What I'm Excited About This Week: Loire Valley Edition
Aaron Hughes, your intrepid taster and reporter.
This week Keith Mabry, who probably has one of the most diverse buying portfolios at K&L, poured some amazing wines from the Loire Valley for us. We tasted 26 different wines this morning, done at the usual breakneck pace due to the 45 minutes we have to do the tasting. Now, while I say 45 minutes, we're definitely able to go back to the wines through the day and sometimes even the next day and retaste. This lets us see how they're evolving, so our time with the wine is not merely confined to that quick little jaunt in the morning.
The Loire Valley stretches 1,006 kilometers from the Western coast deep into the heart of France, and along the way there are a few very important varietals to know and to taste. Muscadet is a white wine made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape primarily grown in the western Loire Valley near the Atlantic coast. These are crisp, dry wines with distinctive saline and mineral notes. Often unoaked, Muscadet wines are known for their refreshing acidity and are excellent pairings for seafood.
Chenin Blanc, another white grape, is responsible for a wide range of styles in the Loire, from bone-dry to lusciously sweet. Key appellations include Vouvray and Savennières. Dry Chenin Blanc wines offer notes of apple, quince, and honey, while sweeter versions can develop complex aromas of apricot and botrytis. It also forms the base for many sparkling wines from the region.
Last but definitely not least, we have the most important red wine grape in the Loire, Cabernet Franc. This red grape is the dominant red varietal in the Middle Loire, particularly in appellations like Chinon and Bourgueil. Cabernet Franc wines are typically medium-bodied with vibrant acidity and distinct notes of red berries, bell pepper, and earthy undertones.
This was such a great trip that Keith took us through the Loire that I wanted to share it with you, and even better let you know when you could taste them yourself.
2019 Domaine Delaunay Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Goulaine $19.99 94WE The nose opens with loads of white flowers, a soft line of orchard fruit, chalky minerality, and citrus. This wine has a beautiful density and mouthfeel. It’s a super richly textured wine, but the palate is light and fairly crisp with a really nice savory complexity. The fruit is still very soft and complemented by a soft nuttiness and a bit of a pithy finish. This wine is a case study in why texture can be so important, since it makes every sip really pleasurable, especially when complemented by the soft and pretty palate. I really want to have this with something a little bit more substantive than oysters or sushi, I think it could stand up to something with a nice and fairly rich sauce on it. This is just phenomenal.
2023 Domaine de Gaubourg "Rosa" Val de Loire Rouge $24.99 Really pretty floral notes on the opening along with a lot of the crunchier red fruits, cranberry, chokecherry, bright raspberry, along with a slightly creamy note, and a lot of spices. The palate is super refreshing, especially with a slight chill on it, with a reasonable amount of tannins but nothing crazy. This isn't rose, this is just a very light and chillable red. The fruit is cranberry, pie cherry, and under-ripe raspberries along with a slight touch of a fresh tarry leather, bringing in a lot of savory notes. This is really great, and I could see myself having this with duck, chicken, or just a chunk of cheese and some charcuterie, either way it's going to be a delicious evening. This wine deserves to be on everyone's summer to-do list.
1989 Joel Taluau St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Vieilles Vignes $39.99 This is such a gorgeous wine, when we first opened it up it had a really surprising amount of soft red and black fruits on the nose, but as it has opened up the nose has definitely gathered more pyrazines to go along, so there's a lot of savory green notes to accompany. It's really gorgeous, the palate is deep but not overly rich, with still amazing acidity. It's not often you taste a wine this old and think about how it definitely could even go longer, continue to develop in the bottle - which makes sense, since we've been selling this same vintage for a number of years. The palate is dark and earthy, with lots of savory mushroom, touches of soy umami, some barrel spices, and a tarry tobacco. This is impeccably aged Cabernet Franc and just something truly special. While there's a lot of green notes that I might not like in other wines, in Cabernet Franc they all fit into place perfectly. Well integrated and harmonious, we wouldn't want this wine to be anything else. For what it is, it is absolutely perfect.
This Friday you can taste the 2023 Domaine de Gaubourg "Rosa" Val de Loire Rouge at all of our stores along with 5 other wines during our "A Tasting of Chillable Summer Reds" tasting for $15.
This Saturday you can taste the 2019 Domaine Delaunay Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Goulaine at all our stores with 5 other wines during our "A Journey Through the Loire Valley—the “Garden of France" tasting for $25.
For the time of the tastings at your local store, please check our Local Events Page.
The 1989 Joel Taluau St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Vieilles Vignes is available for tasting every single day through the end of the month at our Open Cellar tasting with our automated tasting machines, just ask any sales person to get a tap card linked up so you can try it out. It's just $1.75 for a 1oz pour and $3.50 for a 2oz pour, this is a great way to try the wines we have available through Open Cellar. I will freely admit, however, I feel that this wine is best tasted over time with an opened bottle, maybe with friends but those are entirely optional.