Loire offline@the RSJ

15 September 2009

RSJ Restaurant in early autumn sunshine

Yesterday eight of us had a very enjoyable offline lunch at the RSJ.

Some of the bottles

We started with a vertical of Sancerres from Monts Damnés - 2001 and 2000 from Pascal Cotat and the 1994 MD from Domaine Henri Bourgeois.

Of the two Pascal Cotat's, the 2001 was leaner, more austere and mineral with good length, while the 2000 was a richer, riper style without the same length as the 2001. The 1994 MD Bourgeois was the star of the flight with delicate but quite forceful vegetal nose but with touches of floral honey too, lovely balance and length. Still remarkably youthful bearing in mind that 1994 was a difficult vintage with very hot, humid conditions in September producing ideal conditions for the rapid spread of rot.

We moved onto a couple of 2005 Sancerre reds: 2005 Lucien Crochet La Croix du Roy and 2005 La Belle Dame, Domaine Vacheron. I preferred the finesse and delicacy of the Crochet with the accent on red fruits with a touch of sous bois. The 2005 Belle Dame is the bigger wine but it has not yet knit together fully. It was in the big Central Loire red tasting I did in December 2008 and it didn't show well then. The Vacherons have subsequently eased back on the oak – it will be interesting to see how Belle Dame shows in a couple of years time.

Four Cabernets followed: first 2003 La Petite Cave, Bourgueil from Yannick Amirault (100% Cabernet Franc) and 2003 Anjou Villages 2003, Domaine de Bablut, Christophe Daviau (blend of Cabernet Franc grown on limestone and Cabernet Sauvignon grown on schist). These segued into a pair from Charles Joguet – 1997 Les Chênes Verts and the 1996 Dioterie. Both 2003s were atypical Loire reds, this very hot year making them appear with their soft opulent fruit to come from further south, However although both wines are drinking well now, they show no signs of tiring. Opinion in the Loire over the longevity of the 2003s continues to be split. These two wines suggest that 2003s will keep, providing the winemakers mastered the hot conditions.

The two Joguets were produced by Charles himself and they reflected their two vintages. The 1997 Chêne Vert, from the two hectare plot in Chinon above the Clos de l'Olive, had lovely soft, sweet, savoury fruit. 1997 has always been a commercial and flattering vintage. The Dioterie, which comes from a two hectare block of north east facing old vines by the domaine's chai in Sazilly, was more structured but without the concentration of fruit that the 1996 Grand Clos from Château de Villeneuve shows.

Finally with a small selection of English cheeses and a delicious apple tart we tried the 1997 Vendange de la Saint Charles, Sancerre, Domaine Henri Bourgeois, 1990 Cuvée Alexandre, Vouvray Moelleux Domaine des Aubuisières, Bernard Fouquet and the 1989 Cuvée Constance, Vouvray Moelleux, Domaine Huet. Sadly we had a poor bottle of the 89 Cuvée Constance that was prematurely oxidised due to a loose cork. Nigel Williams, who kindly bought the Constance and who had tried a number of other bottles of this wine, said that this bottle was atypical. Certainly the 1989s have been very closed up for much of their life so far and still very pale in comparison to the 1990s, which rapidly became markedly golden. Speaking to Richard Kelley MW today (16th September), he confirmed that the last time he tasted Constance it was still very pale, almost green.

Although the 1997 Vendange de la Saint Charles had some mid-weight attractive soft fruit, it was overshadowed by the exquisite 1990 Cuvée Alexandre with its rich honeyed and dried apricot fruit and wonderful balance of vibrant acidity. Undoubtedly a great sweet wine that has many years of life ahead of it – the wine of the lunch.