Thinking-Drinking
  • Blog
  • Erin
  • Index
  • Articles
  • News
  • Contact

Francois Cazin 2007 (Cour-Cheverny, Loire)

12/16/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
After a 2002 Francois Cazin 'Cuvee Renaissance' recently tasted as if I had opened the bottle a bit too late, I figured I had better open this 2007 right now-- and I'm glad I did, because it was perfect and beautiful. This 2007 is unique compared to other vintages because the romorantin grapes that Cazin normally uses for his 'Cuvee Renaissance' were-- in this vintage-- diverted into this bottling, so this particular year has a higher proportion of old-vine material than usual. While researching this particular wine, I found a few other notes about this vintage from other tasters-- one writer found it to be 'mute' and not very exciting at a 2009 tasting, and another found it to be an 'acid bomb' at a 2010 dinner, but I had a completely different experience with this wine-- I found it to be quite aromatic and perfectly balanced. It seems like a timing issue-- opening it up about 7 years later must have been just the right amount of aging that this wine needed. I'm sure other vintages of Cazin Cour-Cheverny taste great after a couple years, and that's probably why everyone who got some has most likely drunk this already & was so quick to pop the cork soon after release; but to me, the extra concentrated old-vine material must have pushed this vintage to need a little more aging, so I was pretty fortunate to have forgotten about my stash for so long. In any case, the wine was beautiful-- one of those bottles that is in perfect balance and you open it at just the right time-- a wine experience that I feel lucky to have had. 


In fact, it's a feeling I usually get with romorantin-- a grape that was once popular throughout the Loire (a curious vineyard nearby in Touraine at Domaine Henry Marionnet claims to date to 1850), but after the upheaval of the phylloxera epidemic it now mostly grows in the tiny Cour-Cheverny appellation, which became an AOC recently in 1997 . Romorantin's parantage is gouais blanc and pinot-- if that sounds familiar, it's because those same parents also gave us chardonnay and aligote. In the Loire since the 1500s, romorantin needs extra special guidance to shepherd its delicate pink canes into shape and minimize the effects of wind damage. When farmed with care, and when hail spares the region, romorantin defines the truly distinct wines of Cour-Cheverny. Cazin, who works with a combination of older vines planted by his grandfather and younger vines planted by himself, is considered a benchmark producer in the region and has truly helped guide what the Cour-Cheverny AOC means to the rest of the world. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    _

    Erin

    I’m Erin, and this is my wine blog. Here, you'll find information about wines from around the world, and Virginia.  



    Top Posts

    Elizabeth Bird
    Sommelier History
    Stars & Terroir
    Dry German Wine
    1962 NYC Wine List

      Want to subscribe?

    Submit

    Archives

    March 2024
    February 2023
    December 2021
    May 2021
    June 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    January 2016
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011

    RSS Feed

    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.