Dinner with the Wine Doctor and Tony Aspler

 2012 Le Haut-Lieu Sec, Vouvray, Domaine Huet

 2012 Clos du Bourg, Vouvray, Domaine Huet

Taking advantage of the Decanter World Wine Awards we held a dinner with Chris Kissack (The Wine Doctor) and Tony Aspler, Canada's leading wine writer and wine novelist.

We started by tasting the second bottles of Domaine Huet's 2012 Le Haut-Lieu Sec and the Clos du Bourg Sec. Chris and I had tasted both wines back in early October and been disappointed by them – see here. It would be good to be able to report that a further six months in bottle had given these two wines greater complexity and interest. Sadly they were little changed with the Clos du Bourg the more exciting of the two but both lacked depth and length of fruit. The 2012 Le Mont, tasted at the pre-Salon des Vins de Loire Renaissance event in Angers, was certainly the best of the three Huet 2012s.    

 2013 Chenin Château Petit-Thouars, 

AC Touraine or IGP Val de Loire?
Excellent label design!

After the two Huets we tried the first Chenin Blanc produced from Château du Petit-Thouars from vines planted three years ago. This was bottled at the beginning of April and I have been holding off trying it just to allow time for the wine to recover from the shock of bottling. Although still obviously very young, this is an impressive start with both concentration and character along with Chenin typicity. I have two more sample bottles to try, so it will be very interesting to see how this Chenin develops. 

 1995 Muscadet Sèvre & Maine, 

Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papi

  

As the first course was cerviche of salmon and smoked haddock with some salad leaves I thought the 1995 from Pierre Luneau would be a good and interesting idea. Sadly the wine initially had a mushroomy character. Hoping that this would disappear I served the wine but although initially there were some other interesting characteristics, full blown TCA became all too evident especially in a glass with a wide bowl. The unusual frustration of having kept a bottle for several years only for the cork to let you down!  

In the light of the TCAed Luneau the Domaine Ogereau 2007 Clos le Grand Beaupréau, Savennières was pressed into service – with a quick spell in the freezer! – its attractive concentration and racy acidity worked well with the fish.   

Onto the main course a daube of beef with black olives, sundried tomatoes, orange juice and peel and some mushrooms. I chose to hightlight a couple of Loire Pinot Noirs. We started with the 2006 Cuvée de la Comtesse, Reuilly from Denis Jamain (Domaine de Reuilly). Over the last couple of years we have treally enjoyed the 2005 Cuvée de la Comtesse that spends a year in local oak barrels. Sadly the 2005 was too good and we have polished off all the bottles, so it is onto the 2006, which has good and attractive concentration but needs some more time in bottle to develop further.  

We followed the Reuilly with a rare bottle of La Pertétuelle, Sancerre 1996-2008 from Claude and Laurent Champault. This comes from a solera system that Claude and Laurent started in 1996. The wine is aged in a 600-litre barrel. They take out a third every year and refill with the same quantity. It had good, sweet Pinot character and drank well. 

Rather mischieveously I asked Chris and Tony to guess the vintage. Chris went for 2008, so was half right!   

Following the daube we moved onto the 1998 Menetou-Salon from Bertrand Minchin and the 2007 Cuvée Sarah Coteaux du Saumur from Domaine des Champs Fleuris to partner the cheese. 

 

1998 Menetou-Salon Morogues, La Tour Saint Martin

Bertrand Minchin 

This 1998 Menetou-Salon was a strong candidate to be wine of the dinner with lovely aromatics – ripe but restrained asparagus notes and yellow plum, good concentration and a long finish. Additional complexity from aging in the bottle but still at its best and not at all in decline after nearly 16 years. 

2007 Cuvée Sarah, Coteaux de Saumur, 

Domaine des Champs Fleuris  

Attractive mid-weight sweet wine from Saumur with sweet citrus flavours not one to match with desserts but a good foil for blue cheese or as an apéro or equally after a meal or as an alternative to a dessert. 

 marc sancerrois Famille Vacheron

A curiosity to end with a marc sancerrois from the time of Jean Vacheron. A touch rustic but with a mark of the terroir. Ideal to set us up for the first flight tomorrow@the 2014 Decanter World Wine Awards! 

1986 Savennières demi-sec Château d'Epiré + 2010 Les tufolies, Saumur-Champigny, Domaine des Champs Fleuris

1986 demi-sec Savennières Château d'Epiré

Dinner with Chenin appreciating friends so a good opportunity to look at a mature Savennières. Despite a short cork, this Château d'Epiré is still in good condition. Mid-burnished gold in colour, slightly fungal aromas with good mouthfilling honeyed fruit and the richness nicely balanced by vibrant, quite austere background of acidity. made a complex and intriguing aperitif and proved to be a good match for a Greek style salad as first course.  

2010 Les tufolies, Saumur-Champigny, Domaine des Champs Fleuris

For the main course a sort of North African shepherd's pie we went from middle aged to nearly extreme youth with this vibrantly fruited, young Saumur-Champigny full of soft round fruit. This is an ideal bottle to enjoy now, though it will doubtless last easily another three or four years but to what purpose? 

Domaine des Champs Fleuris: open day Sunday 1st May

We took advantage of an invitation to the the Journées Nationales du Livre et du Vin, which has been held every year since 1996 at Bouvet-Ladubay, to drop in on the Portes Ouvertes at Domaine des Champs Fleuris in Turquant — a most welcoming and well-organised event. The estate has 34 hectares of vines – 30 Cabernet Franc and 4 Chenin Blanc. It is run by Patrice and Catherine Retif and Denis Rétiveau.

Patrice Retif

We started with the youthful, floral and easy drinking 2010 Domaine Saumur Blanc before trying the more complex 2008 Les Damoiselles Saumur Blanc. Les Damoiselles is vinified and aged in 400 litre barrels. This 2008 has a good balance of fruit and minerality with some oak spice and vanilla still present. Shows once more what an attractive vintage 2008 is in the Loire for dry whites. We also tried the recently bottled 2009, which is richer but a bit ungainly and tight in the finish – suffering from its recent bottling but just a question of giving it a few months in bottle.

Their 2010 Cabernet de Saumur is a very agreeable summer rosé with red cherry fruit. At 13.5% the alcohol is quite high, so although it is balanced too many glasses might induce a substantial siesta.

The reds (Saumur-Champigny) started with the screwtopped 2010 Audace, easy drinking and designed to be drunk young. Audace has a short maceration of just five days and then is bottled young. It has good fruit with sooty and green pepper overtones. 2008 was the first vintage. They missed 2009 and have now brought out the 2010.

Next up was the more substantial 2010 Les Trufolies (14-15 days of maceration) with attractive riper fruit and naturally more structure and tannins. Needs a little more time. As does the 2010 Vieilles Vignes, which has already been bottled as the domaine has virtually run out of wine. The VV has ripe plum and black fruits and quite marked tannins in the finish, which need to be left to round out.

Next a step back in time with the 2002 Les Rotissants, one of my favourite wines of the tasting. Now nicely evolved, mature fruit and showing all the balance of fruit, structure and acidity that one associates with 2002. The Rotissants vineyard is in the neighbouring commune of Montsoreau.

We continued with the fine 2008 Les Roches, which is the best plot on the Rotissants vineyard. Les Roches is aged in 100% new oak. Despite this the 2008 is not overoaked, although there is a touch of wood spice along with the concentrated red and black fruits.

We had a Crémant interlude trying the Rosé and then the white, which has zero dosage. Both are clean and easy to drink – unfortunately I just find Vouvray or Montlouis, especially when they are pétillant, more interesting. The 2007 Cuvée Sarah Coteaux du Saumur with its rhubarb and citric fruit – orange and tangerine – is a lovely balance of sweetness and clean, precise acidity and is everything that makes 2007 such a good sweet vintage.

The entrance to the cave

La cave

It was relatively quiet when we arrived but the courtyard soon filled up

This coming weekend (7th–8th May) the domaine has another Portes Ouvertes.

Portes Ouvertes: Champs Fleuris and Joël Delaunay

Open days at the Domaine des Champs Fleuris in Turquant (AC Saumur and Saumur-Champigny) spread over the next three weeks:

23rd, 24th and 25th April

30th April and 1st May

7th and 8th May

***

7th and 8th May@Joël Delaunay

Thierry Delaunay tasting Sauvignon Blanc juice during the 2008 vintage