As with Mel's quest.......Had this again, with friends. It is stunning. Converted one or two more to quality Vouvray. The quest goes on....

VOUVRAY made by Frederic Bourillon

Domaine Bourillon Dorleans is one of my favourites. You can sample the soft basic in Tesco’s stores, and if you find the flavour is one that you wish to explore, then please move up the quality tree. The basic on the pale green Gaston label, is only a soft'ish sample really.

These Vouvrays below have far better acidity balanced by a beautiful honeyed richness, coupled with wonderful mouth feel.

Starting with the sec, the Coulee d’Argent, a fresh chenin with a lovely mineral wet stones dimension, yet still having a little of that richness on the finish, 13% alc. This style is not over dry, and is therefore suitable with most starters.

Moving up your taste buds; The demi-sec, La Bourdonnerie is truly lovely, chill this wine as an aperitif and surprise and delight your friends with the beauty of this wine. On a good vintage this wine will live on to 25 years 12.5% alc.

Moving further up the tree, The Moelleux 12% alc in the big bottle is a wine that is unctuous, luscious honeyed and hazel nutty, a beautiful wine and capable of surviving 40 years in the right conditions. These are the oldest vines on terrior of shale and silt and sloping southerly on the north side of the Loire bank at chateau chevrier. In the best years, the noble rot adds further complexity and even deeper richness.

The beauty of the flavour and enjoyment of these wines is further enhanced by their low alcohol levels, great acidity and fine structure. A real pleasure.

Look out for these, for the quality of the wine making, they are superb value. If you are desperate to spend, ok, go to Huet, but frankly if you are looking for beauty, these demi and moelleux styles will move you when starting to mature.

I am maturing 4 of each ’05 Bourdonnerie and ’03 Moelleux and a couple of ’03 La Coulee d’Or. I have succumbed and pigged the 2000 that I had in 2007/08.


Loire old vine chenin & Loire traditional skills for chenin are the best in the world and the least alcoholic, and the most sustainable for UK drinkers – What more do you want. Pester Majestic to stock again.

Enjoy


For Bacchus and those who appreciate a good choir

It is a good site if you explore, good translation training for you.

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Duncan

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

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Duncan

Of course. I hadn't realised the connection. I have been drinking the TF Gaston Dorleans Vouvray for years. I have not seen it for a little while though. So this is another step up. Will try this week.

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tribs

Dunc,

What a lovely web site puts lots to shame.

Do you buy direct from them ??
I have asked to buy direct and ship to my cottage in the Creuse via email.

Shall I let you know the reply in case you want to bolt onto my order ??

Regards
Richard

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

Very kind thought Richard. However, I do not buy from them direct. I just don't buy enough volume. I mix it with vintages and styles.
I make a judgement about the possibilities of a vintage, check out a few reports and take say for the '03 when noble rot was said to be blooming well at Bourillon 5 x moelleux wines. Then for the '05 I make take 3 of the sec and 3 demi.
I'm a mood and research buyer, I like to weight-up my possibilities.

I may be reasonably near that Domaine in the Autumn when we see friends who have settled in the Region. I may ask them to acquire a couple of their special wax topped demi-sec cuvee's - I shall see.

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Duncan