by Patchen Markell » Thu Jun 30, 2016 9:09 pm
Tonight we decided it'd be a good idea to try another Saumur in close promixity to last week's overly perfumy bottle of Château de Brézé "Clos du Midi," so we cracked our first of several bottles of Domaine Guiberteau 2013 Saumur Blanc, 11.5% ABV, from relatively young vines, including some on Brézé. If I look for them, I can find elements that seem related to the flowerly note I disliked in the other wine, but they're in the background here, which makes this a totally different and, to my taste, better beast. Piercingly citric; at fridge temperature the midpalate seems watery but wth time the wine opens up and shows a rich, complex mix of flavors that include something slightly animally at one end, as well as rich yellow fruit framed by intense minerality and a smear of beeswax. This is beautifully vivid and complex and has a lot of long-term promise, and it's a steal at $18.00. I've also got a little '13 Guichaux, which I won't touch for a decade, given what the young-vines wine is like.
cheers, Patchen
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