Tried these over the last two days:
1. Ch.PaulMas Clos de Savignac Gres de Montpellier AC: Coteaux de Lamguedoc (50% Mourv/30% Syrah/20% GrenacheRouge; 14%) 2008: Very dark/black color; slight volatile intense earthy/dusty/plummy/black berry/blueberry/black cherry some pungent/mineral/spicy interesting/rustic slight oak nose; soft rather hard/tannic strong blackberry/black cherry/plummy bit earthy/mineral/spicy/sauvage rather interesting/rustic flavor; fairly long very hard/tannic spicy/blueberry/black cherry/plummy light oak some mineral/dusty/sauvage finish; very well-made & very terroir-driven but pretty hard/tannic on the palate; not very drinkable now & needs age. $25.50
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2. Clos de la Briderie Val de Loire AC: Touraine-Mesland VieillesVignes (Biodynamic Demeter Certified; Hand Harvested; 40% CotNoir/30% CabFranc/30% GamayNoir) MartinesWines 2008: Very dark color; very strong earthy/herbal/gout de terroir/dusty/mineral some spicy/rosemary fairly classic/herbal Loire CabFranc w/ little fruit nose; very tart rather tannic/hard very herbal/earthy/dusty/gout de terroir slight spicy/rosemary rough/rustic flavor w/ little fruit; med.long rather hard/tannic very earthy/dusty/Kansas root cellar slight spicy/rosemary/thyme/resiny finish w/ no fruit; pretty earthy classic Loire CabFranc. $15.50
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I was interested in trying the Loire red because you see very little Cot (Malbec) from there. I was a bit hesitant because it was a MartineImportts wine....and she typically sends only her crap to NM, seldom any of the good stuff. But I sprung for it. It was pretty classic Loire CabFranc, not a lot of fruit, but a bit more hard/tannic than most. Not one that appeals to a Calif palate, but rather interesting I thought.
This wine was exactly how the British wine writers described, back in the '50's-'60's has having "gout de terroir"...the taste of the Earth. Back then (by crackey), "gout de terroir" was a pejorative term, signifying a distinct lack of fruit. Of course, nowadays, anything w/ the word "terroir" in its description is to be worshiped and put upon a pedestal...the ne plus ultra that a wine can hope to achieve.
Tom