France Wines

wines

(Vouvray “la Goutte d’Or”- Domaine François Pinon) I had never previously tasted the 1990 Vouvray “la Goutte d’Or” from Domaine François Pinon and this has to be one of my absolutely favorite wines from the vintage! This is not as heavily botrytized as say, the 1990 la Goutte d’Or from Domaine Foreau, but it is so deep, intensely flavored and precise that it has to be ranked at that same exalted level, despite it not being as rich and powerful. In fact, this has more of a 1989 character than a 1990 one, which is as high a praise as I can come up with for Vouvray, as 1989 is unequivocally my favorite vintage in the Touraine in the last forty years! The wine offers up a stunningly beautiful and vibrant bouquet of apricot, tangerine, tea leaves, salty soil tones, barley sugar and a topnote of orange peel. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and laser-like in its focus, with a great core, bright, zesty acids and stunning complexity and balance on the refined and endless finish. Sheer brilliance! (Drink between 2019-2070)John Gilman | 97 JG

The 2017 Pouilly Fumé Prédilection is from several terraces on Muschelkalk soils and located closer to the Loire, so they benefit from cool afternoon breezes and nights. The wine opens pure and crunchy on the nose when young, with stony aromas intermixed with notes of white fruit but gets more and more floral with bottle age. The palate is powerful, dense and complex, showing serious substance, tannins and length but also elegance and terroir expression. The finish is lush but also pure and salty and structured by very fine tannins. It’s a crystalline, refined and elegant style with a very long finish. Tasted in February 2021.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis wine takes its minerality from the chalk soil in which the vines grow. It has considerable texture as well as perfumed richness and dense white fruits accented by spice. The wine is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WEVery pure and smoky, with a peach, apricot and elderflower fragrance and a fabulously expressive mineral acid undercurrent.Decanter | 90 DEC