2020 Vouvray, Le Peu Morier, Domaine Vincent Carême, Loire
Critics reviews
A full-bodied and succulent, dry style, the 2020 Le Peu Morier has a delightful level of tension. It is a classy and elegant wine that's all about texture with a light almond meal and lanolin character. It offers excellent concentration, indicative of the small berries of this low-yielding season. It's not as racy and fresh as expected, but the wine has structure and presence.
Domaine Vincent Carême is one of the appellation's leading lights. Starting in 1999, Vincent Carême was a member of the younger generation implementing what was viewed as artisanal ideas in the early 2000s, including organics and low sulfur regimes. Carême is now part of the Vouvray furniture, and these seemingly new ideas are now integral to the appellation's ascendancy.
Both a traditional method and a very successful pét-nat are in the domaine range. When it comes to still wines, Carême's taste preference is for dry styles, and that's what you'll mostly find in his chalky cellars, as well as the resident cat.
Drink 2022 - 2035
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com (September 2022)
About this WINE
Vincent Carême
Vincent Carême is a leading light of the Vouvray appellation who set up his domaine from scratch in 1999. His is not a family business – his parents are cereal farmers – but his rise to prominence has been nothing short of meteoric. A pioneer of organic viticulture in the Loire, he teaches at the Lycée Viticole in Amboise and acts as a mentor to many younger growers in the region.
The estate makes the full range of wines: sparkling, sec, demi-sec, and moelleux, and the 24 hectares of vines used to produce his domaine wines are organically certified. Initially, as a means of raising capital but now a way of satisfying burgeoning demand for his wines, he also set up a ‘négociant’ business buying grapes and juice to make wines under the Vincent & Tania Carême label. Not satisfied with making some of the finest wines in the Loire, Vincent also makes a range of wines in the Swartland in South Africa.
Vouvray
Based just outside Tours, in the Touraine district of the Loire, the small, 2,000-hectare semi-continental Vouvray appellation covers a range of dry, through off-dry, sweet to sparkling styles. Its Chenin Blanc vineyards, perched above chalky tuffeau cliffs give the wines vibrant acidity and a stony, floral and at times waxy character.
Ideally, under perfect skies, the producers aim for moelleux sweet wines, hand-harvested by trie, often imbued with noble rot and rich with residual sugar.
A less successful season would deliver more demi-sec, sec and, if really tough, sparkling mousseaux. Vinification is principally in large, inert vessels such as stainless-steel, old oak foudres and demi-muids. Malolactic fermentation is avoided.
Chenin Blanc
Chenin Blanc is an important white grape variety planted in the Anjou-Saumur and Touraine regions of the Loire Valley and the most widely planted varietal grape in South Africa.
In the Loire it produces high quality dry wines in Savenniéres, and luscious sweet, dessert wines in Coteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume. In Vouvray and Montlouis it can be dry, medium dry, or sweet, and still or sparkling. Whether dry or sweet, the best Loire Chenin Blancs possess marvellously concentrated rich, honeyed fruit together with refreshingly vibrant acidity. It is Chenin Blanc's high acidity that enable the wines to age so well.
In South Africa Chenin Blanc is easier to grow and is prized for its versatility. It is used as a cheap blending option with Chardonnay, Colombard, and Muscat but also bottled unblended. The best producers keep their yields low and produce impressive mouthfilling wines.
Buying options
Add to wishlist
Description
Le Peu Morier is one of the top single vineyard parcels in the Domaine Vincent Carême range, made from a site with clay and flint soil. The 2020 has a discreet nose that slowly unfurls to offer up notes of lanolin, a little exotic fruit and a hint of white truffle. The palate is weighty and quite powerful: just off-dry, but with a pleasing acidity that leaves a satisfying, palate-cleansing finish.
Drink now - 2032
Adam Bruntlett, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (September 2022)
If you are looking for a dry Loire Chenin, that's perfect for drinking now. This is it. Vincent Carême is an absolute wizard with this variety, and his Le Peu Morier vineyard produces some of the region's best whites. I love the rich quince fruit and hints of wild honey. You will feel the ripeness of the vintage in the creamy texture, but there's still so much appetising acidity and a smoky minerality that indeed comes from the flint in this vineyard. This is so delicious now and will comfortably last for another five years.
Drink 2023 - 2029
Joshua Friend, Senior Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd (November 2023)
wine at a glance
Delivery and quality guarantee