Pierre & Catherine Breton are two of the hardest working people in the wine business. They have been farming their vineyards organically for years and want to make wines that correctly convey the vineyard's expression. This 2002 is a late ex-cellar release from an excellent Loire vintage, and in 2002 the Cabernet Franc vines would have been around 50 years old. The Perrieres is classic old-world wine-making at its best. I just opened a bottle of this last night, and it is a wine that impresses me again and again, with a seemingly infinite lifespan. The complexity of mineral and soil tones on the nose is sensational but shows no lack of fruit with a beautiful core of raspberries, spice, licorice, and rose pedals. The palate is elegant and balanced with a savory component like a great Bordeaux, or Rhone wine would have, finishing quite long on a mineral-red fruit note. The 2002 is in a great drinking window and is the perfect choice for those looking for a properly aged wine from an old world producer.
John Gilman 94+ points! "There were a handful of bottles of the 2002 Perrières still available at one of the best retailers in New York for Loire Valley wines, and when I was asked to do a Loire tasting for a gentleman’s fiftieth birthday soon after my return, I was ecstatic to find them in sufficient quantity for our crowd. The 2002 Perrières is a stunning bottle of wine that soars from the glass in a blaze of black raspberries, woodsmoke, tree bark, leather, a touch of game that recalls Morey St. Denis, a fine base of soil and a pungent topnote of violet. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and intensely flavored, with beautiful focus and purity, great balance, melting tannins, tangy acids, and great length and grip on the finish. This is a beautiful bottle that may not possess the same power of the top 2005s here, but will always give them a run for their money with its boundless elegance and intensity of flavor. That this glorious bottle could still be found on a retailer’s shelf five years out from the vintage is almost incomprehensible. Certainly the stealth nature of Bourgueil cannot last forever, and one would be well-served to take advantage of the opportunities now, as some day the world will wake up and wines like this are going to be much more difficult to find (Drink between 2007-2025)"
2002 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrieres
2002 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrieres
Pierre & Catherine Breton are two of the hardest working people in the wine business. They have been farming their vineyards organically for years and want to make wines that correctly convey the vineyard's expression. This 2002 is a late ex-cellar release from an excellent Loire vintage, and in 2002 the Cabernet Franc vines would have been around 50 years old. The Perrieres is classic old-world wine-making at its best. I just opened a bottle of this last night, and it is a wine that impresses me again and again, with a seemingly infinite lifespan. The complexity of mineral and soil tones on the nose is sensational but shows no lack of fruit with a beautiful core of raspberries, spice, licorice, and rose pedals. The palate is elegant and balanced with a savory component like a great Bordeaux, or Rhone wine would have, finishing quite long on a mineral-red fruit note. The 2002 is in a great drinking window and is the perfect choice for those looking for a properly aged wine from an old world producer.
John Gilman 94+ points! "There were a handful of bottles of the 2002 Perrières still available at one of the best retailers in New York for Loire Valley wines, and when I was asked to do a Loire tasting for a gentleman’s fiftieth birthday soon after my return, I was ecstatic to find them in sufficient quantity for our crowd. The 2002 Perrières is a stunning bottle of wine that soars from the glass in a blaze of black raspberries, woodsmoke, tree bark, leather, a touch of game that recalls Morey St. Denis, a fine base of soil and a pungent topnote of violet. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and intensely flavored, with beautiful focus and purity, great balance, melting tannins, tangy acids, and great length and grip on the finish. This is a beautiful bottle that may not possess the same power of the top 2005s here, but will always give them a run for their money with its boundless elegance and intensity of flavor. That this glorious bottle could still be found on a retailer’s shelf five years out from the vintage is almost incomprehensible. Certainly the stealth nature of Bourgueil cannot last forever, and one would be well-served to take advantage of the opportunities now, as some day the world will wake up and wines like this are going to be much more difficult to find (Drink between 2007-2025)"
