2009 Bourgueil les Perrieres

From 60 year old vines in a rocky, clay-rich site, and tasted from barrel, the Bretons’ 2009 Bourgueil Les Perrieres exudes sweet, musky perfume of peony, heliotrope, and narcissus, with black raspberry and cassis scents leading to a richly-fruited, polished, incipiently creamy palate that at the same time preserves levity and refreshment. Hints of black tea, walnut oil, and crushed stone add further allure. There is density and structure at the heart of this, but it’s tannins are superbly refined and sublimated. It’s so lovely now that I have to wonder about its not being destined for bottling until September, 2011, but the 2005 was certainly not handicapped by comparably long elevage. And if this makes it into bottle preserving and perhaps even enhancing its present virtues, it ought to be worth following for a decade. Catherine and Pierre Breton did not harvest until late by vintage standards, yet only a few of their 2009s finished with significantly more than 13% alcohol. Nonetheless, Pierre Breton characterizes the 2009s as “problematic to vinify,” among other reasons because despite modest levels of grape sugar, many of the wines finished malo-lactic before alcoholic fermentation. The 2008s here definitely reflect that vintage’s challenges, though they remind Breton of his 1996s, which were almost off-putting in their youthful leanness and angularity, he reports, but are drinking well today. That said, I would cellar only very watchfully any of the 2008s I tasted here. (For a note on Catherine Breton’s Vouvray, consult my parallel report on “Central Loire Chenin.”) Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524