We called in for a tasting with Sebastian du Petit Thouars last week. He was on fine form and exceedingly generous with his time as he was in the final throws of organising his wedding which happily took place last weekend.
We had the opportunity to taste from tank which is always interesting. Sebastian introduced us to a new cuvée that they are working with - a wine that will be called Cuvée l'Amiral and that is a press wine. Press wines are those wines that are the result of the final pressing of the juice after fermentation. On the whole they are regarded with disdain and few winemakers treat the press wines with the same respect as they do their free-run wines which are generally finer and less tannic. One or two producers take a different view (Pierre-Jacques Druet is one of them) and decide to treat their press wine as they would any other fine wine.
We tasted the future Cuvée l'Amiral - intense purple colour and ripe rich fruit on the nose are backed up by firm grippy tannins that are not austere. It's certainly not without class. Still in tank - it's by no mean a finished wine yet but I can't wait to see how it develops. I mentioned that it was a slightly brave move - both Michel and Sebastian smiled - it's a maverick wine from an estate with a twinkle in its eye.
One to watch as indeed are the wines from this estate. The 09's are tasting great and noticeably fuller and more elegant than previous vintages.
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