MCF Rare Wine Ltd.
Jacky Blot Returns
Jacky Blot was in town the other week and he came by the shop to show me some of his latest releases. It had been a few years, but it was great to see him and to taste his wines again.
If I had to describe him, I'd call him friendly and easy-going, but also energetic and deceptively serious.
I would describe his wines the exact same way.
Some of you who've been reading this newsletter since the beginning may remember that Jacky's wines were some of the first I ever wrote about.
His Montlouis (under the Taille Aux Loups label) and Bourgueil (Domaine de la Butte) are some of the most engaging and dynamic Loire wines on the market -- as well as being some of my personal favorites!
When I think of Jacky's wines, I almost always think of the first time I tasted them -- some of the most unique, complex and refreshing takes on Cab Franc and Chenin Blanc that I'd had.
I will never forget the 2008 Montlouis Les Dix Arpents that was part of that lineup. It was like a dancing kaleidoscope of flavors on the palate. It was almost impossible to stay on top of all of them, they were flying in every direction at all times. The second you thought you had command of what you were tasting, it would veer off in a new direction.
I later took another bottle to a dinner with some of my wine biz friends at the Peking Duck House. When my one friend, a wine writer, tasted the Dix Arpents, she said 'this is amazing, I don't even know what I'm tasting, the wine is going everywhere!'
Today's offer is for the 2015s, a warm year in the Loire, that, in most cases, yielded bigger, richer wines. Jacky, as always, managed stunning precision, clarity, acidity and aromatics to complement the weightier, more textured feel of the vintage.
The Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups Montlouis Sec Clos de Mosny 2015 is fresh and incredibly focused with beautiful texture, great precision and an intense, saliva-inducing minerality on the finish. This is yet another beautiful example of dry Chenin from Taille Aux Loups.
The Bourgueil from Domaine de la Butte are also fabulous in 2015, with dense red fruits, fine savory/herbaceous complexity and dynamic freshness on the finish. They are also both quite structured and will develop nicely over the next 5-7 years.
The Haut de la Butte, from the upper portion of the La Butte slope is a lively, racy and jovial glass of Cab Franc, with great depth and structure, especially at this price point. It's a study in contrasts as the bright fruits give way to the focused core of minerals on the finish.
The Perrieres is his best Bourgueil from the very top of the Butte, where the limestone soils impart a fierce structure and focus to the wines. Deep and powerful, this is absolutely the finest red in his lineup and one of the great wines produced in the appellation. It's fantastic now, but really will shine in with some good down time.
DOMAINE de la TAILLE AUX LOUPS
Montlouis Sur Loire Clos du Mosny 2015
DOMAINE de la BUTTE
Bourgueil Le Haut de la Butte 2015
Bourgueil Perrieres 2015 
Matt Franco
MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
237 West 13th Street
New York 10011
mcf@mcf-rarewine.com
212.255.8870
www.mcf-rarewine.com
