2010 Cuvée Prestige, Bourgueil, Lamé Delisle Boucard – marvellous bargain

Perhaps not initially as heralded as 2009, 2010 is a very fine Loire vintage – not only for reds but also dry and sweet whites, which is quite an unusual combination. 

From a very good vintage this 2010 Cuvée Prestige is simply delicious and amazing value at less than €10 from the domaine. It has a soft mouth-filling texture of black fruits balanced with a fresh finish. Wines from Lamé Delisle Boucard have a remarkable propensity to age. See here a tasting of their Bourgueils back to 1893. 

Astonishing! Bourgueil through three centuries: 2011 back to 1893

 A glass of 1893 Bourgueil

L to R: The vignerons: Denis and Thomas Gambier,  

Eric Degaugue and Philippe Boucard 

On Saturday 9th June 2012 I was privileged to have been present at one of the  greatest tastings I have ever experienced – an opportunity to taste three centuries of Bourgueil in the cellars of Lamé-Delisle-Boucard. The weekend of 8th-10th June 2012 was the second time we had managed to get all of Les 5 du Vin together in the same place and at the same time. We haven't managed this feat since then.

Our hosts were Eric Degaugue and Philippe Boucard of Domaine Lamé Delisle Boucard and we were joined by Denis and Thomas Gambier of Domaine des Ouches, who kindly included some of their wines. 

This post originally appeared on Les 5 du Vin when our blog was hosted by Overblog. When we moved to Wordpress, this post disappeared, so certainly time to repost!

••

Astonishing! Bourgueil through three centuries: 2011 back to 1893

It was on all counts a remarkable experience. To sit in that treasure of a cave deep in the limestone at Domaine Lamé-Delisle-Boucard and taste such a range of wines starting with 2009 and ending with the legendary 1893. Undoubtedly this was the stand-out event of les 5 du Vin’s visit to Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil in early June.

We started on ground level in the chai of Lamé-Delisle-Boucard (LDB) tasting the promising 2011s from vat as well as a 2009 showing the typical concentration from this warm year.

Then we headed underground – leaving the 21^st century for the 20^th. First we tasted two 1989s – one from LDB and one from Domaine des Ouches. The two Gambiers ­ – Denis and Thomas – had joined us for the tasting.

1989: LDB – rich, sweet ripe fruit with good colour. The hot summer and autumn of 1989 is evident from the level of maturity in the fruit. 
1989: Ouches – still keeping well but lighter. The Gambiers say they think they picked a little too early. Prolonged hot summers like 1989 were rare then, so difficult to get the picking date right. 
1975: Sweet cherry fruit, less rich than the more famous and more seen 1976 but attractive. In the Chinon tasting from 1934 to 2005 last September the 1975 Domaine Spelty showed very well. 
1976: the famously hot and very dry across northern Europe. The weather broke in September soon after UK Prime Minister appointed Denis Howell as the Minister for Drought. I remember flying into Heathrow from Corfu in late August and being struck by how brown the UK looked. The LDB still had rich fruit with an opulent texture. Showing very well. 
1969: The 60s were a mixed bag with some fine vintages like 1961 and 1964 but also some very poor ones – 1963, 1965 and 1968. Curiously this 1969 had a touch of apricot, lovely texture and some light acidity. Unsurprisingly not as rich as the 1976 but again lovely texture and good length.
1964: This is a famous vintage in Chinon and the 1964 from Domaine Dozon showed brilliantly at last September’s Chinon tasting. The LDB was a little less impressive – softly textured but quite marked acidity. (Update: The 1964 tasted on 10th June 2015 was more impressive but needed time to open.) 
1961: There were two 1961’s one from Domaine des Ouches and one LDB. Both were impressive with the fruit on the Ouches still remaining remarkably fresh, while the LDB had wonderful delicacy and balance.

 1947 to 1893

1961-1948

All the remaining wines came from Lamé-Delisle-Boucard: 
1959: This is one of the fabled Loire years of the 20^th century – possibly not quite the level of 1947, 1921 and perhaps 1989. However, there are some that put 1990 above 1989. This Prestige was very impressive with rich, concentrated dried fruits and a very longfinish. 
1955: Less rich than the imposing 1959 but still sweet fruit, delicate and fine. 
1949: Along with 1947 a great vintage from the 1940s. This 1949 had quite a mushroomy character and again a delicacy to this bottle. 
1948: This was a surprise as 1947 and 1949 have high reputations but little is heard of 1948. I don’t remember tasting a 1948 before but was impressive. Again some mushroom character but less marked than the 49. Attractive red currant fruit with quite marked acidity. Also famous for being the birth year of Michel Smith of Les 5 du Vin. 
1947: Some fungal character – a blend of rich, powerful fruit and finesse. 
1947 rosé: The great surprise of the tasting – a dry rosé from 1947. Although I have drunk a range of Cabernet d’Anjou’s from the 1940s, I have never tried a Loire dry rosé of this age. Onion skin colour, remaining wonderfully fresh with peach and apricot flavours and a touch of moka in the finish. Remarkable! 
1934: I first tasted a 1934 Loire red (Domaine René Couly) at the Chinon vertical tasting last September and was amazed by its quality and freshness. This 1934 Bourgueil wasn’t as splendid as that bottle but it still had fruit. 
1933: This was better than the 34 with delicate sweet wild red fruits. 
1906: Slightly fungal but with a lovely Pinot Noir colour and still an extraordinary finesse.
1893: With what other Loire vintage could such an extraordinary vertical tasting conclude? It had to be 1893, still the earliest Loire vintage known. Picking here at Lamé-Delisle-Boucard began on 2nd September. My guess is that picking 2012 won’t start until early October. This 1893 had attractive fungal, sous bois aromas and still wonderfully opulent, sweet fruit and length. Still a bottle to enjoy and savour 119 years on!

This was a real demonstration that Loire reds, as well as its whites, can indeed age and age attractively. Not all Loire reds are fresh and fruity needing to be consumed when young!

Our grateful thanks to the amazing generosity of the Lamé-Delisle-Boucard team!

1947 Bourgueil Rosé – remarkably fresh!

Part of the amazing LDB's cave

No fakes – another advantage of Loire wines

 1919 Le Mont Moelleux, Domaine Huet 

April 2009: the 1919 – burnished gold but still vibrant and youthful

The on-going Rudy Kurniawan trial for counterfeiting and fraud has been fascinating to follow. As someone who enjoys a glass or so of Loire wine from time to time, it has also been reassuring as well as highlighting another advantage of Loire wines: there are few if any fake old Loires! In contrast Laurent Ponsot (Domaine Ponsot) has suggested that 80% of old Burgundy are fakes. Doubtless in Bordeaux there are a significant proportion of counterfeit bottles of top old Bordeaux.

Although some producers may not always follow AC rules, I would be very surprised if there were many (any?) fake old bottles from fabled Loire vintages. No fakes to date because it hasn't been financially worthwhile and there isn't the same market in trophy wines as there is in Bordeaux and Burgundy. To date the only Loire domaine to my knowledge to have headlined an auction held by a major house is Domaine Huet in a sale organised by Christie's in 2004.   

Following the success of that sale prices of old Huet wines rose considerably and they may be one of the very few Loire estates that might be attractive to counterfeiters. 

Brief reflections on Rudy Kurniawan is my post on Les 5 du Vin this week.       

June 2012: Line up in the cellars of Lamé Delisle Boucard: 1947 to 1893
No sign of Rudy here!