Loire

Foreau domaine du clos naudin vouvray petillant brut 1976

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Size: 750 ml (Standard)

White

Foreau domaine du clos naudin vouvray petillant brut

Wine has been always stored in the underground wine cellar, below ground level, ensuring a steady temperature and humidity. The fill level of the wine bottles is excellent,
Region: Loire Valley
Appellation: Vouvray
Grape variety: Chenin Blanc
Colour: dessert wine
Producers and wineries: Clos Naudin

A sweet Vouvray with aromas of exotic fruits (pineapple) and peppery notes. Intense and flavoursome, the palate has pleasantly bitter aspects and a great aromatic persistence. This wine has great ageing potential.

The year 1976 was marked by a long, hot and dry summer, not just here in the Loire Valley but across much of Europe; it was a season and harvest that lived long in the memories of the viticulteurs who worked it. The result was excellent phenolic maturity in the region’s red varieties, a rare occurrence at the time (but much less rare today).
The harvest started early, the grapes fully ripened by the dry summer conditions, and of course picking early helped to capture desirable acidity. Those that held off in order to produce a later-picked sweet wine had more difficulties, as the acidities fell away in the warm conditions, and there was unexpected rain which in the warm conditions resulted in a rapid and widespread attack of botrytis.

About the producer
Two elements prevail at Clos Naudin: transmission of savoir-faire and the art of tasting. You won't be surprised that this Vouvray domain has, with each generation, lost not a bit of its soul or expertise, producing pure, taut, complex wines which traverse the years with remarkable ease.

Winedoctor
Here at Domaine du Clos Naudin, meanwhile, Philippe Foreau had yet to take up the reins, and it was his father André Foreau – Gaston Huet’s brother-in-law, by the way – who was running the domaine. Apart from turning out a panoply of super wines André is perhaps best remembered for his horticultural activities during World War II. If you have ever read the story of a Vouvray vigneron who buried all his best bottles in his vegetable garden so that they would not be pilfered by German troops, you were reading about André Foreau.
And so to the wine, the 1976 Vouvray Demi-Sec from André Foreau, as the label declares viticulteur at Clos Naudin. The cork slid out with ease in one piece (somewhat to my surprise) and the wine so liberated immediately impressed with its incredible colour, an intensely burnished, orange-gold, almost ochre hue. While richly pigmented it is also notable for its crystal-like clarity. The aromatics are just wonderful, with layer upon layer of complexities, some familiar and some less so, beginning with seams of dried orange and liquorice, nuanced with more fragrant notes of orange blossom and rose water. Little wisps of herbal tea and truffle later appear, the former a little more reminiscent of a good Coteaux du Layon than Vouvray, while the latter surely hints at a touch of botrytis here. The palate feels softly polished and very pure, and texturally it is still plush with residual sugar, with a little grip and fairly modest acidity, but a wonderful frame of powdery phenolics. It does not feel particularly driven or acid-bright, but there is still a captivating sense of energy and vigour to this, running into a very long finish. A quite brilliant demi-sec, and importantly – should you be sitting on a case or two – a wine with decades of aging potential yet. No alcohol declared on the label (different times!) and also interesting to note this was a 73 centilitre bottling. 96/100 (13/5/24)

Foreau domaine du clos naudin vouvray petillant brut

Vin har altid været opbevaret i den underjordiske vinkælder, under jordoverfladen, hvilket sikrer en konstant temperatur og fugtighed. Fyldningsgraden af vinflaskerne er fremragende,
Region: Loire-dalen
Appellation: Vouvray
Druesorter: Chenin Blanc
Farve: dessertvin
Producenter og vingårde: Clos Naudin

En sød Vouvray med aroma af eksotiske frugter (ananas) og pebret noter. Intens og smagfuld, ganen har behageligt bitre aspekter og en fantastisk aromatisk vedholdenhed. Denne vin har et stort lagringspotentiale.

Året 1976 var præget af en lang, varm og tør sommer, ikke kun her i Loire-dalen, men i store dele af Europa; det var en sæson og høst, der levede længe i erindringerne om de vindyrkere, der arbejdede den. Resultatet var fremragende phenolisk modenhed i regionens røde sorter, en sjælden forekomst på det tidspunkt (men meget mindre sjælden i dag).
Høsten startede tidligt, druerne modnede fuldt ud af de tørre sommerforhold, og selvfølgelig var plukning tidligt med til at fange den ønskelige syre. De, der holdt ud for at fremstille en senere plukket sød vin, havde sværere ved, da syrlighederne faldt væk under de varme forhold, og der kom uventet regn, som under de varme forhold resulterede i et hurtigt og udbredt angreb af botrytis.

Om producenten
To elementer hersker på Clos Naudin: transmission af savoir-faire og kunsten at smage. Du vil ikke blive overrasket over, at dette Vouvray-domæne, med hver generation, ikke har mistet en smule af sin sjæl eller ekspertise, og producerer rene, stramme, komplekse vine, som gennemløber årene med bemærkelsesværdig lethed.

Vindoktor
Her på Domaine du Clos Naudin havde Philippe Foreau i mellemtiden endnu ikke overtaget tøjlerne, og det var i øvrigt hans far André Foreau – Gaston Huets svoger – der drev domænet. Udover at lave en række supervine er André måske bedst husket for sine havebrugsaktiviteter under Anden Verdenskrig. Hvis du nogensinde har læst historien om en Vouvray-vigneron, der begravede alle sine bedste flasker i sin køkkenhave, så de ikke blev stjålet af tyske tropper, læste du om André Foreau.
Og så til vinen, Vouvray Demi-Sec fra 1976 fra André Foreau, som etiketten erklærer viticulteur på Clos Naudin. Proppen gled let ud i ét stykke (noget til min overraskelse), og den så befriede vin imponerede straks med sin utrolige farve, en intenst poleret, orange-guld, næsten okker nuance. Selvom den er rigt pigmenteret, er den også kendt for sin krystallignende klarhed. Aromaterne er bare vidunderlige, med lag på lag af kompleksitet, nogle velkendte og nogle mindre, begyndende med sømme af tørret appelsin og lakrids, nuanceret med mere duftende noter af appelsinblomst og rosenvand. Små stykker urtete og trøffel dukker senere op, førstnævnte minder lidt mere om en god Coteaux du Layon end Vouvray, mens sidstnævnte sikkert antyder et strejf af botrytis her. Ganen føles blødt poleret og meget ren, og teksturmæssigt er den stadig plys med restsukker, med et lille greb og ret beskeden syre, men en vidunderlig ramme af pudrede fenoler. Den føles ikke særlig drevet eller syreklar, men der er stadig en fængslende følelse af energi og kraft i denne, der løber ind i en meget lang finish. En ganske genial demi-sec, og vigtigst af alt – skulle du sidde på en sag eller to – en vin med årtiers lagringspotentiale endnu. Ingen alkohol angivet på etiketten (forskellige tidspunkter!), og også interessant at bemærke, at dette var en 73 centiliter aftapning. 96/100 (13/5/24)