WTN: Loire, BdM, CalChard, Chablis, Champagne

No wine Thursday with curry-accented grouper, dal, mushrooms, and salad

Friday Dana was in town and we had a close friend of hers and the friend’s parents for dinner.
Paddlefish caviar and creme fraiche on chips, foie gras, chicken liver pate, boquerones

NV Vilmart Grand Cellier Champagne
8/23 disgorgement. Bright pink grapefruit and pear, wheat toast, nice chalky finish, elegant mousse. B+

Shrimp risotto and spinach, followed by halibut in court bouillon
2014 Piuze Bougros Chablis GC
No premox! Full and powerful with racy acids, citrus and orchard fruits, very long. Classic. A-

2022 Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast)
Cooking wine (well intentioned gift). At least consistent, tastes like every Sonoma Cutrer Chard. Pear juice, pineapple, a pat of butter and a drop of vanilla. Low acids, C/C+

We finished with a couple of GF cakes for the dessert eaters and a spirited game of Codenames

Saturday we started with oysters
2023 Pierre Martin Chavignol Sancerre
Good acids, apple accented with seashells, modest finish, clean. B

Spicy meatballs in marinara over whole wheat spaghetti, broccoli rabe with garlic and anchovies
2018 Caprili Brunello di Montalcino
New producer to me. Ripeness of the vintage shows, but not jammy. Ripe cherry and desiccated cherry, a little leather, no apparent new oak. 14% , I would prefer a little svelter, but not bad for a hot vintage. B/B+

Striped bass in lobster butter, Mei Mei kale salad with fried slow poached egg, sweet potato.
2020 Roches Neuves “L’Echelier” Saumur Blanc
I wasn’t a huge Germain fan on previous tastings, but someone had told me I should look out for recent vintages. I’m glad they did, I REALLY enjoyed this Large framed but vervy, Meyer lemon and yellow plum, a hint of iodine, a topnote of paraffin. Balanced, vibrant, with racy acids and a long minerally finish. A-

Good way to finish before a week or two wine-less.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for the note on the Vilmart. I have that disgorgement.

Wow, both the food and wine from that dinner with Dana sound fantastic. Vilmart is one of our go-to producers for NV Champers and it sounds like this disgorgement fits in with our earlier experiences. Happy New Year to you, Betsy and the family, Dale.

Intrigued by your note on the 2020 Roches Neuves Blanc, I did a quick wine-searcher check and see it’s running $50 and up in the States. Obviously that’s bargain pricing by burgundy standards, but after years buying Huet, Chidaine, Baumard and Boulay, it’s higher than my internal Loire Blanc pricing expectations threshold. I’d still like to try it though.

I see some 2017s still available as well as the 19 and 20. Do you know when they started their recent improvement?

I don't really think of those as a category. Huet is very different from Boulay who is obviously different from Pepiere. This is a different style of Chenin than Huet. I love all of those wines obviously.
I'll also note if you've checked Boulay Comtesse or even CdBeaujeau recently, they're both over $50!
I think of Saumur Chenin as more Burg like than Vouvray, and I think these prices are competitive with most bottlings of Guiberteau, Collier, Yvonne.

No idea about timeline (I think they were always high quality, just had rep for oak). I asked a friend about the reds and he said the guy was "clearly committed, highly skilled, and conscientious" but that he found the wines polished and fruit driven.

I don't really think of those as a category. Huet is very different from Boulay who is obviously different from Pepiere. This is a different style of Chenin than Huet..

Just proof that I don’t drink enough Loire wines, as I still put them in the same general ‘white, Loire’ category in my mind, despite different varietals, styles, appellations and terroirs.

I think of Saumur Chenin as more Burg like than Vouvray, and I think these prices are competitive with most bottlings of Guiberteau, Collier, Yvonne.

Not to mention far, far cheaper than Clos Rougeard's whites.