Clos St. Yves 2001, Domaine Baumard
Slightly closed nose with hints of camomilla tea, honey and beeswax. Good acids, taste of wild honey and hay, yellow fruits, fresh and elegant. Good.
Clos St. Yves 1999, Domaine Baumard
More disjointed style than the preceding wine, slightly shorter. Some beeswax also, mothballs and some honey as well with air, quite minerally, but lacks the length of the other two St. Yves.
Clos St. Yves 1997, Domaine Baumard
Lightest color of these three. Definite wet wool on the nose. Very acidic and very long. Viscous style, beeswax. Sweet pine needles substitutes for the wet wool as the wine develops, very minerally with fresh rainwater and camomilla tea, very good wine.
Clos du Papillon 2000, Domaine Baumard
Bigger and sweeter style. Flowery with sweet beeswax, though still dryer than the following 99. Good length and tight underlying structure, needs time. Promising despite the difficult vintage.
Clos du Papillon 1999, Domaine Baumard
Pronounced nose with sweet honey, flowers and minerals. Good balance with beeswaxy fruit in the finish, slightly short but good in a difficult year.
Savennieres “Cuvee d’Avant” 1999, Ch. Chamboureau
Simpler wine, lots of wet wool, perhaps slighly corked?
Clos du Papillon 2002, Domaine du Closel
Simply delightful nose with minerals, hay and flowers, outstanding balance with floral impressions on the taste as well. Concentrated fruitiness and impeccable balance. Very stylish wine with great promise.
Clos du Papillon 2000, Domaine du Closel
Less impressive this, some beeswax on the nose. Nice fruitiness and balance despite some lack of concentration, and a slightly disjointed style.
Clos du Papillon 1998, Domaine du Closel
Some sweetness here, slightly short. Again a difficult vintage in the Loire. Disjointed acids with mothballs and minerals. Slighly immature fruit it seems despite some nice citric acidity on the finish.
Clos du Papillon 1997, Domaine du Closel
Wet wool, needs lots of air. Strange wine in a slightly bitter style, slighly burnt impression with hints of oxydated apples, 14,6 % and it is noticeable. No.
Becherelle 2003, Nicolas Joly
Corked.
Becherelle 2002, Nicolas Joly
Slightly toasty on the nose strangely enough. Big and rich style, pure fruit with distinct yellow, waxy and slighly oxydated apples. No beeswax/mothballs here, seems to be a distinct character of all of Joly’s wines tasted here. Good balance and length, opulent wine.
Becherelle 1997, Nicolas Joly
Distinctly yellow, very rich in the mouth as well, viscous style and elegant in the mouth with the slightest hints of sweet citrus drops. Appley finish with excellent balance, delicate and fruit with great attack in the finish. Delicious.
Becherelle 1996, Nicolas Joly
Flinty with wet wool initially on the nose, cool style with nice fruit and good balance, excellent acidic finish with some impressions of mushrooms as well.
Clos de la Coulèe de Serrant 2003, Nicolas Joly
Amazingly rich fruit, bitter almonds with undertones of honey and marzipan. In the mouth very creamy with distinct marzipan. Great length and no noticeable lack of acidity in this difficult vintage. A small minus for a little hot alcohol but a very fine wine.
Clos de la Coulèe de Serrant 2002, Nicolas Joly
Rich and intense, faboulous acids in the same slightly creamy style and superb balance and length. Tons of diverse yellow fruits, apricots. Great wine.
Clos de la Coulèe de Serrant 2000, Nicolas Joly
Slightly flinty with some impressions of mushrooms on the nose. Very long and well balanced, the minerals are starting to dominate the fruit. Very successful for the vintage.
Clos de la Coulèe de Serrant 1997, Nicolas Joly
Corked.
Almot Savennieres the following:
Anjou Blanc La Lune 2001, Marc Angeli
Very dark with marzipan on the nose. Big and viscous in the nose, some sweetness on the fruit. Good length and fresh, balancing acids on the finish. Well made, but very particular stuff.
Anjou Blanc Fouchardes 2000, Marc Angeli
This is also very dark. Incredibly elegant nose with some apricots and a slightly camphory/medicinal impression. Very long with distinct impression of freshly baked sweetbreads but totally dry in the finish, with hints of aniseed/fennicle as well as wood and malt. Again marvelously particular stuff.