Domaine les Pins Bourgueil Cuvée les Rochettes

Very Good++ No formal notes, hurriedly... I think 2018 was a warmer vintage and if so this carries it well. Ripe CF fruit with some herbal tones, violet. Nice fruit but maintains its place and good with food. 14.5% abv - I'd have guessed closer to 13.5% Importer: DJK Imports Empty bottle weight: 583g

I was excited about this wine. Sadly it didn’t live up to my full expectations. I love Loire Cab Franc but this was just not quite harmonious. On the nose: stewed fruits, sage, wet wood, cedar, game meat and licorice. On the palate the stewed fruits are somewhat cloying. Bitter, slightly acrid finish of burnt herbs. Some leather. The finish is unpleasant with medium tanins but a lingering sweetness that I don’t love. Maybe I just held it too long …

Herbal, acidic. Dried herbs, rosemary, purple fruit. Old school style Loire Cab Franc. Good.

Nose: blackberries, earthy, faint dung. Palate: earthy blackberries that eventually evolve into ripe cranberries with time, nice slate minerality; velvetty bordering on chalky tannins. I definitely prefer the more robust and tannic cab francs from the Loire and this wine definitely leans that way.

From magnum in a casual outdoor setting. What I love about Loire CF when its fully but just ripe. No notes, but like the CdR that was opened, it was an eye opener for a couple of U.S. domestic wine drinkers. Fun to share, my only regret is that this wine may have deserved closer attention. Another silly magnum value at $22 USD.

Medium purple/ruby color. Earthy aromas dominate, notably forest floor, and tobacco. Hint of violet. Persistence is required to locate the dried strawberry and blackcurrant fruit aromas. Fruit is far more present on the palate, with strawberry and black currant showing brightly amid an otherwise dusty, dirt-driven (in a good way) profile. Satin texture, medium bodied and a backbone of chalky tannins.

Same tasting notes as before.

Simple but delicious. Same tasting note as before.

Simple but oh so delicious. Flowers, herbs, touch of greenness (enjoyable to me), damp earth, crunchy fruit. Good acidity. The kind of wine you’d get by the glass in a wonderfully rustic, unpretentious, non-touristy restaurant in the Loire Valley. Superb QPR.

Same tasting note as that for previous bottle.

Simple but oh so delicious. Flowers, herbs, touch of greenness (enjoyable to me), damp earth, crunchy fruit. Good acidity. The kind of wine you’d get by the glass in a wonderfully rustic, unpretentious, non-touristy restaurant in the Loire Valley. Superb QPR. I could drink this over and over, either by itself (like today) or, even better, with food.