Tales from the Wine Trail
Tasting Notes - Château du Coing, St. Fiacre - July 2008
The history of Lexcellent Wines began some 14 years ago when Dominique and I stopped at the bar in St.Fiacre, south of Nantes, and asked about good local Muscadet. We were on our way south to D's home village of L'Aiguillon-sur-mer, where the mussels are the best anywhere and the rest of the seafood's not too shabby either -- but alas -- there's not much to say about the wine.
The barman directed us to the finest Muscadet we'd ever tasted and two years later we made our first restaurant sale of Véronique Günther-Chereau's Chateau du Coing to Rodney's Oyster House where it still provides the finest accompaniment to oysters, mussels, crab, and many other favorites from the sea!
On July 17, we retraced our steps from L'Aiguillon to St. Fiacre for our annual Fete de Muscadet at 'Le Coing', tasting through the recent bottlings with Véronique, her daughter Aurore, and maitre du chai, Rudolphe. We have the super 2006s in transit and the 2007s will be excellent (early days still) when their time comes. 2008, on the other hand will be rather small in quantity thanks to late frosts in the Nantais and generally cool and wet weather throughout the growing season.
Coing du Sevre 07 - flowers/fruits on the nose, bright, vif in the mouth, lots of candied fruits with good structure and minerality, very good length - Silver Medal in Paris
Chateau du Coing 07 - more closed on the nose, flowers and fruits, more substance, bright and mineal, citrus finish with excellent length.
Chateau de la Gravelle 07 - three weeks in bottle - more minerality behind fruits on the nose, bit softer in the mouth, very good length.
Grand Fief de la Cormarie 07 - barrel sample - a bit of earth and yeast on the nose, mineral, fruit and almonds brneath, bright finish , very, very good length.
Coing du Sevre 06 - lovely nose of white fruits and flowers, bright and round on the palate, good to very good length (in transit).
Chateau du Coing 06 - bit tighter but fruity nose, opens to opens to substantial, intense fruits and flowers on the palate, bright and delicious citrus structure, very, very good length (in transit).
Chateau de la Gravelle 06 - fabulous nose, excellent harmony between fruits and minerality, excellent length ***
Grand Fief de la Cormarie 06 - lovely open nose, citrus and dried fruits, filling mouth, very good length. At Vintages/LCBO October 11: 1st Gold Medal from the Grand Concours des Vins de Nantes 2008.
Chateau de la Gravelle L'Ancestrale 04 - barrel sample - tight nose, rich fruits in concentrated mouth, excellent structure and excellent length. Not a traditional Muscadet - puts one in mind of Chablis.
L'Ancestrale du Coing — Monnières-Saint-Fiacre 04 - the new village cru appellation!!! - barrel sample - animal notes and minerals open to a rich and concentrated palate, excellent structure and stunning length***
Chateau du Coing L'Ancestrale 02 - big nose of minerality and fruit, some age perhaps, but might travel again.
Chateau du Coing L'Ancestrale 03 - rich and lovely, still quite bright, complex pear and acidic balance, not likely to travel.
Chateau du Coing St Hubert 03 - deep yellow fruits and flowers, mindful of Alsacian Auxerrois, remarkably bright in the mounth, very balanced, very good length.
Chateau du Coing St Hubert 02 - lovely nose of vanilla and fruit, riesling-like too, mineral, smoky but bright, excellent length but won't travel.
Chateau du Coing St Hubert 02 1997 - lovely mature nose of spice and incense, carries onto the palate with cooked/dried fruits and smoke, very good length.
Aurore Chardonnay VDPays Val du Loire 07 - pretty fruity nose, warm on the palate with candied fruit, pinapple, exotics, white flowers, quite bright and complex, bright structure, excellent balance, very good length** (in transit) - NEW LABEL!!
There is a serious wine bottle shortage in Europe. After several years of consolidation, the remaining manufacturers have closed plants, creating shortages, and now they've raised prices. Virtually every winemaker we spoke to had wine waiting to be bottled. Véronique normally shows us several cuves of the Coing Classic -- this year they came directly from the cuves.
Cuve samples:
Chateau du Coing (Greniers hill) 07 - Highly mineral - quite intense, vibrant, gassy, candied fruits, very brightt citrus structure, marked terrroir, very, very good length.
#21 (Coing de Sevre) - more discrete nose,very mineral, less fruit, very bright, very, very good length.
#15 - (Chateau du Coing St Hubert) fresh floral nose, powerful mouth - from oldest vines near the chateau, very grippy and tart, very, very good length - at least another year on the lees.