WTN: Loire Night in Dobbs Ferry (plus bubbles)

A really fun group gathered on a stormy Saturday at my place. Ruby was excited to have guests. I had some charcuterie (speck, 22mo Prosciutto di Parma, pate de campagne, mousse), cheeses (Ossau Iraty, Brie, Chabichou, Manchego, Sprigdell, Tallegio) and olives.

A couple of blind bubblies to start
Silver - Jayson quickly called not Champagne. Bruised apples, pastry dough, a touch of herb, Fair amouth of palate sweetness. I’m the one who is most confused because I know what it is, and it’s hard to believe its zero dosage. Fine bead, but a bit short.
2010 Contadi Castaldi Brut Zero (Franciacorta) B-

Gold- still plenty of petillance, a light oxidative note, bready, 1996 Altemasi Graal Riserva Brut (Trentino) B-

These were from the Barbetta cellars. OK, but no one is running out to stock up on Italian bubbles


Oysters
2012 Pepiere Clisson Muscadet
Stunning,mineral and saline, wet rocks by the seashore. A-/A


2012 Pepiere Briords Muscadet
Holding on, but softer, just a hint of oxidation, still some Briords character, I do like but pales next to Clisson B/B+


What was supposed to be shrimp and avocado, but was shrimp with a tiny avocado garnish, due to all 3 avocado sucking

2014 F Cotat Culs de Beaujeau Sancerre
Lovely, long, and classic.Full rich SB with lovely herb overtones. A-


2014 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2
So much lighter than the Cotat yet just as lovely. Lemon, grass, and a light pineneedle note. A-


Sasha’s blind white - big ripe and hot, Jay guesses 2003 Loire. Here the pine needle/grass note is pungent/acrid (while on CRB is was delicate), and it felt hot
2003 Vatan/Neore Sancerre. C+


NV (2021) Cedric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne VV/R21 Champagne
Brioche, pear and almond, I liked but others (who know more about Champagne than I do) loved. Don;t see the value. B

2013 Clos Roche Blanche "Pif"
Light, fresh, and herby, tangy and long. B+/A-


Jayson's blind red= Black plums, pepper, floral. I was running in and out to grill and didn’t make a guess, but I never thought of Cot, but once revealed made sense.
2022 La Grange Tiphaine, Cot Vieilles Vignes B


Sasha’s blind red- lovely and complex, JC gets vintage and wine quickly. Red and black fruits, herbs, coffee, so balanced. 2008 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny A-


Mixed grill (merguez, pork sausage, boudin blanc, quail) John's couscous, grilled squash, and a riff on ratatouille I made with grilled leeks, scallions,and peppers. Oh and the traditional Loire dish of caprese with buffalo mozzarella


2010 Baudry “Grezeaux” Chinon
Young but accessible, cassis and black raspberry, rocky finish, so friendly. A-/B+


2010 Olga Raffault Picasses Chinon
Broad and tannic, needs time. For now B

2009 Baudry “Franc de Pieds” Chinon
What a treat, Cassis, lavender, and oregano, bright and exotic. A-/B+

2009 Baudry “Le Clos Guillot” Chinon
A little rounder, but good solid fruit and nice complexity. B+

2006 Breton "Beaumont" Chinon
Recent acquisition, terribly maderized.

1999 Domaine Philippe Alliet Chinon
Wait, am I in a barn? There’s considerable brett but luckily a strain I don’t mind.Mature dark fruits. Nice acidic balance and length. B+

1996 Domaine Serge Sourdais “les Clos” Chinon
New producer to me. Mature and light, but tasty. B

2007 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses
Similar to last month, pear, lemon, pastry dough, Long and complex. A-

Salil's dessert, an almond tart with pinenuts and another almond dessert (Le Lichou Sancerre) that Don had brought back from Loire couple days before.

2025 Henri Bourgeois d'h’Orees
Late harvest Chavignol. I had a sweet SB in the . Bourgeois cellars, and didn’t really care for that either. Sugar requires acids C+/B-

1989 Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Mont
Rich, full, and exciting, with marzipan and orange marmalade, some almond. A-/B+

1989 Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Clos du Bourg
Some though this less than pristine,but I thought lovely, lively, and multifaceted. Honied and bright. A-

Really fun night with a great group, and the thunderstorms gave me a window to grill!


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 the only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

This was a blast - thank you and Ruby for hosting (and thanks John for the rides/to from the train station). Highlights of the night for me were the Clisson, the CRB SB, the Clos des Goisses, the '10 Grezeaux, and the Baudry FdP which may have been my WOTN (shocked face from absolutely nobody who knows my palate). Oh, and Ruby coaxing Jay into constantly giving her treats under the table was delightful. Several of these were wines where I went "why do I not own more of these", especially the Clisson. (I said that about the '10 Grezeaux as well, though I own a few - just not enough. Perhaps because I drank a ton of it on release.) Didn't take notes on the two sparklers to start (liked the goldkap one slightly better), but my thoughts on the rest:

LOIRE-FEST AT DALE'S - Dobbs-sur-Loire (7/18/2026)

• 2012 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Clisson - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
  Goddamn this is delicious. Lemon curd over a crystalline mineral base with more savoury herbal and iodine-like accents that emerge with a little air in the glass. Bracing, lively, and so easy to drink. Why do I not own/cellar more of these wines?
• 2012 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie Vieilles Vignes Clos des Briords - France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie
  Shows a lot more mature than the '12 Clisson alongside; there's a bronzed, burnished hue to the fruit here and it feels older, though is still drinking very nicely with bright acids giving a nice sense of freshness and energy to the flavours, and a savoury, saline mineral finish.

• 2014 Domaine François Cotat Sancerre Les Culs de Beaujeu - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
  Holy crap, there's a *ton* of sulfur here at first (and I say this as someone who normally doesn't shy away from sulfur, especially in young Rieslings). A really intense smoky and sulfury overlay to the flavors at first, but that clears with a little air. Underneath is a core of remarkably bright, vibrant fruit accented by high toned herbal notes and an intense chalky and stony mineral base underneath. This only gets better as it sits open longer with the sulfur both clearing, and the mineral and herbal accents here get more vivid. Definitely regret not buying more of these wines when they were more affordable.
• 2014 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon No. 2 - France, Loire Valley, Touraine
  This is spectacular, and one of the best expressions of Sauvignon Blanc I've ever had. Somehow manages to combine remarkable intensity of flavour with a sense of lightness - almost weightlessness - and sheer joie de vivre. Somehow there's a piercing intensity to the tart, vibrant SB fruit here, and at the same time a gentleness and floating, feathery quality on the palate. Just an amazing wine and a joy to drink one of these again.
• 2003 Edmond Vatan Sancerre Clos la Néore - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
  I didn't catch the alcohol on this, but it shows quite clearly here. This showcases the worst aspects of 2003 - there's a heavy, slightly oily quality to the texture here, and the flavours are really overripe - pineapple and banana, rather than the tarter citric fruit and gooseberry that I'd expect in Sancerre. With air it calms down a bit and it works well with some of the cheeses - it's not a bad wine, just very atypical for both Sancerre and Vatan.

• 2021 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne VV/R21 - France, Champagne
  A fun interlude before we got into the reds. I've found some of the Cédric Bouchard wines a bit hit and miss for my palate in the past, but this is quite convincing. Real power and weight to the fruit here with an array of rich bready and doughy notes that keep building with air, and the acidity and effervescence giving it a sense of real cut and focus on the palate. (Like Dale, don't see the value, but perfectly happy to drink these if others will open.)

• 2013 Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Cuvée Pif - France, Loire Valley, Touraine
  Delightful, an array of dark fruits, herbs, rocks and more savoury earthy/loamy notes all coming together on a package that - like the Sauvignon Blanc earlier - is so elegant and light, yet conveying such intensity of flavour at the same time. Again, there's a joie de vivre to the flavours here and the whole package is far too easy to drink. This is what every glouglou wine wants to be. pts.)[/b]
• 2022 La Grange Tiphaine Côt Vieilles Vignes - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Touraine-Amboise
  Served blind by Jayson. First experience with this producer/wine and I liked it a lot. Was quite surprised to find it revealed as Côt, as there's a silkiness and textural finesse on the palate that I don't usually associate with Malbec. There's a core of dark fruit here that's tinged with high toned lavender and other floral/herbal scents, and it turns more savouy on the back end where some grainy tannin is more apparent on the finish. Lovely wine, I'll have to look out for these.
• 2008 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny
  Served blind by Sasha. This was tremendous. This shows that greener aspect of Cab Franc in such an elegant and polished way - there's certainly a fair amount of pyrazine here, but it's articulated as a complex, savoury forestal greenness rather than anything vegetal or underripe, and complemented perfectly by a core of dark berried fruit and savoury earth; a flavour profile that's evocative of a walk through the woods in fall, and conveyed with the finesse and delicate touch I usually find in Rougeard. Lovely wine, and my favorite of the flight.

• 2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  Thanks Dale for opening this because I had been curious for a while about how this might be showing now (because as usual, I did not buy enough). Still youthful with a crunchy freshness to the dark berried fruit, and such a vivid gravelly and savoury earthy base underneath. JLL's phrase soil to glass transfer feels very apt here. Still feels so youthful right now with the stuffing, structure, and balance to age for years, but such a delightful wine right now.
• 2010 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  Love this; such an intense expression of fresh red and dark fruit here with lighter green herbal and more savoury earthy notes framing the fruit, and a touch of leathery funk that seems to come and go with air. This feels painfully young though - the fruit is still so remarkably fresh and youthful, and there's an immense spine of tannin beneath that dominates the back end. Works well with the lamb merguez sausage, but if I had any of these I'd leave them alone for a decade or two.

• 2009 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  A pretty wine; a gentler, more understated expression of Chinon than I expected in the ripe '09 vintage. I recall the Croix Boissée and Grézeaux showing substantially more fruit and richness when younger, so the lighter, more medium-weight palate presence in the Guillot is a surprise. There's lovely clarity and freshness to the core of dark fruit here, it's ripe but conveyed with a delicate touch and a silken texture, and accented by savoury earth and herbal notes that come through more clearly on the back end.
• 2009 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Franc de Pied - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  Been nearly a decade (a little over 9 years) since my last bottle of this. This is turning into something incredibly special. What a spectacular nose - it's impossible to catalogue what all is going on here, that classic Chinon core of dark fruit and herbs and earth and leaves, but also more exotic violet-like floral scents, and saline, almost olive-like notes. The palate presence is unreal - such intensity to the flavours here, but also a lightness of touch and an airy quality that makes the Guillot alongside feel heavier by comparison (even though they're both from the same site, just with different rootstock). There's still some fine grained tannin beneath and it feels as if it still has plenty of time ahead - I'll give my next bottle a few more years, but I'm really excited to see how this is developing.

• 1999 Philippe Alliet Chinon - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  Absolutely loved this. There's a strong funky leathery aspect to the nose - almost a little Musar-like - but underneath the leather and slight barnyard, there's a core of really fresh and elegant red fruit that's lifted by a spine of bright acidity. The tannin here seems mostly well integrated and it's drinking really nicely now. Lovely wine, and paired wonderfully with the lamb sausage.
• 1996 Le Logis de la Bouchardiere Chinon Les Clos - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
  Very pretty; understated and delicate with a core of gentle red and dark fruits, framed by more developed earthy and faintly mushroomy notes. Not overly complex, but a very pretty wine that's drinking wonderfully right now with the tannins fully resolved and bright acids providing real lift and vibrancy.

• 2007 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses - France, Champagne
  Kaboom. Loved this, just a perfect interlude at this point of the evening before we transitioned to the dessert wines. Layers of almond pastry, fresh baked bread, vanilla cream, and tarter citrus and pear fruit all come together seamlessly in a package that's rich, long, and beautifully balanced. I could drink a lot of this.

• 2015 Henri Bourgeois d'hOrées - France, Loire Valley, Vin de France
  One of the more oddly shaped half bottles I've seen, but this was quite nice, though not especially complex. Candied orange peel and honeyed notes, accented with higher toned gingery spice, generously sweet though left me wanting a little more acidity to balance out the sweetness.

• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Clos du Bourg - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
  Terrific showing, honey and straw and a compote of citrus and other orchard fruits all coming together seamlessly on a polished, medium weight frame. The balance is lovely - it's certainly quite sweet, but turns more savoury on the back end, and works perfectly both on its own and with the pastries on the table. In a lovely place now but with years of life ahead still. Glad I have a few more (but I'll leave those offsite a while longer).
• 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Mont - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
  A more advanced showing than the Clos du Bourg alongside (though not oxidative in any way); this is darker in colour and shows a more burnished character around the fruit. It feels richer than the CdB - the honey and marmalade aspects here are more prominent, and it feels sweeter as well.

side, fun note about the 09 Baudry flight - the Franc de Pied Chinon vines were planted within Clos Guillot (they're no more sadly, 2011 was the last vintage of that Chinon), so it was really instructive to have that side by side with the Guillot. Same soil/grape with the only difference being the rootstock and vine age (the rest of the vines in Guillot are a bit older, the FdP vines were younger).