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Domaine de Beaumont (Mathieu Cosme), Vouvray Sec, “Les Promenards”

Other, France 2016 (750mL)
$26.00
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Domaine de Beaumont (Mathieu Cosme), Vouvray Sec, “Les Promenards”

Always under-appreciated? Always over-delivering and under-priced? However you wish to frame it, it is hard to deny that Vouvray produces some of the most thought-provoking, age-worthy, and deeply terroir-driven white wines not only in France, but the world. Today we are offering a brilliant, bone-dry bottling from one of Vouvray’s brightest young stars working a single vineyard in the stellar 2016 vintage.
Mathieu Cosme may not be a name you’re familiar with—his wines were first imported here just a few years ago, and in minuscule quantities—but he’s a fifth-generation Vouvray talent on the rise. “Les Promenards” is Chenin Blanc at its most classic: farming is biodynamic, grapes are picked ripe, and the wine is raised in neutral oak. The result is a dry, powerful, and nuanced wine with a sensational price-to-quality ratio. I’m sure this is music to the ears of Loire Valley lovers, but it gets better: Before taking over his family’s estate in 2005, Mathieu worked and trained at none other than Domaine Huet, a Vouvray benchmark. So let’s put it all together: an emerging producer with top-tier experience; a wine new to the US market; a classic expression of Vouvray; and a wildly affordable price tag. One taste was all I needed before asking the importer for his remaining bottles—and after some haggling, I can proudly offer up to six bottles per person today. Grab some!
The grassy, riverside plateau in the appellation of Vouvray is dotted with sprawling vineyards and magnificent châteaux from centuries past. Cultivated since the Middle Ages, this historic appellation continues to be the source of the world’s most revered expressions of Chenin Blanc. Chenin Blanc from great terroirs like Vouvray, just like German Riesling from great sites, expresses itself in so many different ways, from sparkling to dry to hyper-sweet. Today’s is bone dry, but the fruit remains ripe and expressive, creating a refreshing wine with both energy and palate-coating richness. Such is the magic of Chenin. 

The estate-owned vines (all planted to Chenin Blanc) have been farmed by Mathieu Cosme’s family since 1930. Mathieu is a big man—an ex-rugby player—and though his wines are delicately nuanced and layered, you’ll find plenty of power, too. After his studies at Domaine Huet, he took on his family estate and implemented biodynamic practices he learned while also obtaining organic certification. He farms naturally, eschewing all “-cides” and plowing the land by horse. Soils here are tuffeau—a mixture of chalky limestone and clay—and vines average 50 years of age. Fully ripe grapes are harvested by hand and fermentation via indigenous yeasts occurs in 400-liter oak barrels. The wine ages in these vessels for 10 months before bottling. 

2016 “Les Promenards” reveals a bright straw-yellow core with platinum and neon green hues at the rim. After allowing it 15-30 minutes of air, the wine shows incredible perfume: white peach, lime zest, honeydew, apricot core, yellow apple, lemon blossoms, white flowers, crushed rock, and wet wool. The medium-bodied palate is, unforgettably, bone-dry with live-wire tension and energetic levels of acidity. This is a brilliant wine, surging forward with swells of freshness and minerality. Following our tasting, I took this back home and enjoyed it with friends over the course of three hours and I highly recommend that you show it the same patience. The citrus and stone fruits will evolve and as oxygen tempers the acidity, hidden layers unfold; it will continue surprising you until the final drop is consumed. This is a wine to enjoy now and over the next few years—just be sure to show it a bit of air! Pour into all-purpose white stems just below cellar temperature and drink it next to a fresh preparation of steelhead trout in a creamy butter sauce. Cheers!
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Country
France
Region
Other
Sub-Region
FranceVouvray
Soil
Tuffeau
Farming
Certified Organic & Biodynamic Practices
Blend
Chenin Blanc 100%
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
Large Neutral Barrels
TEMP.
55
Glassware
All Purpose White
Drinking
Now-2023
Decanting
15-30 Minutes
Pairing
Steelhead Trout w/ Shallot-Butter Sauce

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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