Trio of Loires recently enjoyed

 2003 Moelleux Vouvray Domaine de la Taille aux Loups 

Rich honeyed concentration from the heatwave year, this sweet Vouvray from Domaine aux Taille aux Loups worked well as an apéro – just a glass or so – but also with pheasant cooked in cream and apple and finished with a little Calvados and some more cream. Long finish but not especially complex, although certainly would have aged for decades if I hadn't pulled the cork.  

 2013 Pierre de la Grange Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Domaine Pierre Luneau Papin

Attractive, fresh, lemony, saline young Muscadet from Domaine Pierre Luneau Papin. This spends seven months on its lees before bottling. We enjoyed this with simply fried halibut steaks. It also worked well as a contrast with a starter of scallops and black pudding also a good, refreshing apéro. I'm sure would have been perfect with shellfish including oysters.     

 Secret des Vignes 2012 Saumur Champigny, Ackerman 

Secret des Vignes 2012 Saumur Champigny (11.90€) is the first of three samples of the Secret des Vignes sent to me from Ackerman. 2012 is not the easiest Loire vintage and while this shows some of the characteristic acidity of 2012 it has impressive concentration of black fruits. Still youthful though drinkable now it would benefit by being left for another year or two. The back label suggests this Champigny could age for 5-10 years, which given its concentration (for the year) is a fair estimate. Also in this series is a Saumur Blanc and a Coteaux du Saumur, which I will be trying over the next few days. The 2012 Saumur Champigny was a promising start.