Stéphane Vigneau-Chevreau with 2009 Clos de Rougemont Vouvray Sec
Stéphane Vigneau-Chevreau was showing three of his wines at the Thorman Hunt tasting. Founded in 1875 the domaine has 28 hectares, based in Vallée de Vaux-Chançay, and in 1995 started the conversion to biodynamic farming. Of the three wines the complex 2009 Clos de Rougemont Vouvray Sec (£9.50 ex VAT) from argile-calcaire was my clear favourite. The vines are planted at the Abbaye de Marmoutiers on the eastern edge of Tours but the western extremity of the Vouvray appellation. The 2009 has attractive weight, precision and minerality – more defined than the 2010 Cuvée Silex (£8.58 ext VAT), although this was admittedly a vat sample. The 2003 Clos Baglin Vouvray Moelleux (£12.67) was delicately sweet but lacking a little acidity to give it a lift in the finish.
3 comments:
I’m down to 6 Vigneau-Chevreau SGN 1989 and 5 Clos Baglin 1990 in my own cellar Jim. We had acquired quite a large lot of them when I used to run a small structure blandly called “Les Amis du Vin” with a few chaps in Belgium, beginning of the ‘90ies. Make sure we uncork one next time you pay a visit to our area. The odd bottle suffers from poor obturation, but the wines are otherwise showing well. Long live the screwcap !
Indeed Luc. Unfortunately as you know screwcaps are taking a while to catch on in France. Diam an alternative?
Why stick to cork derivatives ? From an ecological point of view, they are a nuisance.
What we want is a(n?) hermetic (air- and waterproof) obturation, without side-products nor reaction with wine constituents. Glass would be perfect, but it is hard to make it leak-proof without a synthetic seal and it comes out expensive. The Diam people claim they stick to the tradition. I think it’s their main advantage: nostalgia! And of course, bribery of some prominent (mostly Bordeaux) estate owners who became their propagandists.
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