jamie goode's wine blog: A soul-restoring Montlouis

Sunday, October 11, 2009

A soul-restoring Montlouis

There is always hope for the world of wine when, amongst the sea of spoofulation and depressing commercial correctness, you get ambitious, talented people investing their time and money in worthy but unfashionable regions such as Montlouis. Stephan Cossais is one such winegrower, and this wine of his isn't perfect, but it is beautiful. It's an amazingly rich, vibrant, life-full expression of Chenin Blanc. You can read more about Cossais at Jim Budd's Loire Blog.

Stéphane Cossais ‘Le Volagré 2006 Montlouis-sur-Loire, Loire, France
13.5% alcohol. Beautifully packaged, and with an amazing good-quality long cork. Deep yellow/gold colour. Rich, mineral, toasty nose with notes of herbs and apples, and a lemony, subtly cidery lift on the nose. Bold, intense palate shows a hint of vanilla and toast (this cuvee, unusually, had 20% new oak) with powerful citrus, herb and mineral notes. A distinctive dry Chenin Blanc with power, richness and intensity. This is a producer to watch. 91/100 (retail c. £19, UK agent Les Caves de Pyrene)

[Note added later: sadly, as Jim points out in the comments below, Stephane Cossias died in July at the awfully young age of 42.]

Labels: Chenin Blanc, Loire, montlouis

3 Comments:

At 8:34 PM, Jim Budd said...: Jamie. Many thanks for the link and indeed hyper-critical Stéphane made wonderful wines. Unfortunately there is a very sad postscript to this.

Stéphane died suddenly at the end of July 2009 at the ridiculously young age of 42.

Details here: http://jimsloire.blogspot.com/2009/07/stephane-cossais-has-died.html

A tragic loss.
At 9:07 PM, Jim Budd said...: Jamie

'in worthy but unfashionable regions such as Montlouis'

It is heartening that Montlouis is currently one of the Loire's most interesting and dynamic appellations. Stéphane was just one of a number of outsiders attracted to this AC.
At 3:15 PM, Brisbane hotels said...: Multiple flavors, a tiny bit on the sweet side but with some depth and body often not found in other wines you might classify as a Chenin Blanc. A great find that we'll purchase again for a special occasion.