Query to the illuminati re Filliatreau and relative styles of Muscadet

B

BJ

BJ
Last night we enjoyed a couple of Joe's recent imports.

The 07 Briords was a wonderfully classic interplay of saline minerality. I don't have a ton of experience with Muscadet, but one seeming trend I've noted (?) is that Pepiere perhaps trends to greater classicism and "purity" while Luneau Papin is maybe slightly more weighty and opulent, if you can apply that term to wines from the mouth of the Loire. I continue to appreciate the upriver nod of Guindon and hope you all can get your hands on this to enjoy its unique take on Muscadet.

The Briords last night had major petillance going - as much as any wine I've had. I would think this would reintegrate fairly soon?

We also had the 06 Grande Vignolle. This was a real wine shape shifter, taking slightly different poses with almost every sip. Tree bark, chalk, dark fruit, baking chocolate, and good minerality all came into play. But I was interested to read Gilman's take that this would be a long ager - though the tannin is certainly there, this doesn't strike me as a wine that I'd sock away for 15 years (as opposed to, say, better Chinons or Foucault)...but I have no experience with that. Any thoughts on this?
 
I haven't tried the Grand Vignolle in 2006. The 05 version seemed to have great balance and structure and I could imagine 10-15 years of age with that wine not being a stretch. I don't have any practical experience with older Filliatreau.

The petillance is pretty common, 2-3 days open in the fridge does wonders for brand spanking new Muscadet.

Luneau Papin Muscadet does, in my limited experience, seem to have a little more weight and emphasis on fruit, and less mineral and sometimes less acidity than Pepiere.

I know you a fan of older movies and wines, but have you seen La Graine et le Mulet yet? We watched it last night and thought it was very enjoyable, if long winded at times.

Is a second post too soon for thread drift?
 
No, it might be a really boring first post.

It was hard to put my finger on why I thought the Vignolle was not an ager - it may simply be that it had so much natural wine-ish primariness and it's hard to see past that (as opposed to other wines that I simply wouldn't touch for a long time).

We'll look into that movie. Who was the director?

We watched The Edge of Heaven last night. It was good. Breathtakingly Antonioni-esque opening scenes, and Coen Brothers-like disposal of key characters.
 
Abdel Kechiche directed it. It is about North African immigrants living in the south of France. The movie revolves around fish cous cous, hence the title name.
Filmed in the town of Sete, which is on the Mediterranean east of Narbonne.

You know, the '05 Grand Vignolle was beautiful and also easy to drink when it was first released, too. It has tightened up considerably and now isn't much fun to drink. I wonder if the '06 will be similar.
 
Briords is from granite, which is less than 10% of the AOC. So "classic" might not be the word. Luneau has a variety of soils, but most of them are gneiss or gneiss and clay, and they give more fruit and less minerality than granite. It's terroir expression much more than winemaking.

I wouldn't age the Grande Vignolle when there is the VV out there in the world. The '97 VV has never been anything but delicious, so I'm down to just a bottle or two.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
Abdel Kechiche directed it. It is about North African immigrants living in the south of France. The movie revolves around fish cous cous, hence the title name.
Filmed in the town of Sete, which is on the Mediterranean east of Narbonne.
Click to expand...

That was a lot of date wine!

I enjoyed the film and even though I kept waiting for the happy ending, I thought it was nice and powerful the way things turned out..
 
La Grande Vignolle is such a magical spot for a vineyard, you almost expect great things from it by default. But it tends to be an under-achiever; maybe it is one of those wines that does best in average years. The 1990 is still intact, but the development hasn't been all that interesting. It just seems to be carrying too much stuff. The 1995 shows better balance, and more hope for continued development. At the moment, though, the 1993 is particularly wonderful. The one that is most transparent of terroir; a fine red wine based more on mineral than fruit.

So, a medium-term wine. For longer ageing, as SFJoe says, seek out the Vieilles Vignes.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:


That was a lot of date wine!

I enjoyed the film and even though I kept waiting for the happy ending, I thought it was nice and powerful the way things turned out..
Click to expand...
My date fell asleep, and missed the belly dancing scene.
I had to watch it alone!
 
originally posted by Jeff Connell:
La Grande Vignolle is such a magical spot for a vineyard, you almost expect great things from it by default. But it tends to be an under-achiever; maybe it is one of those wines that does best in average years. The 1990 is still intact, but the development hasn't been all that interesting. It just seems to be carrying too much stuff. The 1995 shows better balance, and more hope for continued development. At the moment, though, the 1993 is particularly wonderful. The one that is most transparent of terroir; a fine red wine based more on mineral than fruit.

So, a medium-term wine. For longer ageing, as SFJoe says, seek out the Vieilles Vignes.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jeff.

The Grande Vignolle is usually very good young. We end up drinking them and not aging too long.

I wonder if the Seattle distributor gets the Vieilles Vignes bottle.
 
originally posted by Joe Dressner:
I called the importer to inquire. The Seattle distributor does not order the Vieilles Vignes bottling.
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But if he had, I really like the 2005.
 
Thanks Joe and Joe.
Now that is settled, on to fixing the mess in Gaza.

Oh, Rahsaan, you were referring to wine made from dates, not a movie to watch with your date. Sorry, I am very slow this morning.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
Oh, Rahsaan, you were referring to wine made from dates, not a movie to watch with your date..
Click to expand...

Yes, I am sure many of them were likely to be sick after all that date wine and no food. The shaky atmosphere was well conveyed. Although perhaps the terrible couscous calmed them.

Regardless, a strong film.
 
Forgot I'd had it, or this post.

It is really nice.

About the same impression as before, but I suspect more strongly this is a strong medium term aging bottle - would love to try in ten years.
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
This Briords came into focus big time today.
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I wander in darkness, but I've found that even the regular bottling tastes better on the second day for the first couple of years. The Briords, in my experience, actually shuts down for a bit after a year or two.

I need to try more Luneau-Papin. The 07 Allees is drinking nicely now.
 
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