MFWT has its third birthday today. It's been a quick three years yet somehow it also seems like I've been at it much longer than that.On the eve of my bloggiversary, I considered celebrating by opening something above and beyond my usual Wednesday night selection but, given that I was dining alone, I decided against it. In the spirit of ascetic relativism, I opted to save that "special" bottle to share with friends and loved ones and instead popped open an everyday value from, you guessed it, the Loire.
I've been meaning to write-up this wine ever since Jim Budd of Jim's Loire mentioned to me that he'd never seen or heard of it, in spite of having visited with Vincent Ricard at Domaine Ricard on multiple occasions. So, this one's for you, Jim....
Touraine Sauvignon, Domaine de la Potine (Vincent Ricard) 2008$12. 12.5% alcohol. Composite cork. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
Domaine de la Potine is an eight-hectare property situated on hillsides overlooking the Cher, not far from the village of Thésée yet separate and distinct from the main property at Domaine Ricard. This is the only wine produced from la Potine, 100% Sauvignon from 20-25 year-old vines planted in clay and limestone (argilo-calcaire) dominated soils, farmed to yields of about 55 hl/ha. Unlike at Domaine Ricard, where everything is harvested by hand, about 30% of the vines at Potine are machine harvested. To prepare for what the machines can't see, Vincent and his team pass through the portions of the property destined for machine picking about two weeks prior to harvest to remove any rotted or otherwise less than perfect fruit.
The grapes are crushed in a pneumatic press, the must racked off the skins and moved into steel tanks for a three-week fermentation at controlled, relatively cool temperatures, followed by four-to-five months of aging on the fine lees before the wine is bottled. As with all of Vincent's wines, the farming at Potine is organic with the addition of selected biodynamic principles, fermentation is conducted on the ambient yeasts and sulfur use is kept to a bare minimum.
Year in and year out, Potine is a solid value, delivering simple pleasure via direct citrus fruit and fresh-mowed flavors and crisp, refreshing acidity. For those that love their Sauvignons to burst with primary fruit or to serve as an easy-drinking aperitif, the '08 may have been at its peak during the summer and autumn months. It has now grown leaner and shed some of its sweeter-fruited flavors, bending more to a firmer mouthfeel and an herbal, slightly bitter, more table-oriented flavor profile. Last night's bottle was showing grapefruit pith and jalapeno, in particular. Though not quite as ripe or mineral as "Le Petiot," the entry-level Sauvignon from Domaine Ricard proper, at $12 a bottle, "La Potine" delivers a pretty solid expression of Touraine Sauvignon.
So, what would you have opened?
