[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 2: Loire Valley]

The previous wine in this flight was a juicy and exuberant Loire Sauvignon Blanc. This second wine was the complete opposite, with super-restrained flavours hiding behind a shield of acid and maybe just a hint of texture. Everyone and I thought this was a Muscadet, which is a Loire wine made from the super-neutral Melon de Bourgogne grape. The grape is moulded into a textured and yeasty wine by processes involving storing the wine over fine lees (dead yeast cells), so all of it made sense, and almost everyone thought this was one of acceptable to good quality – lifeless but satisfactory.

So it turns out this was a 63-dollar wine from a well-reputed producer.… read more

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 2: Loire Valley]

Second sesh of Unit 3 and we get Sauv Blanc in the first of our flight again, and despite how obvious the grape can seem, I always seem to slip it up. I thought it was some really weird Muscadet at first – which is inherently neutral – but then I went back to this one after smelling the second wine and I shamefully crossed out my first guess.

Coteaux du Giennois is down there with Quincy, Reuilly, and Menetou-Salon as the forgotten hard-to-pronounce children of the Central Vineyards in the Loire, overshadowed by the better-known and much more fashionable Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Coteaux du Giennois is one of those extras you never think you’re gonna come across – so much that I didn’t bother taking notes on this area during my big Loire marathon last week – but hey: it turns out one or two of these wines exist in our market.… read more

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med- lemon, legs
Nose: clean, pronounced intensity, youthful, gooseberry, grapefruit, melon, asparagus, green beans, fresh, floral, grassy, green apple
Mouth: dry, med- body, high acid, med alcohol, med+ flavour intensity, citrus, grapefruit, asparagus, green beans, mineral, med+ finish
All in all: Very good quality: a very characterful grape identity is also well-balanced in its acid; it is also persistent on the palate and has a moderate amount of complexity. Drink now; not suitable for ageing.
Identity Guess: Mid-priced (Chardonnay/Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Blend) from New Zealand; 2 years old.
Is really: High-priced Sancerre from The Loire Valley, France; 3 years old.

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 10]

Bam. Even though this was a semi-blind flight, even someone new to wine could instantly smell the grassiness that was a Sauvignon Blanc.… read more