Last Week’s Tasting

Many tasters gave much praise to last week’s wines, with the more experienced among them for the winemaking also. The wines all showed rounded and full, very satisfying with good weight and volume. As usual with character filled wines, different people had different preferences.
The white and rose were most purchased, probably due to season and price. People seemed to like the weight and depth of both, The Chanteaux, a rare Chinon Chenin Blanc showed the grape’s plummy almost honied quality together with good acidity and a faintly astringent dryish undertone from its chalky soil. The Rene Couly Rose shared that same chalkiness which was more than balanced by a generous rounded fruit.
I did not get a chance to make notes on the first two reds, but can tell you that the Diligence Chinon is the lightest of the wines - I would call it medium weight, an easy drinking, but better than quaffing wine. The 2005 Chinon Baronnie Madeleine was more serious, a wine for cooler weather. One taster called it a wine for drinking in “an afternoon with friends,” which indirectly conveys its warmth and richness.
The Clos l’Echo and its reserve cousin Crescendo were entirely more serious, and could hold their own with Bordeaux or Napa at the same price. The single vineyard Clos l’Echo showed like classic Cabernet but with the extra aromatics and structure that you would expect from the Cabernet Franc grape. The reserve Crescendo from the hot 2003 vintage was richer, more layered and complex, delicious for drinking now over, I would guess, the next two to three years. It was by far the favorite of the tasting. We have bottles left - there will be no more.

Couly Dutheil

White

2007 Chinon Les Chanteaux; Aroma: fleshy rounded pretty succulent ripe fruit, peach and green plum; Mouth: clean light rounded juicy center, with a fine mineral acid underneath, long finish; Very Good Plus 27.99; Mixed Case, 25.19; Case, 23.79

Rose

2008 Rene Couly Chinon Rose; Color: dark rose, purplish hue; Aroma: fresh clean, rather firm, a nice mineral acid underpinning; Mouth: clean rather fleshy dry in the mouth, a nice mineral underneath; Very Good Plus 19.99; Mixed Case, 17.99; Case, 16.99

2007 Chinon Diligence 21.99; Mixed Case, 19.79; Case, 18.69

2005 Chinon Baronnie Madeleine 29.99; Mixed Case, 26.99; Case, 25.49

2005 Clos l’Echo; Color: very dark and dense; Aroma: very rich sweet & concentrated, firm, clean & herbal; Mouth: light pretty sweet very granular in texture, firm solid acidity, bitter chocolate note, dry clean; Very Good Plus 36.99; Mixed Case, 33.29; Case, 31.44

2003 Chinon Clos l’Echo Crescendo; Color: very dark slightly browning at the edge; Aroma: light clean pretty, fresh, lean pretty clean; Mouth: lean racy very firm, nicely structured, hints of mocha, and wood fine edged, elegant; Very Good - Excellent 59.99; Mixed Case, 53.99 bottles only left

7/15 Couly-Dutheil Case Three White, one Crescendo, two each of the other wines $308