A crazy natural white from the Loire - Chenin on acid
How could you not like this wine? Quite easily, I suppose, if you are uncomfortable leaving familiar territory. It's a crazy wine made by a biodynamic grower from the Menu Pineau grape variety and aged in large barrels. I really like it.
Julien Courtois L'Originel Vin de Table Francois NV
This is actually from the 2006 vintage (indicated by 'L6' at the bottom of the front label. Importer Doug Wregg describes it as Chenin on acid - cheese and cider in one glass. It has a complex herby, appley, waxy nose. The palate is open, appley and wonderfully complex with a long minerally, acid finish. Weird but lovely. 93/100 (Les Caves de Pyrene - retail is around £16)
This is actually from the 2006 vintage (indicated by 'L6' at the bottom of the front label. Importer Doug Wregg describes it as Chenin on acid - cheese and cider in one glass. It has a complex herby, appley, waxy nose. The palate is open, appley and wonderfully complex with a long minerally, acid finish. Weird but lovely. 93/100 (Les Caves de Pyrene - retail is around £16)
Labels: Loire, natural wine
posted by Jamie @ 10:51 PM
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7 Comments:
Hmm, it might be the price that would put me off.
And please could people stop using the trope 'on acid'? As someone who has taken LSD several times in my life (I don't have the time anymore, but it really is fun if you're in the mood), I am willing to bet money that Doug W has never done the same. Still, the old drug analogy opens up new possibilities in wine critiquing- who could dispute that a decent Otago Pinot Noir is like a Beaune on ecstasy, or that certain Eden Valley rieslings are like Alsace Grand Cru on speed...
Hmm, it might be the price that would put me off.
And please could people stop using the trope 'on acid'? As someone who has taken LSD several times in my life (I don't have the time anymore, but it really is fun if you're in the mood), I am willing to bet money that Doug W has never done the same. Still, the old drug analogy opens up new possibilities in wine critiquing- who could dispute that a decent Otago Pinot Noir is like a Beaune on ecstasy, or that certain Eden Valley rieslings are like Alsace Grand Cru on speed...
Exactly – very lazy, unimaginative journalistic term, that...
Thanks Anonymous - what pedantic term would you use instead?
I like the term 'on acid'. People tend to use it when trying to describe something or someone who's that little bit wackier or crazier... My experience, however, is that people on acid are fairly boring to be around. Listening to someone who has spent the past hour examining the curve of the back of someone's head mumble on about its shape for another hour, hypnotised by its 'golden ratio', or somesuch drivel, isn't exactly my idea of fun.
Anyway, great wine. Drink as an accompaniment to bouillabaise or with strong cheeses.
Anonymous - not a question of being "pedantic".
It's just that using a term, then slapping "on acid" afterwards is a very hackneyed technique, and shows a real lack of imagination.
Might I say that I used the term in a tongue-in-cheek sense? The wine is mad in an utterly natural way - no need for mind-altering drugs when you have aromas and flavours like these!
BTW I would also aver that Marlborough Sauvignons taste like Sancerre on grass.
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