Category: Loire Valley

Hello stranger. This was a wine I fell in love with over twenty years ago when it was imported by a wine loving doctor from the industrial town of Newcastle NSW where beer was perhaps more the drink. Think it was about $25 a bottle and it seemed such great value compared to equivalent quality Bordeaux. A blend of Franc and Sauvignon Cabernets I remember. Andrew Jefford’s ground breaking book The New France has a profile of the great Claude Papin of Château Pierre Bise and his devotion to the geology of Anjou. According to google, Spilite is a volcanic rock that comes into contact with sea water as it cools. Maybe along with schist, it’s one of the stones of black Angers? Geology aside, Claude Papin and sons also grow some grapes of great quality. This was still lively and had me wishing I had aged as well. The cork was still in good nick, came out in one piece and the only stains were on the tip highlighted with pretty tartaric crystals. Dusty old wine smells with still some gravel, leaf and rich dried cherries. Rounded and still some richness in the mouthful. Again dark berries, cassis and cherries with some concentration and a satisfying round chew of extract and rocky minerals. Great skin tannin hanging in there, freshened by still bright Loire acidity. Plateau or gentle decline, certainly no waiting needed. Couldn’t believe my luck to win a few bottles at auction for a lot less than the original RRP. A nerdy triumph.

12.8% alcohol. Cork. $17 including buyers’ premium and delivery.

93 points.

Somehow forgot to take a photo before the bottle hit the recycling bin and had to make do with a dodgy internet version that makes the GIN stand out. Odd. Must admit to liking this producer for some time but I’ve never ventured beyond the two or so basic Cabernet Francs in the range. They’ve always been delicious and very clean, perhaps unusually so for a lot of red wine making in the Loire? This bottle was another that appeared at auction and attracted no other bids apart from my less than extravagant $32. The current release is well over $AU100. Nonetheless quite a risk for something so old for someone so old and careful with the budget. Twice the corks gods have smiled in succession. Just about in one piece, good level and no leaks again. It seems the fruit comes from the domaine’s oldest vines on limestone including part from the famous Poyeux vines. The quality shone brightly in a still dark red colour, fresh aromas of squishy over ripe raspberries, dark cherry and an almost Bordeaux gravelly mineral thing. Noticeable char of oak gently sinking into the fruit. All very melded and of a whole with age but not tiring, more plateauing. Lots of darker complications as it opens, pleasure and deeper thoughts. This and the ancient Mitchell Shiraz from the last post will only provoke more bids for old things.

13% alcohol. Cork. $38 at auction, absolute bargain.

94 points.

Despite some horrendous memories of this producer’s wines from the early nineties, they taught me a lot about dirty barrels and mercaptan, I followed up an enthusiastic recommendation from a talented taster who values clean winemaking when choosing their imports. Crikey, they’re right, this sparkles brightly with deep and pristine fruit. The smell of pencil cases adds a savoury note to sugar dusted raspberries. Rich almond paste too. All controlled by ripe, mouthwatering acidity and a brush of fine grape skin tannin. Essence of tart Loire Cab Franc that’s taken a holiday in the sun. Absolutely delicious is all I can add apart from another hearty recommendation.

14% alcohol, not something you would have seen in the Loire last century. Cork, oh well. $46 RRP but worth searching for discounts.

93 points but maybe 94 for pleasure.

A newish enterprise with wise investment across vineyard, viticultural and winemaker input it seems. 15 hectares of oldish Cabernet Franc on good limestone and clay soil. A viti expert from Roche Neuve, one of my favourite reliably clean producers and winemaking input from the famous Clos Rougeard. No small investment or expectation then. The added recommendation from Randall’s, simply put as effing amazing, tipped me in. Made with no recourse to oak suggested there could be an absence of the oft encountered Loire horse stable held together by a dirty band aid…er…terroir. And joy, spotlessly clean powerful but even aromas of great Cabernet Franc. Raspberry, leaf and fruit. Darker fruit and sparkling pale limestone in the rain. Initially seemed to show a bit too much gloss of slippery ripeness but as air worked its magic, the fruit cooled to a fresh mouthful of perfectly ripe raspberries, sweet green leaves and chalky minerals, that word again. Inadequate but… Concentrated and intense. Long and measured. Power supported by a wave of ripe grape skin tannin indistinguishable from a tug of sweet ripe acidity. Beautiful grapes and no mucking about.

14% alcohol, quite something for the latitude. Cork. $55ish.

93 points and hooray for medium weight delicious purity.

Cabernet Franc from a modern producer who made wine still with a great sense of place. Sadly, Frédéric was killed in microlight plane crash last year. This was made, I think, just using stainless steel to ferment and rest, none of the dodgy old oak which can so often mar Loire red wine. Terrific freshness, there’s scents of crushed sweet green leaves, raspberries and sweet strawberry juice. So fresh, it seems like a season frozen in time. Only just medium bodied but rich in the mouth with loads of just ripe red fruit, focused well by mouthwatering acidity and a brush of just so skin tannin. Focus and precision. Lovely Loire.

12.5% alcohol. Cork. $32 from auction.

93 points.

A few new French vins on the shelves of Dan Murphy’s at prices that may help the budget. Experience does suggest some may not quite please this jaded palate sufficient to empty the bottle into glassware rather than the plug hole. This one is encouraging. Fresh, clean whole berry ferment lift. A couple of days airing and it resolves to bouncy raspberry and leaf, very Cabernet Franc. A bit of cool earthiness too. Sure, the extraction has been pushed a bit hard but there’s enough fruit concentration, sweet tannin and fresh acidity to cope. In fact the fruit’s so good, it was best on day three when it looked like the sort of thing you’d love in a carafe, scoffing something good in a quintessential French bistro, one day.

13% alcohol. Screw cap, zut alors. $16.90.

Started 88 and got to 90.

Nearly a year later and with not much inspiration on old Dan’s shelves, I thought there must be a new vintage to try. No. Proves how Loire reds are still not exactly a trend. Yes, it’s still good, clean and tasty in that red fruit and leaf way of cool Cab Franc. Still $16.90 in a six. If you accept points are a brief but important measure of relative quality, then 90 for the price is very good. If not, there’s worse for the money.

An Aldi exclusive for less than ten dollars which helps the illusion of keeping to a budget. So clean it’s almost sanitary, bright raspberry, tart red cherry and a Loire leafy lift give the impression of grape and place. Glossy and forward, there’s a suggestion of that whole grape ferment bubblegum which helps the fruit push forward, perhaps so much that the flavours do pull up a bit short. Nonetheless there’s a waft of berry perfume right up the retro nasals, a clip of ripe settled acidity and a brush of good skin tannin that distinguishes the fruit quality from the plodding ordinary. Maybe a bit too extracted like an over squeezed tea bag, but you do seem to be getting a twenty dollar bottle for much less, no bad thing really. Makes the Aldi shopping adventures even more exciting.

12.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $8.49.

89 points and delicious.

The 2020 version is clattering those Aldi roller coaster shelving. Bit of a disappointment. Just ripe, touch of bitter green on the end, dilute and lacking the energy of 2019. Sort of anodyne mass produced Loire that used to clog the Paris supermarket shelves. Just about tastes like it should. Just about worked our way through the bottle.

86 points.

Maybe jour du soif is French for an AFD, whatever that may be? This is far too good to just quench a simple thirst. Stainless steel only I think and it’s so clean and pure bar a little reduction in the first small glass. Ripe and dark for a Loire red, there’s bright raspberries, sour cherries, almost plum and a satisfying build up of gravelly earth as it slips away. Just as it does, a waft of that sweet green leafiness pops up to remind us it’s Cabernet of the Franc sort. These fleshy evenly ripe flavours have great support from silky ripe skin tannin and comfortable acidity. It proved its worth by staying much more than just thirst slaking over three days. At last, a Loire red wine not spoiled by a dirty barrel.

Following a bit of a google, it seems the producer is also more widely known a Domaine du Bel Air, Gauthier Père at Fils and have been certified organic since 2000. The back label on my bottle was just Pierre et Rodolfe Gauthier. Their more expensive cuvées are finished in oak, hmmm.

13% alcohol. Cork. Think it was about $36?

92 points.

To be truthful, I’ve found it difficult to find versions of Loire Cabernet Franc which are technically well made and not blighted by dodgy old oak or bitter sulphide reduction. It’s a beautifully expressive variety, an ancient parent of the assertively tough Cabernet Sauvignon and extremely disappointing when it ends up down the drain. A recent, acclaimed version from the famous Saumur Champigny Les Poyeux vineyard was filthy with both brett, sulphide and a lingering mousiness. Sad really that the most enjoyable efforts have been the more mass produced and commercial. This is a supermarket chain direct import from the cooperative, La Cave des Vins de Rabelais, who it seems enjoyed a good glass of wine himself. Probably made in an all stainless steel, safe yeast and whole berry ferment way for brightness but deliciously glossy from a pretty warm season. There’s bright red fruits, a touch of bubblegum and a sweet green herby drag of ruffled acidity. The first day, there was a balsamic breath to finish that raised doubts about its ability not to collapse by day two. Happily, it actually got better, more fruit weight, more even length and structure. When the Loire’s not being decimated by increasingly common spring frost, it seems global warming is certainly helping with ripening the fruit destined for the everyday table. Just about qualifies as being typical of place and grape which is impressive for the price.

13.50% alcohol, lush. Screwcap, quelle horreur. $13.99.

90 points.

The 2019 has appeared and it’s just as interesting. Probably fresher and herbier, there’s a real raspberry fruit and lots of leaf perfume. Shining bright acidity leaves a sweet reminder of surprisingly decent fruit for the price. Very Loire just ripe enough for me but perhaps not all.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. $12 members’ special.

90 points again.