During the past few days, we had two interesting wines from the Loire. A Crémant and a single-varietal Sauvignon Blanc from the vintner Raphael Midoir. Both wines are from Touraine.
The Crémant Brut Sparkling is made of 70% Chenin and 30% Chardonnay. The grapes come from 35-year-old vines which grow on limestone soil. A precise focused sparkling wine with 24 months of yeast maturation. Fresh on the palate, with lime, white flowers and a hint of quince. The finish shows an elegant chalky mineral note.
The second wine is a single-varietal 2017 Sauvignon Blanc poured from a magnum. It comes from the Touraine-Oisly appellation, which has been recently established in 2011 and covers just 40 hectares. The grapes grow on a well-exposed site of clay with flints soil that allows elegance and maturity both at once.
2017 was not an easy year in the Loire, because severe frost damaged many vineyards. This Touraine-Oisly shows all the assets that characterise good Sauvignon Blancs from the region. Fine lime, grapefruit, passion fruit with tart mineral notes that show after extended aeration. It spent until May on its fine lees, adds volume on the palate. Again, I enjoyed the mineral finish the most.
