Clos Rougeard's rare (and pricey) Chenin Blanc is one of the most intriguing white wines of the Loire Valley. This Pradeaux rose is only a year old, but already offers a glimpse of what time in the cellar will do. Been so busy lately with work that I just haven't had time to write here. More, please. Briny. Lovely.

John Gilman, author of the newsletter The View from the Cellar , joins us again for a Q&A. But being younger than the gentleman I just mentioned, I do not have the same reserves of old vintages of white Burgundy or white Bordeaux in my cellar, and so premox has really hit my collection hard. Are these wines forcibly better?

Cour-Cheverny is high-acid wine, even by Loire Valley acid freak standards. We blind-tasted the wines and individually picked our two favorites for current drinking, along with a wine that we would want for the cellar. Keith declared that he would happily buy his favorite for his own cellar. Alice loved this wine.

Savennières wines are world-class whites from Chenin Blanc, wines with enormous cellaring potential, but they are wines that can be austere in their youth, like a barren moonscape - nothing but rocks and sand. Both the 2002 and the 2004 Bel Ouvrage seem like they will develop beautifully with cellar time.

want to give her great wines, wines that will improve with 19 years of cellaring. Many people consider these to be the finest Chenin Blancs from the Loire Valley and in the world. Tags: Vouvray Huet Wine of the Week Loire Valley And happily, I can afford to buy and drink them. We loved this wine.

We’re back with Part Deux of our interview with John Gilman, author of the newsletter A View from the Cellar ( part one is here ). How do you make a screwcap-sealed wine taste and smell like rotting cabbage or burning rubber- put it in the cellar for a few years. The Loire. German Riesling. just don’t get it. Rhône today.

Recently it was our turn to host wine group and I chose Loire Chenin Blancs as the theme. This night for me was further proof for me that the Loire Valley offers truly profound white wines at reasonable prices. Other than H uët's, I have yet to be truly wowed by any Loire sparkling wine, I must say.

went for the Bubbles, the Beaujolais, the Cab Franc, and the Chenin Blanc. In honor of their 20th anniversary, the Dressner folk dug into the cellar and set out a load of wines from their inaugural vintage. And as far as I know, 1988 wasn't a particularly great vintage - just a normal working class year in the Loire Valley.

In a way, it's silly of me to have so little understanding about the development Loire Valley wine over the long term. have a lot of the young stuff in the cellar - shouldn't I know more about what happens to this wine in 20 years? But the Chinon cork was quite short, unusual for a wine meant for extended cellaring.

Olivier Cousin makes natural wines, working his family's property in the central part of the Loire Valley near the area defined as Coteaux du Layon. Cousin cultivates Gamay, Grolleau, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, and Chenin Blanc - there is something for everyone in this portfolio.

began in a French table area and tried some Sancerres (made from Sauvignon Blanc), some white Burgundys (made from Chardonnay) and some white blends. Moving to the Rhone valley in France I tried some wines from Eric Texier. An under appreciated grape here in the Western world is Chenin Blanc. don't know. great wine.

I've been checking in on my 2005 Loire wines lately, just to see how things are going. Loire-lovers have been touting 2005 as a great vintage, as good as 05 in Burgundy or Bordeaux. And if you're into cellaring wine, these will improve for at least a decade, probably longer. Even so, the quality is so obvious.

We went to the Loire Valley and our plan was to see the various villages, and Tours, of course, but also to feast on the wonderful food and wines of the region. The white is called Breze and is 100% Chenin Blanc. have never tasted this wine - it retails at over $70 and I just haven't gone there yet on a Chenin.

love French wine, but the good doctor ruled out what he called "the big six grapes" from France, namely Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. Chenin Blanc is, in my opinion, the superstar white grape of the Loire Valley. And Chenin Blanc tends to age well, so let's see.

to lay down in the cellar for a while. An Oregon Pinot from cult producer Peter Rosback, but not from the Willamette Valley. 2005 Belle Pente Willamette Valley Pinot Gris , $17. Loire Valley 2004 Cazin Cour-Cheverny , $12. 1999 Simi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley , $45. Buy carefully in 2001.

So for all of you who want to poke your toe in the waters of the Loire, here is my case. Not a case from all over the world like Lyle's and Joy's, but Brooklynguy's case of Loire wine, a case that I believe will make anyone who likes wine a Loire lover. 2005 Chidaine Montlouis sur Loire Clos Habert , $26. And $17 - c'mon.

But I also noticed from reading Jack and Joanne's biodynamic wine producers guide , that many of the wines that I love and cellar are right there on the list, particularly in the Loire Valley: Closel, Breton, St. Maybe biodynamic wines ARE better, or maybe I just love wines from the Loire Valley. cents. Next time.

Maybe it's because the Loire Valley doesn't excite people the way Bordeaux or the Napa Valley excite people. Maybe it's because this wine is obscure even within the Loire Valley. Cheverny wines are a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, with the Sauvignon Blanc the primary grape at about 70%.

The 2005 vintage is supposed to be so good in many French wine regions, and the Loire Valley is one of them. Chamber Street, by the way, has a truly fantastic selection of Loire Valley wines, both the whites and the reds. We checked out the dark and dank cellar where hundreds.thousands (?)

Savennieres is one of the great Loire Valley appellations, producing amazing white wines made from the chenin blanc grape. Many wines made in Savennieres can improve for decades with cellaring. The wines are usually dry with pronounced minerality, and when well made, offer beautiful stone fruit and honey flavors.