MCF Rare Wine
Chinon, Lovely Chinon
You know when you have that hankering for a nostalgic taste?
One that takes you back to a formative time in your life?
As I've said many times here, one of those tastes for me is a Chinon - or any Loire Cab Franc - but mainly Chinon.
One of my favorite producers (of the ones who aren't the pillars of the region I fell in love with 2o years ago) is definitely Domaine de la Marinière.
Based in Panzoult, and farmed by the Desbourdes family since 1965, Marinière produces classic Chinon, with a decidedly elegant and charmingly honest style. These aren't the fiercely structured, tight-lipped wines of those more famous producers, that you need to let age for 5 years, nor are they the straight glou wines, that sometimes lose that signature stony/herb-y qualities that make Chinon so special.
For whatever reason, though, I'd never encountered their top cuvée called l'Arbre Mort, until just the other day...
...and just the other day I knew I needed to tell you about it.
From a single plot, with a dead tree at its center (l'Arbre Mort), the fruit from these 80 year old vines are vinified and aged in three old barrels, yielding just 1500 bottles total...
...and talk about blending subtle, haunting depth with an almost impossibly graceful texture.
It's dark and flowery, with that fantastic, iron-leaning sense of minerality, almost like you associate with Sangiovese, and the pyrazine-elements here are more elusive than they are direct, further adding to the sense of refinement.
Plenty to say, in the softest of tones...
It's kinda exactly the Chinon I want, when I want a Chinon...
...to take me back to when I was a 24-year old punk who thought he knew everything.
(Unlike the 45 year old one I am now, of course...)
Oh, and SPECIAL PRICING too...
DOMAINE de la MARINIÈRE
Chinon l'Arbre Mort 2020
You may also order by replying to this message or calling 212.255.8870.
Matt Franco
MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
249 West 13th Street NYC 10011
212.255.8870
Looking for a wine you loved from a past newsletter or a favorite you can't find anywhere? Email Raphael at raphael@mcf-rarewine.com, and we'll do our best to find it for you!
