After a busy day helping out at Vincent Carême’s open day on Saturday, a group of us stayed on for dinner in the troglodyte tasting room. The fire had been burning in the grate all day so it was warm and cosy.
Everyone was in good spirits. Pier and Louis (Vincent and Tania’s boys) were in charge of the fire, others were spreading generous portions of rillettes from the local charcuterie in Vernou on slices of crusty bread from the boulangerie. Vincent was opening bottles. You get the picture. A happy scene of like minded people.
Nico, who helps Vincent (and is a winemaker in his own right) appeared with a rather dusty bottle. Everyone continued chatting while he opened it. The cork was fragile, breaking as he attempted to remove it. Obviously an old wine we all thought.
Eventually, cork removed, Nico poured everyone a little. It’s common practice when you get lots of winemakers together in one place. Everyone takes something interesting to taste. You open a LOT of bottles and have just a little of each. We taste blind and try to guess what they are. Everyone gets it wrong. That’s blind tasting for you. Ultimate humiliation and lots of fun (as long as you don’t mind being laughed at yourself).
Wow! What a colour. As Nico poured it into the glass it was obvious that this was a very old wine indeed. Dark, almost mahogany in colour. A teensy bit cloudy. What could it be?
Nico’s great grandparents were winemakers and this bottle came from their cellar. It was a 1921 Montlouis sur Loire. 100 years old. Incredible! In 1921 the appellation system didn’t even exist.
So what did it taste like? Well, on the nose my immediate thought was that it resembled a very old Tokaji. You know, notes of caramel and burnt orange, cloves, spice and black tea. It was a teensy bit dusty but that didn’t detract from the aromas leaping out of the glass.
On the palate. Well, striking. Those aromas continued, backed up with incredible acidity. After 100 years the wine was still mouthwatering. Alive. Amazing.
You can’t put a price on a wine like this. Of course it’s old and rare but it’s not about that. It’s about the intense pleasure of the moment. Surrounded by people who appreciate the gesture of someone sharing something so personal and precious to them.
A wonderful start to what was a memorable evening. Wild boar and deer cooked on the open fire, a gratin of garlickly potatoes, ripe cheeses, apple tart. And… many more bottles opened, poured, deliberated over, guessed at and drunk!
