The demi-sec, La Bourdonnerie vintage 2005 - IWC Bronze 2006.
Opened on Thursday evening. Serve cool the nose quite restrained, wet wool (too clean) and honeysuckle - very simple, but lovely mouth feel, very good chenin feel, no new world oilyness at all.
Rather simple, as if the chenin was made yesterday - so left the wine to open up.
Blimey it took 3 hours to blossom, and the wine was 4 years since release ! When open, a similar Huet demi sec flavour appears at half the price, with honeyed richness, some mango, and a lovely and longish grapefruit pith and some minerality, because the acidity only kicks in properly when this wine has been exposed
You have to wait to get the flavour you are looking for. For many folks, it is too long. If serving for dinner with your ripe french cheese course or duck pate' starters, double decant and put open carrafe in the fridge for 2 - 3 hours before your guests arrive. Pour back into the bottles if your guests like trad labels.
Given the right treatment, this wine is beautiful, serve wrong and you get simple girly melon and honesuckle.
I'll have to give it a few more years on the rack, many aged Loire chenins acquire all of their complexity over time. The ones that are all gussied-up in an attempt to replicate this flavour on release - never get there, and go down hill.
Domaine Bourillon have modernised too much for me, but for consistency, I prefered the dirtier rustic more oxidative style of the nineties and the rotting and shrivelled 2003.
But there you go folks, Loire producers have been bullied into NW consistency. Of course, I will still buy this wine to play with
Tribs - please play with the 2009, I have no idea how a juvenile one will behave