Gathering none

Mosse 2008 Anjou Rouge (Loire) – Attractive, though I think I lean more towards the whites from this property, as the reds tend to begin and end their stories in comparative simplicity. There’s something to be said for that, but it would be unnoticeable in context were the whites less compelling. Anyway, enough about the whites. This is crisp, reddish in fruit with explorations in both rust and violet directions, and direct, with a ferric swirl and a structural insistency. Near the end there’s powder and white smoke. Maybe there’s a new pope. (9/11)

Longranks

Soucherie 2009 Anjou Blanc “Cuvée Les Rangs de Long” (Loire) – Dusty chalk and ambered old lemons, burnished and then allowed to corrode, then polished without removing the corrosion. In other words, it seems more appealing than it really is, and starts out promising much, but as it lingers and attention focuses the appeal begins to diminish. It’s still fine, but it’s not promising much of a future. (7/11)

5D, 6D, 7D...

Emb. 49125D 2009 Cabernet d’Anjou (Loire) – Sweet synthetic strawberry syrup. It’s wine, but I know this primarily because the label says so. And you have to love the romance and revealed cultural history of the winery’s name. (3/11)

To serve your love

Soucherie 2009 Anjou Blanc “Cuvée Les Rangs de Long” (Loire) – Approaches in softness but rapidly firms up, gripping and enveloping with a fine chalk/acid interplay, then releasing and lingering as a blend of powdery soils. Quite long. (9/10)

Litigate against one's love

Soucherie 2008 Anjou Blanc (Loire) – There’s a disjointed soft/sharp duality to this wine for which one has to be in the mood, as each element tries to pull the wine in a different direction. The softness is chalky and powder-textured, the sharpness is extremely clean and characterless (I don’t mean that as a negative; it’s more of a null-space acidity than it is a particularly malic or other sort of tart). Nice enough, but kind of a particular wine. (9/10)

Oh, Bergerie

Guégniard “Domaine de la Bergerie” 2007 Anjou “Sous la Tonnelle” (Loire) – Ripe, sweaty, and a little lurid. Aromatically sultry, with its bones wrapped in soft velvet and a long, prehensile tail. Very flavorful, not very structured, and while the present is rich with experience, I wonder what the future holds. (1/10)

With juice

Cave des Vignerons de Saumur 2003 Cabernet d’Anjou “Réserve des Vignerons” (Loire) – Candied strawberry and red cherry. Juicy, light, and balanced. Pleasant, but not really more than that. (3/05)

Tijou for two

Tijou “Château Soucherie” 2005 Anjou (Loire) – Chalk-dusted wax and a memory of honeycomb, round and supple with a long, lingering finish. Very pleasant. (5/08)

Male Chauvigné pig

Richou 2005 Anjou “Chauvigné” (Loire) – Peppery greenness and grass lead off here, but with enough air the atmosphere turns to chalk and (dry) honey, with the dominant and binding characteristic being a strong aroma of aspirin. Loire fans will know what I mean, and this definitely seems to be a triumph of soil over cépage, though do note that it’s a pretty low-volume wine (by which I don’t mean the case production). (3/08)

4 paths diverged in a wood

Richou 2006 Anjou “Les 4 Chemins” (Loire) – Very angry and numbed when first opened. But the more air it gets, the better it tastes. Eventually, there’s wedge-shaped fruit – black and red berries that don’t quite achieve the exuberance of cherries – around which is wrapped a fine, ripe garland of thyme. The balance is excellent, and this appears to have the structure for short-term aging. (2/08)