2011 Marc Plouzeau Touraine Ante Phylloxera Clos de Maulevrier- France, Loire Valley, Touraine (3/1/2019)
Forced to consume and encouraged to enjoy this wine, at pressure from fellow Wine Berserker Robert Alfert, who purchased it FOR me during a fundraiser, I enter this with conflicting biases. Fortunately, I love Cab Franc, and I’m not scared at all of French Cab Franc - quite the opposite, typically.
The nose gives up strong green notes - green pepper, but also just a sort of generic ‘garden vegetable salad’ sort of green note, as there’s a bit of smoke and earth in there as well (my wife would hate this wine). It’s a rather powerful nose, leading right into a complete change of pace on the palate, which is absolutely exploding in dark berries. Not sweet fruited, however, and this is exacerbated by the very strong acidic backbone. Most of the oak exposure seems to have been integrated on the palate, and the wine still grips with chalky tannic pop. It’s a complex wine, and certainly differing in qualities from nose to palate to finish. Long finish dominated by the dark and red berries, really sticks to your palate for a while but not at all intrusively.
Interesting, delicious, and screaming ‘traditional’ French wine to me.
Many thanks for the ‘gift’, counselor - good call.
Pretty soon you will being drinking Ante-Rolland wines, in addition to Ante-Phylloxerra.
Impeccable timing. I just finished up the remainder of a 1986 La Lagune from last night, realized my thirst still ain’t quenched, and popped a young but delicious 2015 Loire Cab Franc. I love the classic vintages, but Loire producers can rock ripe vintages quite well, too. Cant say that about many other regions.
Glad you enjoyed it. A really evocative note, by the way. Thanks.
I put one in the queue after sending Todder one, then moved it forward after reading his wonderful note. And then I forgot about it. Big mistake.
This wine is glorious.
Powerful nose of smoldering tobacco leaf with a hint of under-ripeness. Ash, dried red fruits and warm forrest floor. Medium body palate with a broad range of crunchy red fruits to wild darks, from cranberry and apple peal to wild, spicy raspberry. Has a grainy minerality to it, but all so well integrated. While not a particularly heralded vintage for Loire Cab Franc, I like it very much, with its cooler profile and high acid. Plouzeau, Rougeard and Baudry Croix Boissee are outstanding in this vintage. And they don’t need 10+ years like more classic, structured vintages.
Hey matt, haven’t seen you in a long while! There is green - my reference to the under-ripeness in the tobacco leaf - but I think it is integrating very well here, while 13 remains a lean green machine! I think you recommended this wine to me in the 2009 vintage, and I have bought 6 every year since from our buddy in DC.