The Humble Gourmand

Dear friends,

This past summer I found myself at a medieval fest in the ancient Loire Valley village of Chinon. The streets were packed with locals, musicians, and red-faced teenagers; the looming caves and chateau ruins were open for a walk-through, cafés were bustling, long-haired men in old sheaths were parading wild boars on stakes headed for the rowdy feast to come that evening. I had been traveling the region, tasting with vignerons, as I do, and my wine friends thought this a proper affair to show me an evening of tourism.

Being of the most beautiful villages, Chinon is nonetheless known far more for it’s surrounding vineyard-laden hills, and mineral-driven, rich, red spice Cabernet Francs. As I’ve asserted endlessly, the Loire Valley has experienced a renaissance of small-production, low yield, organic winemaking and Chinon is an epicenter of this action – with younger idealistic vignerons working in a hands-on attentive way to highlight the gravel limestone soils and bring complexity to their wines. Of the greatest Chinon producers, Philippe Alliet sits at the top of the heap (according to La Revue de Vin de France, all of my winemaker friends, and well, me).

In New York, the other night, I went to a tasting of big-name, hundred-dollar Cabs. The wines all had portentous tones that felt cheaply manipulated. When every wine speaks edgeless density, high-alcohol, and chocolate-blueberry syrup – I’m left uninspired. When you travel through the vineyards of Chinon and Bourgeuil, you see farmers, vines, small houses, no state-of-the art marble laden winemaking facilities. The expenses that are faced by these small Loire domains are the lowering of their yields, extending the aging-time in barrel, accessing the best vineyard slopes — and making the best possible wines. There are no marketing departments here, for it is up to us consumers to do our research

Philippe Alliet wines are found on winelists even across the country in my home-base of Beaune, most notably at ‘Bissoh’ my favorite Japanese-French on the peripherique, run by Sachiko and her husband who moved to Burgundy to be near the vines – she has a dynamite cellar of Loire, Burgundy and Rhone – and every time we eat there we order the Alliet Chinon, if we are lucky enough to find one.

Being a grand vigneron, Phillippe Alliet is a humble sort. He knows Cabernet Franc inside and out, having studied the grape versus the soil and aging process for decades. I would proudly slip a bottle of his Chinon in among grand cru’s. There is so much complexity and liveliness jumping out of the glass – reminds me of the smells of Chinon itself; when one walks in the vineyards there is a redolence of wet cigar leaves and earth. The wine couples that sexy funkiness with a deep red richness, mineral, pepper - meaty, sweet and balanced – aromas to chase around as the viscosity oils up the glass with delicious nuance. A friend likened the aromas to waking up next to a perfumed lover. We are talking real wine, fresh and alive that speaks.

I chose the entry-level Chinon, because I find it to be as delightful and alive as the cuvee’s and the Vielle Vignes, and yet slightly less expensive.

Philippe Alliet Chinon 2006

$22.50 per bottle – straight from the cellar door. Three-bottle minimum. To order, leave a comment to inquire.

Shortly and sweetly,
Mary Taylor

Thoreau Wine Society

1. Clothing

   September 9 2:03 a.m. 1

   Wow! Its imposible... I'm realy shocked :/

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