Le Clos Baudoin -- A Vouvray to look out for.
Prince Philippe Poniatowski has led a varied and interesting life: Active in the Resistance during the second World War, he escaped from France though Spain to join the Free French Forces and was parachuted back in France near Grenoble before D-Day. Following the war he turned his abilities towards industry, and was president of a succession of major French companies. His father died in 1970, and at about the same time the French Government nationalized his company; "I didn't want to work for them, and none of my brothers was in a position to be able to take over our estate in Vouvray, so I decided to."
We are fortunate that he did; his Vouvray is one of the most traditional produced in the Loire Valley, or so I have been told (I am not an expert in French wine), and though variable from vintage to vintage, it climbs to spectacular heights. He's also charming, and hosted me when I went to visit VinExpo and presen WineAccess, the a wine site I work for, to the Italian producers there. On the last day I was sitting at his stand, resting my feet, and Irina von Holdt stopped by to bring him a bottle of her Chenin Blanc; since she's also one of South Africa's most respected journalists she started asking questions, and I quietly took notes…
"Chenin Blanc is particularly sensitive," he said, "and needs to be well handled. Generally speaking, the philosophy of the Vouvray producer is 'never say what you do to your neighbor,' so I can't tell you what they think about barrel fermentation. I'm for it because all the wines I've made in barrel are better than those I've made in vat. When the fermentation starts the heavier particles in the must settle, while the lighter ones, which carry bad tastes, rise and are expelled from the filling holes of the barrels as the must expands. It makes a dreadful mess but helps the wine."
He prefers natural yeasts, cool temperatures, and long fermentation times, roughly two and a half months. The wine doesn't go through malolactic fermentation, and is bottled about three months after the fermentation. It is very pleasant young, then goes dormant at about six months and spends three to five years closed and sleeping as the bouquet develops in the bottle. When it emerges it's lush and enticing, and can be astonishingly long-lived. The night we arrived in Bordeaux the Prince opened a bottle of 1976 Vouvray that was simply superb.
In terms of serving suggestions, he recommends that Vouvray Sec be served with fish or charcuterie, white meats with sauces, shell fish (especially oysters), lobster and soft shell crabs; the Vouvray Sec-Tender and Moëlleux will work beautifully as either an aperitif or an after-dinner drink, and will also provide a surprisingly successful complement to cheeses (considering that most people suggest red, rather than white wines with cheese), especially aged cheeses.
I also think that his wines would also go quite well with oriental foods, the Sec with more delicately flavored Chinese dishes of the Cantonese school, Vietnamese dishes, and Japanese dishes, whereas the Sec-Tender and Moëlleux, which are more powerful wines, will go with more robust Chinese dishes such as those of the Szechwan and Peking Schools. I think the Moellëux wines would also go well with Thai and Indian dishes, and if anything can stand up to Korean, this is it. Unfortunately, the Prince told me that though Oriental buyers tasted and liked his wines at VinExpo, they said that their customers prefer reds even though the tannins clash with the food, because the red color augurs good luck.
Having said all this, a brief rundown of the bewildering variety of wines he presented at VinExpo:
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle Blanc 1989 Moellëux: an interesting bouquet with a mix of lemon
and honeydew melon, laced with the Noble Rot. This is a wine that one can sniff
for hours. On the palate it's delicate and full, pleasantly sweet, nice fruit
and hints of nuttiness on the finish.
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle Blanc 1989 Vin de Tris A clean bouquet, which is slightly more
restrained than that of the 1989 Moellëux, with melony notes and fruit,
overlain by the sweetness of the Noble Rot. On the palate it's full, delicate,
and sweet, a surprisingly languid wine that reminded me of an elegant young
lady of the 1920s reclining on a couch.
- Clos Baudoin
1989 has an elegant, well balanced bouquet with honeydew melon laced with
the sweetness of the Noble Rot. On the palate it's extraordinarily well
balanced, with wonderful fruit and all-enveloping warmth; if ever there was a
seduction wine this is it, and one can easily understand why it was awarded a
medal from the judges of VinExpo.
- Clos Baudoin
Moellëux 1990 has nice notes of honeysuckle on the nose, with the
barest hints of noble rot. On the palate it is somewhat tarter and more
astringent than the above (but that's understandable), and also has less fruit.
It's also less full on the palate.
- Clos de
l'Avenir Moellëux 1990 has an elegant bouquet with honeydew melon
laced with wisteria, and is equally elegant on the palate, full, with wonderful
fruit and delightful complexities that lead to a clean persistent finish. Worth
seeking out.
- Clos Baudoin
Moellëux 1996 has a clean bouquet with tangerine laced with floral
notes and the sweetness of the Noble Rot. It's pleasant on the palate, with the
lively effervescence of youth, rich, sweet, and full of fruit, with a tart
finish. This wine has considerable potential, and it will be interesting to
taste it again once it has developed in the bottle. Alas, by then the
frizzantino of youth will have faded.
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle Blanc 1985 has a pleasant bouquet with melon and honeysuckle, and is
fresh on the palate, with a somewhat tart, clean finish.
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle Blanc 1986 has a fresher bouquet, which is more complex and
surprisingly delicate. On the palate it is very much alive, with wonderful
fullness and good fruit; the finish is clean and laced with apricots.
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle Blanc 1988 is much more charged than the 86, again with melon and
honeysuckle predominating, though there's lots to contemplate here. On the
palate the wine is full, with very nice fruit, and there's a delightful balance
between sweetness and acidity. Superb.
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle Blanc 1993 is still young, and somewhat closed on the nose, with
apricot and citrus notes. On the palate it's full and slightly acidic, but
smooth; the finish is clean and tart.
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle Blanc 1995 is also young, but I preferred it to the 93. The bouquet
is clean and elegant, with melon laced with the barest hints of citrus. On the
palate it is full, with good fruit and nice structure, and is sweet with
pleasant citrus overtones. Elegant and refined, and will again be a wine to
come back to in a few years.
- Clos Baudoin
1995 has an interesting bouquet, with the sweet complexities of the Noble
Rot laced with citrus and lemon. On the palate it's full, complex and
enchanting, a delightful balance between fruit (especially honeydew melon),
sweetness, and acidity that comes to a very clean finish. With time this will
likely be an extraordinary wine.
- Clos Baudoin
Aigle d'Or: I finished with the Prince's sparkling wine, produced in the
traditional way developed by Dom Pérignon. It has an interesting, gentle
bouquet laced with amaretti, and is, on the palate, relatively dry and quite
pleasant. The finish again has notes of amaretto to it.
So, Which would I buy? To drink now, the Clos Baudoin 1989, the Clos Baudoin 1990 Moellëux, and the Aigle Blanc 1988. To set aside for the future (for example, a wedding anniversary), The Clos Baudoin Aigle Blanc 1995, the Clos Baudoin 1995, and the Clos Baudoin Moellëux 1996.
If you would like to find out more about the wines, and also find a retailer near you who has the wines, check for Les Clos Baudoin on WineAccess.
A printer-friendly version of tese tasting notes.
To close, the last night we were with Prince Poniatowski at Arcachon he made a heavenly baked fish and very kindly gave me the recipe:
Baked Royal Dorade
"This recipe can accommodate several kinds of fish, but will work best with what is known as a bass in the US (I have never seen a true US bass -- only striped bass, and what Harrod's fish shop in London said was bass imported from the US).
"In France we call this fish Daurade or Dorade; there are four varieties: the Gray Dorade, the Pink Dorade, the Marble Dorade and the Royal Dorade, which is the best because of its firm and tasty flesh. The four kinds of Dorade are shaped alike and range in size up to 3 to 4 kg [6-9 pounds]. They are all easy to identify; the Royal Dorade has silver sides, a red spot on each cheek, and a yellow to gold swollen bump between the eyes, almost on the forehead, which with imagination looks like a crown. It is an expensive fish in France, but well worth it, almost better than very good caviar!
"Clean and scale the fish but don't wash it. This is a must for all fish however you cook them; simply wipe them with an old cloth, or better yet, tissue paper. Stuff the fish with herbs, thyme, or leaves from a laurel tree.
"Select a heat-proof dish about the same size as the fish and 5 to 8 cm.deep [2-3 inches]. Line the bottom of the dish with well-ripened tomatoes cut into halves, quarters, or eighths, depending upon their size, put the fish on them, and surround the fish with more tomatoes. Slip 4 or 5 unskinned garlic cloves between the tomatoes. You can add also olives depending on the kind of fish; I don't with the royal dorade because I want to keep the fish's taste as natural as possible.
"Depending upon the size of your fish and the depth of the dish, pour one or two glasses of a dry white wine and a half a glass or more of good olive oil over the fish. Lightly season the fish with sea salt and pepper and, depending upon its length, lay 3 to 5 slices of lemon, each on a laurel leaf, on it.
"Set the fish in an oven preheated so it is hot (235 °C, 450 °F) and reduce the heat immediately to moderate (180 °C, 350 °F). A thick fish such as a dorade should be baked 40 to 50 minutes, but watch it carefully, because an overcooked fish is wasted. To test for doneness, check it with a knife to see if the flesh is loose on the bones. Another sign that the fish is cooked is when the slices of lemon start to brown and the laurel leaves start to curl; but you must know your oven.
"Don't turn the fish over; serve it in its dish. For the first helping serve your guests, lest they make a mess of it; let them worry about the second helping. When the fish is gone, save the juices left in the dish for tomorrow's fish soup."
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
Good Food &
Drink,
Kyle Phillips
