Taluau

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Ian Fitzsimmons

Ian Fitzsimmons
Joel Taluau has been one of the best-reputed producers in St. Nicolas de Bourgueil for many years. He hit a grand slam with his 2002 VV bottling. But I've read a few comments over the past year that quality at this domaine is diminishing as his son-in-law takes on a larger role in it. Has anyone in the forum visited this house recently? What's the scoop with them?
 
I would say longer ago than that. I'm not sure why. But they are blandly commercial least common yawn wines for a number of vintages now. You could drink the VV if you had to, but I have a much easier time finding much better wines, so the question doesn't much come up. My Loire writeups on therapy usually mentioned him.
 
Thanks. I checked in Therapy, by the way, before posting here, and only found your 2008 Loire report, which had no mention of Taluau. Would love to read more if there is more.

Cheers
 
There were some good wines as late as 1996. The 96 VV shouted its potential, though I haven't checked in recently with my bottles. After that they seem to have dropped off the map. Did financial pressures lead to the quality dropoff?
 
A fair number of people thought the 2002 VV was pretty spectacular - I know I'm not alone in this. I have heard they've recently gone to mechanized harvesting, but they say they still hand-pick the VV.

Anyway, I guess they are too obscure for more than a few Loire-obsessed whackos like Joe to follow them from year to year.
 
Here's my take on the '02 VV from a few years ago. I haven't seen any of the wines on the shelves since then.

Jol Taluau St.-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Vieilles Vignes 2002 ($20): Here's a wine that's taken a five-year hiatus in these parts--the last vintage anyone remembers being on the shelves was the 1997, and that only in a three stores in rural Connecticut. Smells the same, tobacco leaf and iron filings, quiet cran-cherry fruit, gentle minerality, hint of pine needles. A sip, and it's oddly flaccid--smoother and riper than previous vintages I've tried, medium-bodied and very gentle, flavorful, but where's the focus? If I didn't know better I'd think this a 2003. Honest wine all right, but lacking in mouthgrapple. Very curious, leaves me unsatisfied and vaguely unsettled. (11/05)
 
Jim - We'll open a bottle of 02 here this evening (if I can find it) and I'll post a note.

Sharon - I mentioned him to you when you asked for producers to visit in Bourgueil.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Weirdly enough, I, apologist of all things cabernet franc, have never heard of this producer.
Click to expand...
He has a spot in what I think of as the "1st generation cool kids" stand at the Salon, along with Huet, Luneau-Papin, Marionnet, and so on. Last year he was wearing so much cologne you couldn't get near him.
 
I was unimpressed by the 2002 VV. Though IIRC Kane told me I was wrong. I have a vague recollection of opening one at the old Il Corso.
 
Hey Ian,
I opened a bottle with lunch today (sausages with white beans and cabbage) and it was very nice. I think Chris' note nails the nose but I don't get any flaccidity - medium body, bright, some grip, good intensity, not much concentration, nice complexity and a pretty long finish. I think it will resolve some more tannin with age but its pretty nice right now.
It is definitely a Loire cab. franc; Diane liked it at first - lots of cherry she said - but found the herbaceous elements growing with air and she is no fan of green - even if its the 'good' green.
Me? I'm happy to have 6 more resting in the cellar.
Best, Jim
 
I bought this on Lyle's recommendation and liked it very much on release and stashed a couple away somewhere. The only other one I've had was an '03 VV that was okay for the vintage but not much personality, kinda "red wine" ish.
 
This was the first vintage I tried, and I loved it:

2002 Jol Taluau Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Vieilles Vignes - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, $14.39 (10/16/2005)
This is one of the best Cab Francs I have had in some time. Perfectly ripe and intense, violet fruit with intense minerals, it's seriously deep. I'm going to stick the rest of these in a dark, cool place and try to keep hands off.
 
We opened the 02 VV this evening with locally raised rib steak and lima beans. Youthful red, some plum and cherry on the nose, and an adult dose of stem wood. Drinking, similar flavors with bright acidity and prominent drying tannins stem wood again. Fruit was present but faint and in the background. Was okay but would like a tetch more fruit perhaps somewhat shut down and will reemerge in a few years like a good Bx, or perhaps this is all it has. David Lillie praised the historical longevity of this wine when I purchased it.

FWIW, heres my note on the same wine from November 2005.

Deep, young purple. Aroma of plums, a whiff of resin and model glue, and wood (stem wood, not oak). A mouth-filling wallop of juicy red fruit counterpoised with sappy acidity, closed with a hearty dose of tannins. Noticeable stem wood, which seems, in my limited experience, to be characteristic of Loire cabernet franc-based wines. Here it is in proportion to the other flavors.

This delicious wine was a bit puppyish, in that its parts seemed loosely joined, like a puppys oversized paws and roly-poly skin, but in a completely charming way.
 
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