Francois Chidaine, Montlouis-sur-Loire, Tuffeaux

I love it. This is perfect right now. Typical sweetness and acidity in very good balance.

2005 vintage

A huge surprise ! Cork worrisome . Nose delightful good fruit. Soft round smooth mouthfeel and nice finish . With fruit spread and feta and chèvre . Great combination . Happy it survived in cellar this long

2005 vintage

. Immediate Chenin, but guesses were Huet and Foreau. Mark gets Chidaine. General approval. Citrus, mango, candied ginger, with wool and wax in generous doses. Moderately sweet, vivid acids, fun. B+/A-

2005 vintage

Yellow baked apples, baking spice honey and mango on the nose, starts off a little dark gold but within a few minutes lightens up and becomes more focused. A real nice tension between the fatness of the ripe grapes and the superb acidity on the back end. If you are fan of aged Loire Chenin this will rock your world as it maintains such an easy lush presence yet it has the underlying structure that makes you take notice. There …

2005 vintage

The deep, sunny yellow of sunflowers. Shy but complex nose of honey, apricot, mango and several floral and animal notes. Demi-sec palate. Rich and sensual. More passionfruit than apricot here. Plus mango and pineapple. Awesome balance. This is marvelous juice.

2005 vintage

Off-Dry. Again, good but not exciting. A 2002 opened first was oxidized, but this was still quite fresh and a reasonably inspired match for pork and green beans in a moderately spicy masala sauce.

2005 vintage

Note: I use a scale on which 85 represents a very good wine. I do not have a lot of experience with Loire wines of this type, so I cannot put it into context. As noted by others, the wine is "off-dry" -- not truly sweet, but not dry. Not quite as rich ion the mouth as I thought it might be, but this was not important. Next time, I will try it with some pate or something along those …

2005 vintage

This has gone horribly wrong, unfortunately. I’ve never quite tasted this particular bacterial taint.

2001 vintage

Off-dry. Good, but not exciting. Hasn’t evolved much.

2005 vintage

Chatham. Again, underwhelmed though nothing wrong with it and decent match for steamed lobster.

2005 vintage

A tad denser and richer than the bottle I had in november. Tropical scents, candied citrus, ginger, melon and mango. But also a very attractive sweet vegetal note on the palate: parsnip, grilled butternut squash, honey drizzled carrotcake, something like that. Not twoo sweet, truly demi sec. Great with a mango/chicken salad!

2005 vintage

This is great sweet aged Chenin from the Loire. More bottles to come and September promises Foie Gros with plum freezer jam. This is the real deal. So different from the last bottle tasted 5 years ago.

2005 vintage

Continues to slim down and gain focus. Floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, and favoring mineral and spice over fruit, this is just nervy enough and absolutely delicious. No signs of early ox, just another out of this world Chidaine experience. Desert island producer.

2005 vintage

Very similar to my last bottle, second half stored with preserver even better the next day

2005 vintage

Cool, low-key minerality, like mossy rocks, sea breeze and November Rain. Lovely balance in charming sweetness and acidic backbone. Voluptuous mid-palate, but finishes nearly dry. Lovely demi-sec.

2005 vintage

Had with pasta tonite. Not a great pairing, but I was unfamiliar with this wine or producer until now. I wasn't prepared for the level of sweetness of this wine. I'll know better next time. Very pretty nose of creme brûlée, pears and baked apple. Plenty of sweet fruit here, as well as honey, orange peel & spice. A pretty full-bodied wine, with fair acidity level. Very round in the mouth, quite viscous and concentrated. Just the right level of …

2005 vintage

Very nice if not spectacular in any way. Could use more acidity for my taste, but the yellow fruits and honey provide a richness and enough acidity to go well with a picnic of cheeses and pates and Jamon Iberico.

2005 vintage

At age 10 this is entering a nice point of softness and integration. The aromatics are a delicate combo of baked apple with a little pear and honey notes combined with hints of baking spice and the wine is soft yet mouth coating with a delicate layering of flavors which go from the fruit to a nice salinity and a fairly long finish. There still good freshness here and while the acidity is not pronounced it is definitively in the …

2005 vintage

Same as before Good but ultimately too fat for my taste

2005 vintage

While this is not the most vibrant wine I have ever drank, it is well balanced. There's plenty of citrus fruit and melon, along with just a touch of that Chenin Blanc wet wool. Very nice pairing with my spicy seared scallops, as the moderate sweetness balanced the spice of the food.

2005 vintage

Chidaine’s ’05 Les Tuffeaux was drinking on all cylinders with Thanksgiving dinner. Originally, I was going to start out the family meal with a nice chardonnay. But, my niece asked for something sweet, but not too sweet. So, I pulled this out of the cellar. Surprisingly, a quite good pairing with the turkey and everything else that came with it, as well as the pumpkin pie. I also opened a 1989 red Beaucastel, but although it was quite excellent by …

2005 vintage

Solid but not distinguished. More acid zip would have been nice.

2005 vintage

Still has a light golden color. Aromas and flavors of honey, baked apple, pear, some orange liqueur, apricot, touches of crème brulee, and minerals. Big, rich and fairly concentrated. Creamy and succulent in the mouth. Nice acid and balance. Again, a long soft and honey-like finish. This chenin blanc has lots of time left. My problem is keeping my hands off of it for a while. I consumed the last bottle almost a year ago, so I should wait longer …

2005 vintage

Suspect that some do not understand these wines from Chidaine. This wine was classic. Quince, white current, pear and white nectarine. Hmmmm....very white fruit. Hint of white pepper! Some sweetness with backbone to back it up. Bounces around the palate and makes one reach for another sip. Brings summer fruits back from memory. This one should go for another 5-10 years.

2005 vintage

Youthful. Some sweetness, but paired with decent acidity = juicy mouthfeel.

2005 vintage

sweeter than I remember but still very nice and almost enough acid to pull it off with more normal fare...getting a bit flabby

2005 vintage

A nice wine, a little short on complexity, but a nice off dry weight for summer dessert drinking. Decent cut.

2003 vintage

Orange and pear on the nose. Tastes of honey, pirneapple, pear with a hint of appple. Very concentrated with full extraction. Good acidity despite the hot year. A bit heavy on the complex finish. Not a food wine. Interesting nonetheless.

2003 vintage

A hair more mature than I would've liked to have seen.

2001 vintage

Deep limpid yellow. Not reductive in the slightest; in fact, maybe a tad flat. Honeycomb aromas, along with some fusty notes. Little in the way of minerality. Mouth accordingly quite bright, with mouthwatering acidity. Should be pretty nice by the time it gets down to 45F. Not as expansive as most Tuffeaux are, and whatever wood Franky used this year fully incorporated. Don't know whether to recommend enjoying young or whether to hold another ten years. Guess since I only …

2001 vintage

Nice riesling alternative; more depth than a typical riesling.

2003 vintage

Honey and apricot on the nose and the initial taste. Midpalate was viscous and sweet. Finish was slightly bitter, celery.

2003 vintage

July Wine Tasting at Cardinal Liquors (Cardinal Liquors, Crystal Lake, IL (NW Chicago Suburbs)) : An excellent wine with all of the characteristics of an outstanding Vouray (Mountlouis-Sur-Loire is directly across the river from Vouray). Notes of honey, honeysuckle blossoms, minerals, almonds all leap from the glass. A nice amount of acidity balances the flavor and creates a beautifully executed wine with tremendous depth and complexity.

2003 vintage

Very fruity with honey overtones. Smooth and creamy.

2003 vintage

Had at wine dinner. Excellent and elegant white. Layers of flavors and a nice, medium long pleasant finish.

2003 vintage

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Francois Chidaine, Montlouis-sur-Loire, Tuffeaux

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