Loire Valley Pinot Noir?????

Just tried a Maison Idiart Loire Valley Pinot Noir. I may have been vaguely aware that such a thing existed but never focused on it. Got it on the bargain shelf of a shop run by a Master Sommelier, so I trust the shop very much. Very light and I would not have identified it as a Pinot if I didn't know. Not bad at all and happened to match well with with the veal chops I made tonight. I'm just wondering if others are familiar with this type of wine and what you think of it. This was pure Pinot. No Gamay or anything else blended into it.

Lots of Pinot Noir in the upper Loire area - red Sancerre and Menetou-Salon are all PN. But I think the only varietally labeled PN I remember is a Touraine PN from Puzelat. Did it give a clue where made? Loire is a long river!

I know and have drunk Sancerre Rouge and Menetou-Salon Rouge. These are pinot noir wines.

Dom. Idiart appears to be based in Marigny-Brizay, which is Haut Poitou, which has no AOC; it goes under VDQS. It's a pretty empty corner of the Loire down there - a big coop, two big estates, and no notoriety.

Best website I could find for it: https://sites.google.com/a/maisonidiart.com/maisonidiart/home
Somehow connected to Woodberry Wines: http://www.woodberrywine.com/portfolio/maison-idiart/

Two things on the back label of interest. It says Indication Geographique Protegee, which I have never seen on a bottle. It also says bottled at 33360 Cenac - France. No clue about that either.

It came from a shop run by Virginia Philip, who is a Master Sommelier and the head of the beverage program at The Breakers in Palm Beach. She always has reasons for picking wines. She has a $10 shelf of unusual bargains or unusual wines. If I run into her in the shop I'll ask her where she found this one and why she picked it.

We recently had the '13 Karine Lauverjat Sancerre Rouge. It was a pretty wine - light and nuanced, but not for someone seeking a bold new world style of PN.

Two things on the back label of interest. It says Indication Geographique Protegee, which I have never seen on a bottle. It also says bottled at 33360 Cenac - France. No clue about that either.

IGP is newspeak for Vin de France. (INAO shuffled the laws a couple years ago, mostly to no effect.)

Cenac is slightly up-river from Bordeaux. Doesn't gibe with my first discoveries but what do I know?

Just tried a Maison Idiart Loire Valley Pinot Noir... I'm just wondering if others are familiar with this type of wine and what you think of it.

As others have said, there is a fair amount, although it's not a blockbuster category so it doesn't get exported much to the US.

I find it most enjoyable in France - preferably in the Loire - as a relaxing lunch time or aperitif or outdoor wine. Nothing too serious, but it can be fresh and speak of the region.

It's a big stretch calling a wine Loire valley when it is from Haut-Poitou. The producer is from Bordeaux.

Lifted from my recent post on a Paris Grand Tasting, here are two very brief TNs on Sancerre red. They have much more substance (and higher price ) than most of their kind.

Alphonse Mellot - Sancerre

I was particularly curious to take a look at the much praised and highly priced reds from Pinot Noir. I had read that they undergo heavy oak treatment but I was not bothered by that on –

La Moussière (R) 2012 (€27) – Round and ripe with some tannic structure. Already drinking well but too dear for an everyday Pinot fix.
En Grands champs (R) 2012 (€51) – More tension, length and structure than previous and complex with ivy and spice notes. I would like to revisit some time down the road but at that price……?

For the record, we had some of this wine left over and had it tonight with grilled chicken. I liked it better the second day. It seemed to have developed more depth and character. Still not to be confused with anything from Burgundy but very pleasant. I think Rahsaan captured this wine perfectly in his post.