUX Philippe DELESVAUX 49190 Saint-Aubin de Luigne Tel: ++33 (0)2 41 78 18 71 - Fax : ++33 (0)2 41 78 68 06 Distributor for the United States: VINTEX, Mr Bill BLATCH Tel: ++33 (0)5 56 11 20 80 – Fax: ++33 (0)5 56 11 20 85 – E-mail: vintex@vintex.fr I first met Philippe Delesvaux in 2001 at the Château Guiraud in the Sauternes at a meeting of the members of Sapros. At the time, I gave a score to his Sélection des Grains Nobles 1997: 89 for the mouth; 83 for the nose, as I was too disturbed by an iodised, salty dimension which I associated more with badly sorted botrytis than a particular expression of the soil. I wrote in the comments that, in reply to my remarks, Philippe Delesvaux pointed out that “everything fades with time”, and he was right. I reserved my judgement. Today this is no longer necessary for that nose which I termed curious. I described the mouth as “melting, meticulous, with delectable sweetness”. I was intrigued by so much contrast. Here then was a wine with a very particular character, linked to its carbonaceous soil. It is very typified, quite the contrary of a commercial, general purpose wine. The wines Philippe Delesvaux produces three different qualities of wine on ten and a half hectares planted with the Chenin grape. This hierarchy is decided by the nature of the residual sugars: either from the natural drying out of the grapes by wind and weather, or from botrytis, or a mix of both. I will add that this distinction of taste is very useful for amateurs who wish to understand the differences in the sweetness from one or the other cause. As for chaptalised wine, the consumer must look elsewhere as Philippe Delesvaux is an ardent defender of naturally made sweet wines. Beyond the scores and the hedonistic effect, an attentive taster can really learn a lot from all these wines. This shows in the reading of the commentaries. The novelty, the astonishment, the contrast: all these are difficult to describe, to pin down, sometimes even to evaluate, and they are all surprising. Whatever, these rare sensations remain, in my experience, an essential frame of reference for the knowledge of the manifestations of sweetness due to botrytis, non-chaptalised or simply natural drying. And there is pleasure to be found there, too! My advice: don’t miss the Sélection des Grains Nobles 2003. I consider it to be better than the 1997. THE BOTTOM OF THE RANGE COTEAUX DU LAYON SAINT-AUBIN This wine is a blend of berries which are above all naturally dried. They are harvested from the Clos de La Guiberderie and the Clos du Pavillon. Overall, it is the simplest of the wines produced by the estate. 2003 84 This wine is agreeable but simple with slightly bitter notes at the finish. Alcohol: 13.2° Residual sugar: 80g/litre. THE MIDDLE OF THE RANGE Here are two labels which can be distinguished by their soil but which are similar by the blending making up the wine: 30% of naturally dried berries and 70% of botrytised berries. CLOS DE LA GUIBERDERIE Coteaux du Layon St Aubin Soil: coal, schist, poudingues and volcanic ash. 2003 86 Golden colour. Fine, fruity, fresh, floral nose without heaviness. In the mouth, the wine is well-shaped and very flavourful. It finishes long with a mineral character. 12.3° alcohol and 120g residual sugar which are never felt. CLOS DU PAVILLON Coteaux du Layon St Aubin It is the grapes harvested from this Clos with a soil of coal and schist which typify the wines enormously. Here, the wines offer notes which I call “marine”, they are so evocative of the smells of the sea-front. The iodised nuance is mixed with a totally original smoky nuance. This last evokes the peaty note in pure malt whisky. This type is very surprising. Some like it, some don’t. If the flavours of Bordeaux are your reference, remember that this peaty note can also be found in Pape Clement and La Mission Haut Brion. 2004 88 - 89 I tasted it twice before bottling and will taste it again after bottling in February 2006. The wine is flavourful and always accompanied by a great tactile softness. Very original aromas of oyster shell which also evoke pure malt whisky. THE TOP OF THE RANGE These are the Sélection de Grains Nobles (Selection of Noble Berries). They are 100% botrytised and can be a blending of berries harvested from the Clos de la Guiberderie and du Pavillon . SGN 2003 Coteaux du Layon TASTER'S FAVOURITE 95 The colour is deep yellow. The wine is still cloudy as it is fermenting. The nose is intense, rich, almost violent, mixing orange and mandarin peel, with touches of iodine, notes of oyster shell and apricot. On swirling, it is extremely powerful and almost salty: a real evocation of iodised sea spray. It is a great wine, very meticulous in texture, from entry to finish, precise, and rather wonderful. The intense caress mingles with the mellowness and the lusciousness. There is no exaggeration of any kind, the tactile softness is nearly indescribable. It is like drinking the nectar of the gods! The finish is long and smooth with a covering of the sweetness which is quite astonishing. It is delicious and totally rare. Well done! It can be drunk now or kept until 2015-2020. Yield: 15 hectolitres from 10 hectares, or 1.5 hl/ha. 260g residual sugar; just 10.5° alcohol (really surprising seeing as there is no heaviness). Price, as generally practised in France (to private individuals): 24€, including tax, for a 50cl bottle. SGN 2002 Coteaux du Layon 91 The nose is fine, fruity, fresh, floral, but less rich than in 2003. There is a note of butter. On swirling, it is slightly discreet, a little toned down, a little reserved, but still very fresh. A note of citrus zest. Once again, the softness in the mouth, no doubt due to the balance and the quality of the fruit, is indescribable. The wine is caressing and melting, but does not have the same strength in mid-mouth as the 2003. On the other hand, it is extremely silky and ends very flavourful with a very good finish with a return of fairly sophisticated notes of butter and flowers. 160g residual sugar; 11° alcohol. It can be drunk now or kept until 2018-2025. SGN 2001 Coteaux du Layon 90 The colour is golden with green tints. The nose is different from that of the 2003 and the 2002. It tends perhaps more towards the side of citrus peel. It already has fairly fine notes of mandarin and orange zest enhanced by sensations of freshness. The iodised note is also present. A priori, I would say it was a little less fine and subtle than the 2003 and different from the 2002, perhaps due to a more developed botrytis, as if the grapes had been wetted by the rain. On swirling, it shows slightly marine notes. It is a differently constructed wine, one which attacks, beginning wide and caressing, but it does not have the same homogeneity or the same tactile qualities as the 2002 and 2003 vintages. In mid-mouth, it withdraws slightly before returning for the finish. It can be drunk now or laid down until 2025. SGN 2000 Coteaux du Layon 87 - 88 The colour is yellow-green and intense. The nose is neat, but with an iodised and a spicy touch, witness to a difficult year. In the mouth, this wine is lighter than the others, with less flesh and strength, but it remains well balanced with a slightly candied sweetness, but no more. Agreeable, it finishes without heaviness in the mouth and with finely bitter touches. To be drunk now and before 2015. SGN 1999 Coteaux du Layon 89 - 91 The colour is a very lovely, dark, brilliant green-yellow. The nose is fruity with a touch a tiny bit mushroom, a smell by which I sense that the year was difficult in the sorting, but, this said, there is no saffron, none of that sort of deviation. What is striking in the mouth is the meticulousness of construction and texture. This wine is incredible: it is meticulous, flavourful and nuanced. There is a great richness, and the concentration comes from within. What is more, it finishes with sensations of liquorice and with not the slightest touch of mushroom that I detected on the nose. Long and fine, it is delicious to drink at the moment. It is fairly surprising and remarkably palatable, thanks to a hint of acidity. Do not hesitate to drink it now and before 2015-2020. A fine success for 1999. Le "20" 1998 Coteaux du Layon 91 This was a special label produced to celebrate the twenty years of winemaking of Philippe Delesvaux. A scarce two barrels of wine were made from very carefully sorted berries from the Clos de la Guiberderie. The colour is green-yellow. The first nose is neat, with a medium intensity, and an aroma of verbena. It is green rather than fruity. After swirling, it remains the same, but with notes also of petroleum and wood. What a superb touch on entry! The wine is caressing, forming an ethereal ball in mid-mouth which then dematerialises under the effect of saliva. Very flavourful, a tiny bit creamy, it finishes strong, a little heady and long with notes of candied fruit and wood. It is very good. Price, as generally practised in France (to private individuals): 30€, including tax, for a 50cl bottle. SGN 1997 Coteaux du Layon 94 Score has gone up. This is a new score for the 1997 which I last tasted in 2001. The nose smells intensely of oyster shell and marine notes. This is very, very strong, omnipresent. It is a strong, extremely dense wine. Here is something rare which will need time to develop. On swirling, it is also iodised. Doubtless there is also a hint of volatile acidity which gives freshness to the nose. It is even certain, there is volatile acidity and a little bit of ethyl acetate which disturbs me. On the other hand, what a wonderful feeling in the mouth. The wine is full on attack: it takes on body, it becomes melting and it develops silky, fat, always full, advancing with sophisticated tactile nuances, never withdrawing or falling. The residual sugar is very important, but there is a magic of lusciousness in this touch which is quite marvellous. It ends long with spice, fruit and a sappy and finely iodised note which give a very strong sensation of salivation. Here, I am tasting a wine whose concentration comes so strongly from the interior of the grape that I cannot rule out a rise in its score. I believe that its taste will develop more as it has between 2001 and 2005. A wine to be watched, therefore. It can be drunk now or kept until 2025. 212g residual sugar in this 97; 12° alcohol. Price, as generally practised in France (to private individuals): 32€, including tax, for a 50cl bottle. SGN 1996 Coteaux du Layon 90 The colour is green-yellow and golden. The nose is neat, intense, complex, fresh, fine and very fruity. In the mouth, once again the sense of touch is predominant. Very concentrated, without heaviness, silky, this wine melts in the mouth like snow in the sun. I regret that at the finish there was a slight hitch due to the volatile acidity (0.98 g/l). But who will notice it? The future lies before this wine. It can be drunk now or laid down until 2015-2025. SGN 1995 Coteaux du Layon 90 The colour is a golden yellow. The neat nose is of medium intensity; it is fruity, creamy and candied. There is a slight touch of ethyl acetate. In the mouth, the wine shows the magic of lusciousness, with fruitiness and taste. Concentrated from the interior, it melts in the mouth with a feather-like touch. Lovely roast length unspoiled by the ethyl acetate. It can be drunk now and for the next twenty years. SPECIAL LABELS From time to time, Philippe Delesvaux creates limited editions of wine under Special Labels: The “20” (see above) CARBONIFERA 97, Sélection de Grains Nobles, harvested around 28° potential ANTHOLOGIE . This only exists in 1995, 1996 and 1997. It is a Sélection de Grains Nobles which reaches 30° potential; I have not yet tasted any. CARBONIFERA SGN 1997 Coteaux du Layon 95 Super selection. 9° alcohol; 340g residual sugar. It is unbelievable that it is not heavier. Sorting at 28°. The most astonishing thing is the blotting out of the grape variety in the taste of the wine. The colour is yellow with black tints. The first nose has an iodised touch, a hint of sun and a hint of peat. It improves on swirling, with the peaty note coming out more strongly. In the mouth, the wine is luscious, very dense and rich but also fine and very silky. In mid-mouth it is opulent. It finishes strong, lengthy and especially very roast with a great purity of taste. This wine is built to be kept for an unlimited amount of time. It is a great fine wine. Price, as generally practised in France (to private individuals): 85€ including tax, for a 50cl bottle. DOMAINE DE BELLIVIÈRE Eric NICOLAS 72340 Lhomme Tel: ++33 (0)2 43 44 59 97 - Fax: ++33 (0)2 43 79 18 33 e-mail : info@belliviere.com Cru des Jasnières and Côteaux du Loir Amateurs of French wine know that it is not easy to make good mature wines in the department of the Sarthe, between the cities of Tours and Le Mans. For several years now, I have been tasting the work of Eric Nicolas and his wife. Each time, the results have seemed better to me. I never tire of the sweetness found in these wines. The ethereal, nuanced approach, where the wine never forces an entry and asks to be drunk with limitless ease, remains the sign of the greatest and that whatever the region of France or the colour of the wine. As the estate is recent, it will be necessary to wait while the vines age for the wines to become more corpulent. For the time being, Eric Nicolas is reworking a new formulation for the dry white wines of the Sarthe: less acid, more pleasant and even suave. It is easy to imagine what kind of exertion is needed to ripen grapes so placed. Eric Nicolas is a perfectionist. He does not use herbicides, he works the land and, above all, does not have recourse to chaptalisation. I was particularly interested by the high density of planting on the Les Rosiers parcel. Even though the vines are young, they communicate to the wine a well-established and already refined texture. The thought present in this pioneering work creates the conditions so that tomorrow, ever better wines will appear. And if finances allow, I believe that longer maturing, in superior wood, will give certain wines an unprecedented profile for the region, a reference value (see comments on Les Vieilles Vignes Eparses 2003, lower down). Here, all the wines contain residual sugar. They are medium-dry or mellow. Only the label Calligramme is a liquoreux wine, like a Sauternes. For the time being, these wines can be found in the best Parisian restaurants (notably: L’Apicius, 20 rue d’Artois, 75017 Paris). Prices All the wines from this producer are excellent value for money. L’EFFRAIE Coteaux du Loir white This is a wine made with young vines. It always contains residual sugar: 30g in 2004; 40g in 2003; 10g in 2002. Its bewitching nature comes from its soft, smooth texture which evokes a baby’s bottom, from the purity of its fruit and the sappy finish. It has average corpulence. It will become more dense as the vines grow older, and the scores will progress. 2004 86 2003 86 2002 88 LES ROSIERS Jasnières This wine is made from young vines of Chenin and a blending of several parcels planted with a density of 7,000 to 8,000 vines. This promises a bright future when the vines are older. 2004 85 2003 84 2002 86 I found the 2004 slightly fluid. The 2003 also lacks strength. 2002 is the surprising one, especially with such young vines. It smells nicely of lime-blossom and candied fruit, then it melts in the mouth, evoking flowers, spices and mineral notes. VIEILLES VIGNES EPARSES Coteaux du Loir white This wine comes from a blending of old vines. Obviously, old vines give more substance to the wines, and this one differs from the preceding wines due to its corpulence. 2004 85 2003 86 2002 87 In these wines, the values of balance are always respected, and the finesse of aroma and texture tied to good, meticulous work from the wine-grower and the wine-maker are accentuated. 2003 is a happy surprise. In the context of a very sunny vintage, the wine has kept a pleasant freshness. On the contrary, 2002, straightaway fresher and livelier, offers substance, fat and delicious aromas as well. Price, as generally practised in France: (to trade) around 10€ before tax; (to private individuals) 15€ including tax. HAUT RASNÉ Coteaux du Loir white This wine differs from those preceding by the presence of old vines of a single origin, that of a terroir of clay and flint, and also by a longer period of maturing, of 15 months. 2003 88 2002 86 2003 smells nicely of aniseed and fruit. The mouth is soft, smooth and full of distinction, accompanied by mineral notes at the finish. It contains 65g of residual sugar which makes it a wine with a mellow taste rather than a medium-dry. 2002 is simpler with a note of old wood which robs it of the elegance described in the 2003. CALLIGRAMME Jasnières This wine comes from a blending of old vines situated on the right bank of the Loir. That is where I found the terroir with the highest potential. 2003 88 - 89 12.5° alcohol and 80g/l residual sugar. The nose presents a note of damp wood which I often find in the cellars of Rioja. However, the mouth is delicious, offering itself all in delicacy, with taste and a lot of tactile nuances. A lovely perfumed finish. Jean-Marc Quarin My next chronicle will be published on February 15th, 2006. AN ENJOYABLE TIME Within the framework of your business relations, company seminars or gala dinners, think of creating an enjoyable time around wine with Jean-Marc Quarin. Feel free to contact Mr Quarin to devise your plans. And why not offer the chronicle to your friends: subscription form available by attached file. © Copyright : All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author: Jean-Marc Quarin Sarl, 10 allée de Ginouilhac, BP 40, 33320 Le Taillan-Médoc. France. Tél. 00 33 (0)5 56 35 83 93. Fax 00 33 (0)5 56 35 86 50. E-mail : jmquarin@wanadoo.fr

2006 Chronicles

Chronicle 16. Unchaptalised sweet white wines from the Loire valley (Part 2).

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