WTN: RVF's Salon Part 1 - Loire with Jacky Blot & H.Pellé

La Revue du Vin de France (“ RVF”) held its first exhibition in Brussels last weekend. It was held in the Autoworld museum, a permanent show of vintage and other cars in a large ironwork hall not unlike a fine 19th century big city railway station without the grime. In more than 40 years living near Brussels, I had never visited this place before. The wine event itself was well organised with two deep spittoons at each exhibitors table and an excellent catalogue with plenty of space for note taking. I went on Sunday late morning and left in mid afternoon when it was becoming crowded and my palate was getting jaded. The catalogue contained 65 exhibitors, so I concentrated on a few exhibitors who do not appear on the usual circuit of merchants’ tastings which I attend.

Loire valley

Jacky Blot, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups (Montlouis-sur-Loire and Vouvray whites ex Chenin) and Domaine de la Butte (Bourgueil reds ex Cabernet Franc)
I have complained on this board about not knowing how to access these wines without a visit to the estate, so it came as a pleasant surprise to learn that Jacky Blot has an importer in the commune where we live at less than 10 minutes by car from our home; furthermore the importer is giving a tasting in a couple of weeks which will be attended by Blot himself and a few other growers of similar calibre. The wines were presented here by Blot who is loquacious but relevant in what he says and bombarded his audience with more information about his production than I could note or remember; luckily he has a good website http://www.jackyblot.fr/ but, sorry, in French only.

I thought that the ranges of dry Montlouis, Vouvray and Bourgueil were excellent. The dry whites were almost bone dry (I guess no more than 2-3g RS at most). All of the wines except BourgueiI Pied de la Butte are likely to improve with age. I returned to the sweeties after a lot of reds and was less convinced but by then my tired palate may have been distorting the tastes, so I have not attached a rating.

Montlouis-sur-Loire Triple Zéro NV (c.€12), made from old Chenin blanc grapes with no dosage. The bubbles were scarcely visible in the glass; I commented on this to Jacky Blot and he replied "wait till you taste it". The nose was exceptionally attractive with notes of creamy white fruit and minerals and the palate showed a gentle prickle and was crisply refreshing without aggressiveness, elegant and very mineral and biscuity with a certain density. Some lesser Loire bubblies have a rather green coarseness but there was none of that here. Fine 16/20+.
Vouvray Clos de la Bretonnière 2009 (€12) showed aromas of rich white fruit and wax and good freshness, minerality and enough tension on the palate to offset the 09 richness and spice; 16/20.
Vouvray Clos de Venise 2009 showed even more richness and waxiness than the previous with exotic fruit notes like pineapple but there was an attractive crispness and tension which balanced the wine; 16/20+.
Montlouis-sur-Loire Rémus 2009 (€12) was aromatically slightly more subdued and less full than the two Vouvrays but showed attractive minerality and a lot of charm; 15.5/20++.
Montlouis-sur-Loire Rémus 2008 plus made from 80-100 year old vines was on a different pale with wonderful tension, crispness and minerality combined with complex rich fruit laced with wax and a little malt; 17.5/20.
Bourgueil Pied de la Butte 2009 showed lovely tangy red fruit with pencil shavings; 15.5/20+
Bourgueil Haut de la Butte 2009 (€12) was a touch more refined and complex with great fullness of red fruit and less pencil lead; 16/20+.
Bourgueil Perrières 2008 (€15) was more mineral, complex and tangy with touches of liquorice in the background and a somewhat velvety feel (?from wood ageing of which about 20% new); 16.5/20.
Bougueil Mi-Pente 2008 was bigger and more structured with leather touches instead of liquorice and a similar velvety feel; 16.5/20++.
Montlouis-sur-Loire moelleux 2005 showed rich, quite sweet matter with strange charcoal (or cigar ash) hints which I have found in some 04s from the region.
Vouvray Clos de Venise liquoreux 2005 was more complex, honeyed and mineral but I still detected a faint charcoal streak.
Montlouis-sur-Loir Romulus liquoreux 2005 was another step up with great complexity adding wax, pineapple and the burnish of botrytis underpinned by a certain crispness.

Domaine Henry Pellé, Menetou-Salon
Menetou-Salon is an appellation in central France making white from Sauvignon blanc and red and pinks from Pinot Noir. Like nearby appellations Reuilly and Quincy, it is tempting to think of it as a satellite of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire. I wouldn’t volunteer to distinguish between the wines from all five. The wines of Henry Pellé, which I first impressed me at the excellent Cognette restaurant in Issoudun, are IMO at least equal to Sancerre from, say, Pinard, but perhaps not to those from the two Cotat estates, and their prices are slightly lower. The style is quite ripe and suave, a million miles away from the thin gooseberry and cat’s piss SB of bad memory (and sometimes bad present).

Menetou-Salon Morogues 2009 – W - (€10) showed exotic fruit and grilled meat aromas with some fresh and quite rich creamy fruit; 15.5/20.
Menetou-Salon Vignes de Ratier 2008 – W - (€15) added greater tension, focus, minerality, crispness and refinement to the previous with slightly less creaminess; 16/20.
Menetou-Salon Les Blanchais 2008 – W - (€15) showed even greater tension, focus and minerality with some ripe gooseberry in the fruit; 16/20+.
Menetou-Salon Les Morogues 2008 – R – (€18) showed pure aromas of sour cherry and minerals and a medium/light palate with lovely pure fruit and good backbone; 16/20+

Alsace, with Deiss, Weinbach and Dirler-Cadé, comes in Part 2.

For anyone stateside, I just got an offer for the 2009 Jacky Blot Bourgueil ‘La Pied de la Butte’ (Cabernet Franc) for $17.99 from Envoyer Fine Wines, e-Mail: sales@envoyerfinewines.com. I buy a lot of stuff from them, and since they are nearby my locker, they deliver free. So, I don't know about their shipping charges. But a very interesting mailing list to be on.

Here is Greg's (the owner of Envoyer) description of this wine:

If you haven’t noticed by our recent push with the fantastic set of ’09 Cru Beaujolais that we’ve recently offered, we are making concerted efforts to find the magic of ’09 French Reds outside of the largely astronomical prices of ’09 Burgundy and Bordeaux. This latest offer here might have more to do with Bordeaux in terms of grape genetics, but on the nose and on the palate carves a home much close to Burgundy. Jacky Blot is a fairly eccentric, diligent, and creative man who is largely responsible for raising awareness over the last two decades to the quality of terroir in both Montlouis-sur-Loire and Bourgueil, the Cabernet Franc based appellation featured here. A family friend of our European correspondent here at EFW, having tasted his wines this summer at the domaine the biggest surprise was just how far Blot has come with his wines in Bourgueil. We tasted his ’08 cuvées this summer, a difficult vintage, and they were fantastic. Similar to Burgundy, the characteristics of the shallow limestone-based soil were undeniable (violets, minerals, depth) and peppery Cabernet Franc nuances that often come across as green where phonologically ripe and only served as pretty background notes (à la good cool climate syrah). Needless to say, we were very excited when we found his ‘09s here in the US at the same prices available in Europe. In fact, his ‘09s will be largely off the market and sold direct to his extensive following in France – this is a much-hyped vintage for Loire reds and after tasting his ‘La Pied de la Butte’ cuvée (the foot of the hill) this weekend, we can see why. Made from older vines with average ages of around 40 years, from yields under 35 HL/Hect. (extremely low for this appellation and closer to a top Burgundian domaine), and vinified with only ambient natural yeast, this is a terrific example of the purity and elegance that can be achieved with Cabernet Franc, with the added bonus of fruit from a strong vintage. Red and dark fruits lead to a complimentary set of nuances of fresh herbs, red roses, subtle limestoney mineral notes, and a structured palate with vibrant acidity, length, and precise lingering finish. This is a wine that could certainly use a few years in the cellar but is very enjoyable now in its lively youth, and is a great way to get a feel for the vintage and the spoils to come. Blot did not push too hard and the tannins are already nicely integrated into buffering fruit. A fantastic wine from a great wine-maker, and it seems ludicrous that we haven’t yet mentioned the price – a steal at under $20. We are always looking for wines that are ‘step-ups’ in quality while remaining at introductory prices, a perfect description of this wine here. A best buy, a savvy buy, and a fantastically priced wine well steeped in the magic of the ’09 vintage. The only problem is that we bought the last 5 cases imported to the West Coast (everything else has been bought by mostly by restaurants in SF, and to repeat again allocations were very very small with Blot this vintage) and this is all this is going to come. Grab it while you can.

Hi Tim -

Thank you for the very informative notes. I have not had any of Blot's wines before, but the Triple Zero has recently been on my list of sparklers to try if I ever find a bottle.

Since you seem to me quite knowledgeable about the Loire, what did you think of it versus Chidaine's Montlouis Brut and Huet's Vouvray Petillant? Just wondering...

Very good write-up from Tim as usual. I will say it again....Pelle is under-rated!! Buyers walk by, do not know what they are missing.

The Blot website is a real gem!