Chinon, Clos de la Cure, Charles Jouget ‘05
Grapes:Cabernet FrancEach: £12.50
The elegance of Bordeaux with the voluptuous suppleness of Burgundy.
Whenever I think of the Loire Valley, I see it as the lintel in the doorway that is French wine. On the right is a pillar of voluptuous suppleness from the Rhone Valley, with power, through Burgundy, evasive delicacy, to Champagne, bling but bling with class. On the left is the erect elegance of the institutions that are Claret, Cognac and that racy new interloper Armagnac. Spanning the top and linking the two is the Loire. Sancerre and Pouilly give the Bordelais Sauvignon Blanc a Burgundian excitement. The Melon de Bourgogne of Muscadet could not be better suited to the restrained seafood of the Atlantic and Bordeaux. And with Cremant and the Coteaux de Layon, Champagne and Sauternes are better than imitated.
If there is to be a criticism of the Loire it might be that it is too far north. Not really a problem easily addressed and not necessarily a problem. What can be is a tendency to lean, mean,austere styles.
The delicate aromatic style of Cabernet Franc tends to get overwhelmed south in Bordeaux where it plays very much a second fiddle to cousin Sauvignon. An earlier ripener Franc tends to be most useful in cooler vintages when Sauvignon struggles to ripen – never a year that will be heralded as “the best of the century”. In the Loire the season suits better. If a banker in Bordeaux grown to ensure a crop at all in the Loire it hits its straps thriving on the more delicate climate and conditions.
Few nurture this tricky grape as do the crew at Jouget. Here they regularly achieve bright, vibrant, complex aromatics and mouth filling ripeness on the palate.Back to the List
Back to Merl, Cab and other Bord Beauties
0 comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)