Arnt Egil Nordlien
Arnt Egil Nordlien
Two new producers to me placed well inside the natural wine stuff-bag.
P'tite gaterie (2006), Domaine des Griottes
40% pinot d'aunis, 30% each gamay and cabernet franc. Vin de table. Unsulphured. 11% alc/vol. Clean young, fruity stuff. Cherries, some franc-notes of blackcurrant-leafs. Lightly kirsch-like hints. Light wine in the mouth. Pure, quite opulent fruit. Simple tasty style with fine acidity and light tannins in the back. Nice, but a bit too expensive.
Anjou Navine 2006, Domaine des Griottes
Unsulphured white Anjou. Brownish/orangey colour. Boy is this volatile on the nose. Some fine chenin-florality there. Some green apples. But can almost not get past the VA. Powerful, acidic chenin in the mouth with loads of tannins for a white in the back. The fruit is all VA mess. Undrinkable.
Les vignes de l'ange vin Les vignes de le regard du loir (2006), Jean-Pierre Robinot
This producer has vines in Jasnieres and Coteaux du Loir, but rarely gets the AOC accepted. The two wines I tasted were very spontaneous in a good way. Robinot do use sulphure but take a look at these photos and you'll understand it ain't much. The "l'ange vin" means the grapes are from his own vineyards. This 100% pinot d'aunis is from grapes inside the Coteaux du Loir, but labelled vin de table. This was a quite typical fresh pinot d'aunis on the nose with fine peppery hints and quite wild spontaneous complexity. Medium bodied fresh and clear pinot d'aunis-fruit. Fine light complexity. Fine acidity and light tannins. Very nice pinot d'aunis, but perhaps a tad expensive.
Le vignes de l'ange vin Nocturne 2005, Jean-Pierre Robinot
Well, here's another 100% pinot d'aunis vin de table. From 60 years old vines. Also here there is some sulphure. Deeper colour. This neede some time to open up. At first this behaved like a fat and concentrated pinot d'aunis and I did not see the point. But after a couple of hours this really opened up beautifully. The same hints of pinot d'aunis, spices, young fruits, but with a really great high-toned florality. Boy was this nice on the nose. Great depth. In the mouth this is very concentrated for a pinot d'aunis. Loads of fruit. But again the niceness of the fine florality wins out and this becomes a really seductive wine in it's unusual largeness for such a grape. Forgive it for that and you have a really tremendous wine well worth the huge price-tag also.
P'tite gaterie (2006), Domaine des Griottes
40% pinot d'aunis, 30% each gamay and cabernet franc. Vin de table. Unsulphured. 11% alc/vol. Clean young, fruity stuff. Cherries, some franc-notes of blackcurrant-leafs. Lightly kirsch-like hints. Light wine in the mouth. Pure, quite opulent fruit. Simple tasty style with fine acidity and light tannins in the back. Nice, but a bit too expensive.
Anjou Navine 2006, Domaine des Griottes
Unsulphured white Anjou. Brownish/orangey colour. Boy is this volatile on the nose. Some fine chenin-florality there. Some green apples. But can almost not get past the VA. Powerful, acidic chenin in the mouth with loads of tannins for a white in the back. The fruit is all VA mess. Undrinkable.
Les vignes de l'ange vin Les vignes de le regard du loir (2006), Jean-Pierre Robinot
This producer has vines in Jasnieres and Coteaux du Loir, but rarely gets the AOC accepted. The two wines I tasted were very spontaneous in a good way. Robinot do use sulphure but take a look at these photos and you'll understand it ain't much. The "l'ange vin" means the grapes are from his own vineyards. This 100% pinot d'aunis is from grapes inside the Coteaux du Loir, but labelled vin de table. This was a quite typical fresh pinot d'aunis on the nose with fine peppery hints and quite wild spontaneous complexity. Medium bodied fresh and clear pinot d'aunis-fruit. Fine light complexity. Fine acidity and light tannins. Very nice pinot d'aunis, but perhaps a tad expensive.
Le vignes de l'ange vin Nocturne 2005, Jean-Pierre Robinot
Well, here's another 100% pinot d'aunis vin de table. From 60 years old vines. Also here there is some sulphure. Deeper colour. This neede some time to open up. At first this behaved like a fat and concentrated pinot d'aunis and I did not see the point. But after a couple of hours this really opened up beautifully. The same hints of pinot d'aunis, spices, young fruits, but with a really great high-toned florality. Boy was this nice on the nose. Great depth. In the mouth this is very concentrated for a pinot d'aunis. Loads of fruit. But again the niceness of the fine florality wins out and this becomes a really seductive wine in it's unusual largeness for such a grape. Forgive it for that and you have a really tremendous wine well worth the huge price-tag also.