1989 Demi-Sec Vouvray, Gérard Nouzillet, La Vallée Coquette
The title of this post needs to be clarified – the producer is unknown to me. I'm also trying to remember exactly how we acquired it. I think someone kindly brought it round to a dinner we had in the Loire in October and we brought it back to London via Brescia and the European Wine Bloggers' Conference.
Gérard Nouzillet is certainly a producer I have never come across, although I have doubtless driven past his property on a number of occasions as he is based in La Vallée Coquette. This valley is on the west side of Vouvray and runs north-south towards the Loire. Vouvray's cooperative is based here.
We chose to drink the 1989 demi-sec on Sunday as I was pot-roasting a chicken with an apple and cream sauce (poulet à la Normande) as the base. The dish is finished off with a decent dose of Calvados and more crème fraîche. Although both of us rather fancied red, we knew perfectly well that the dish would be too rich and sweet for a red, so demi-sec Vouvray it was.
Nouzillet's 1989 was a deepish gold – certainly a deeper colour than many Vouvrays from that year, which have tended to remain quite a light gold, while the 1990s in contrast have often ceased to be light golden and instead are a mid-gold, burnished gold. A little musty on the nose – not corked – and with some oxidation, hence the colour, it had some good honeyed weight and a clean finish. Not a top Vouvray but it worked well with the dish. The little that was left over went into the fridge and we drank it as a small apéro the next day but it had certainly faded considerably.
