NWC – 17TH APRIL – CHEVERNY AND CHINON

I have been away this week so the report is by Peter who has more than capably stepped in and shared his notes. [Alec: with a better palate & wine writing lexicon…]

Cheverny has low name recognition, but that might change as its main grape varieties are fashionable: Sauvignon Blanc for whites, Pinot Noir for reds. To please an even wider audience, whites can include Chardonnay; reds Gamay and Malbec. Chinon, meanwhile, is one of France’s best-value classic red wines, as this tasting for the most part reminded.

Cheverny, Benoit Daridan, 2021. Aromatic, with notes of celery, yellow grass and the slightly-tinned green flavours of Sauvignon. Mainstream Sauvignon character continues with perky acidity behind graceful substance. A note of underripe pineapple. Whilst arguably an aperitif style, I’d drink with food as the acidity becomes more prominent with repeated mouthfuls; tweaking at the ears, if you’ve ever experienced that! Available online for around £16.

—

—

Cheverny, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Sauger, 2022. Heavy bottle, and a heavier wine, via 40% Chardonnay and an evident warmer vintage. Hay, soda, apricot. The palate initially pools rather than extends. Grapefruit starts to unlock that, with a little apricot jam adding indulgence. Some members citing as ‘oily’ in a Southern French vein, but, as it warms, a light, pale honey aroma harks back to the Lore. Remarkable value at 11.65 Euros from a wine shop in France.

Cheverny, Tradition, Domaine Sauger, 2021. Nose has fox fur, dark redcurrant… and doesn’t go a lot further, hinting at the low concentration of this cool vintage. Palate has a little brown cherry, then lollypop and a light earthiness. However, all this is holding together at the moment; it’s a nice, refreshing red wine, which has been sensitively made in the vintage – the winemaker hasn’t over-extracted, keeping it low-tannin and without bitter flavours. 9.95 Euros at a wine shop in France.

—

—

Chinon, La Closerie, Couly-Dutheil, 2020. Believed to be a cuvee made for a French supermarket, where it was bought in 2022… at which time it would have been at its best! Cold and leafy, with notes of coal and blackcurrant to unripe plum, then cigarette ash emerging. That would have originally been subsidiary to some primary fruit, but now the fruit and flesh has dropped out, we’re down to an inelegant bone structure, which scratches the mouth. At this fading age, the best feature is its more volatile nose, which keeps changing: dried apple skin, cheap perfume, chestnuts. Cold, light, unfriendly. 7.9 Euros from Chinon’s Carrefour.

Chinon, Tradition, Domaine des Galuches, 2020. A flicker of dark barnyard is covered by dark raspberry; there’s a reasonable purity to the impression. Dark apple. Slightly fuller; medium scale. Minor cordial and paint. Juicy acid squeaks into the cheeks. Minor soot to ash. Relatively simple and functional. Again, this is past its best, if less so. 8.9 Euros from Chinon’s Carrefour.

Chinon, Les Graviers, Domaine de Clos Godeaux, Philippe Brocart, 2018. Rancid animal skin, paint, bitter plums, dark strawberry. The palate is a surprise: light and airy; spherical, but without overt intensity or concentration. Red tea. Green peppers cited by some, with Languedoc expert correcting to red peppers and arguing for the underlying ripeness and attractiveness. Raspberry, lollies, and the tea turning brown as tannin texture builds. Geraniums cited by former wine educator. Impressive, provocative and maturing wine, reflective of what Loire reds can do in hotter vintages. Crazy value at £6.20 from Brittany Ferries in 2021.

Val de Loire, Grolleau, Domaine Clau de Nell, Anne Claude Leflavive, 2017. Something else… something else altogether! Made by Leflaive (of four-figure Burgundy price tags), from the reviled, near-extinct Grolleau grape variety. (Not quite from Cheverny or Chinon either, but we’ll let it off.) Leflaive pruned these vines to yield 15% of Grolleau’s typical dilute nature, then de-stemmed the fruit to clean and soften its character. Aroma is fragrant and raised, with earth, cocoa, brown apple skin, inks and Marmite. That turns softer with smoked and ham tones. Elegant material in the mouth. Brown plums, old strawberry, leathers. Restrained Belgian chocolate. Sooty texture. Whilst some loved it, I found it a little too luxuriant: I’d prefer more focus and precision. Purchased earlier this year from Nottingham’s very own Delilah!

Chinon, Les Picasses, Olga Raffault, 2017. Dark strawberry, inks, satchel leather. Pure and ethereal. Oils, dark red plum skins. Brown tea, meats. Quite full. Really graceful. Concentrated redcurrant, with a pulse of cassis sweetness. Minor red leaf. Palate starts to express Cabernet Franc’s classic pencil lead, plus positive shades of green pepper. The pencil lead comes to dominate on the palate rather, but that wouldn’t be the case with food: a brilliant wine. 16.9 Euros from a French wine shop.

Chinon, Les Cornuelles, Bruno Sourdais, 2015. A backup wine due a faulty older wine meant this was less breathed than others, and served cooler; both of which limited its expression. Raised and cool aroma, with slightly volatile purple raspberry and oils. Quite wide in the mouth – a horizontal plane, compressed by tannin at this age. Fragrant red apple. Relatively glossy material, although with some tannic grip. Minor cordial concentration, yet fresh and cool. An interesting, high-quality expression of old vines and a very good vintage, clearly needing 4-5 more years before its drinking plateau. £17 on release.

—

—

Chinon, Domaine de la Noblaie, 2011. The best nose so far: delicate, lifted, fragrant, in a manner only possible through maturity. Red raspberry, pencil lead, red pears, red plums, dark leaves, tea. A germaline note cited. I see that as an oxidative element, which is adding to complexity at this minor, incipient level. A purity and elegance to the material too. Some brown fruit to tea coming in the finish. Just a little texture. A nice, clean, straightforward drink. Surprising to hear is as high as 13.5% alcohol, but that’s a reflection of a rather complete wine, which is really in balance. £10 within a mixed auction lot.

Chinon, Cuvee Terroir, Wilfred Rousse, 2009. Cool, raised drought-raspberries. Brown woods, but obviously clean, pure. Blackcurrant to redcurrant. Initially graceful, with some weight, then with tannin which collapses onto the palate, imprinting purple apple. Minor dried strawberries, in a light cordial style. Rough across the tongue, and starts to dry mouth roof too. Most of the room worried about fruit losing to tannin with further ageing. I think the issue is probably more the quality of the tannin, and that too much of it was extracted in the first place. Still, other little seams of flavour keep making bids for interest and vitalisation, including red grapefruit. The sort of wine that might surprise and actually get past its tannin with very long ageing – at least another decade. Approx £10 won in a mixed auction lot.

Chinon, La Coulee Automnale, Couly-Dutheil, 2003. A translucent, pale red. Light red apple; minor barnyard; red orange; light strawberry; faint pencil lead. In the mouth: full, round, with tea and light raisins. Some airy substance, but then starts to tweak with high acid – the Loire was obviously the place to survive the infamously hot vintage. Texture starts to build. A sound drinker, with a complex nose, and a considerable success for the vintage. Around 6 Euros from the estate in 2006.

Chinon, Clos de l’Echo, Couly-Dutheil, 2005. Badly damaged (Madeirised – soy sauce, molasses, Sherry), so not shown. A cautionary tale about buying from merchants offering just a handful of bottles of a wine – someone will have sold it to them for a reason.

Chinon, Clos du Chene Vert, Charles Joguet, 2001. Open, fragrant. Pale strawberry, minor dried animal dung notes. Light, softening leather. Bloods and paint. Hint of Elastoplast. Medium body, without initial reach. Fresh, earthy. Begins to saturate and extend. A very long flavour which you can check back in on between analysing other aspects of the wine. Light tea, brown strawberry, red florality. Minor red orange. The length continues. Paler orange-red cherries; like a Beaune 1er Cru of a classic (cooler) vintage. A confident, willowy, discrete beauty. Around £14 on release. Current vintages around £40.