The third in a trio of excellent Loire vintages, with the botryised sweet wines being particularly impressive. The weather was challenging in the first half of the growing season with patches of frost in April and May, followed by the coldest and wettest June for 30 years. However, July and August were both hot and dry and the storms towards the end of August brought welcome respite to the heat stressed grapes. The harvest began in Muscadet at the end of August and continued through to late October, with the botrytised Chenin Blanc grapes (that are used in the production of Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume, being harvested at the end of October. Quality is high across the board, with the wines displaying marvellous intensity of fruit, buttressed by good levels of refreshing acidity. The sweet wines are amongst the finest produced in the 1990s and will continue improving for many years to come.
One of the most enjoyable and memorable tastings I have been to was the tasting of the wines from the Loire valley’s Moulin Touchais a few weeks ago. After a brief hiatus while available stocks were checked, I am now very pleased to offer you these fascinating and great value wines. Here at Berry Bros & Rudd, we have long championed the great sweet wines of the Loire. From Bonnezeaux to Vouvray and Coteaux du Layon to Quarts de Chaume, there are dozens of producers that stand out but very few that have a history that stretches as far back as that of Moulin Touchais. The ancestors of the estate were producing wine as far back as 1787, over 130 years before Gaston Huet founded perhaps the region’s most famous estate. Since 1990, the estate’s 150 hectares have been presided over by Jean-Marie Touchais, the 8th generation to run the winery, and very little has changed viticulturally in the last century.
Here the belief is that the best sweet wines are produced with traditional methods: low yields, hand harvesting and slow fermentations, aiming for approximately 70-80g/l of residual sugar in the bottle. Following the vintage, the wine is bottled quickly (the following March), having never seen a barrel and then left in the cellar for a decade before release. A labour of love not an economic enterprise. Fortunately for us the previous generations of the estate had the foresight not to sell through every year so we are in a position to offer a fantastic range of vintages from the estate.
Notes from Richard Kelley MW, one of the UK’s greatest authorities on the Loire. All are drinking now and will continue to offer pleasure for many years to come and in the case of the younger wines, decades to come! Chris Pollington, Fine Wine Account Manager
Along with 1990 and 1996, the 1997 is one of the best three vintages of the decade. Rich, open and textured nose with some botrytis elements. This
Here the belief is that the best sweet wines are produced with traditional methods: low yields, hand harvesting and slow fermentations, aiming for approximately 70-80g/l of residual sugar in the bottle. Following the vintage, the wine is bottled quickly (the following March), having never seen a barrel and then left in the cellar for a decade before release. A labour of love not an economic enterprise. Fortunately for us the previous generations of the estate had the foresight not to sell through every year so we are in a position to offer a fantastic range of vintages from the estate.
Notes from Richard Kelley MW, one of the UK’s greatest authorities on the Loire. All are drinking now and will continue to offer pleasure for many years to come and in the case of the younger wines, decades to come!
Chris Pollington, Fine Wine Account Manager
Along with 1990 and 1996, the 1997 is one of the best three vintages of the decade. Rich, open and textured nose with some botrytis elements. This