Marc Bredif Vouvray (Chenin Blanc)

After raving about the quality of vouvray last week, we decided that it was time that we cracked open one of the two bottles we had of the 1987 vintage gathering dust in the cellar for 17 years. There is always a moment of trepidation when pulling the cork on a bottle you've treasured over such a long period that it is still in good condition and with no cork taint.
Happily, the doubts were quickly dispelled, sniffing the wine indicated no odd sulphorus smells, but that combination of farmyard aromas, hints of kerosene and wet wool typical of French old world style. In the glass it was a bright but pale gold colour with a flavour which is difficult to describe. Honeyed with hints of pear and apple, sweet but crisp. It certainly lived up to expectation. Unfortunately it had to be shared with about 20 people so I didn't get much of it. There was about a half inch left in the bottle which I finished the next night and it was even better which proved the point that there was plenty of room for development yet. We'll save the other bottle to open in 2017. Hopefully I'll survive long enough to try it!

Curiously the price of each vintage has remained constant over the years and you can purchase the current vintage of 2004 for the same price as the 1987 some 17 years ago. Thirty bucks buys you a lot less these days so it has to be a bargain. You have to be in for the long haul to really get the best out of this wine though.

2004 vintage available from VinoFino Christchurch