Home > Producer Profiles > Loire Profiles > Philippe Alliet
Philippe Alliet
My appointment with Philippe Alliet, which had been arranged by telephone,
was another 11am rendezvous. I arrived at the property at about 10:30am, having
given myself plenty of time to locate it, never having visited here before. As it turned out,
however, it was not too difficult to find, although as I have already discussed in my
discourse on François Pinon this was another
time where I had to explore far beyond the boundaries of the town that lends its name to the appellation in
order to find the domaine.
Philippe Alliet is often discussed in the same breath as Bernard Baudry, not only in that they are two of the very best viticulteurs in the appellation in question, but also as both are located in Cravant-les-Coteaux to the east of Chinon. Search for Alliet in Cravant itself, however, and you may be disappointed; he has a house here, but his cellars are on the property once owned by his uncle in the hamlet of Briançon, which lies on the D8 a few kilometres upstream of the Chinon. His property is difficult to miss; as you drive along his estate appears on the left after five or so minutes, the Alliet emblem on the side of the large grey and maroon buildings easily visible from the road.
Having arrived early I returned to Chinon and wandered around the market for 20 minutes, before driving back out to Briançon to make Alliet's acquaintance; having pulled up at the main gate I began to look around for Monsieur Alliet, first calling at the house that once belonged to his uncle. Inside I found what looked like a tasting room and two gentlemen; never having met Philippe Alliet before, I wondered whether he was one of this pair? Apparently not, I discovered on enquiring. In fact to this day I have no idea who they were, perhaps other family members. One of them directed me to the cellars which are adjacent to the house, and suggested I try looking there. The search was fruitless, and I resorted to telephoning Philippe's mobile. As it transpired he was absorbed in his work; damp weather and the menace of oidium meant he was out tending to his vines, and it was his wife that answered my call. Just ten minutes later she pulled up a little white van. Her hands bore some honest dirt, and her clothes were obviously work-wear, ripped jeans and an old t-shirt. Her charm was apparent as soon as we met, and we piled inside the cellars to talk, and to taste the Alliet wines.
Domaine Philippe Alliet: a Brief History
The Alliet family have been vignerons here since at least the time of Philippe's grandfather, but upon his death the estate was divided between two brothers, father and uncle to Philippe. That situation persisted until Philippe took control in 1985, reuniting the two portions once again. His newly consolidated vineyard was not auspicious, however, being exclusively of the lesser Chinon terroirs, a mix of sandy or gravelly soils, which tend to produce wines for only early or mid-term drinking. Philippe himself recognised this; nevertheless, even lesser soils can produce admirable wines with dedication, and the labours of Philippe and his wife Claude paid off; by the early 1990s the wines of the domaine were clearly of great quality. This was achieved largely, as always, in the vineyard, with bud reduction and aiming for low yields, typically in the order of 28 hl/ha for the Vieilles Vignes and other special cuvées, but also in the cellars where Philippe, who regularly travels to Bordeaux, the source of much of his inspiration, keeps a watching eye. He oversees 100% destemming of his fruit which is then macerated for up to five weeks, with pigeage during alcoholic fermentation, before malolactic fermentation in barrique.
After a few years came the opportunity Alliet was waiting for, when he purchased the Coteau de Noiré, a grand terroir, a south-facing slope with soils of clay and limestone, soils which are more associated with structured, ageworthy Chinons than the sandy and gravelly terroirs. The site became available when its owner died without an heir; although it was rather overgrown Alliet replanted it, and today it gives rise to his flagship cuvée aged in new oak which takes the same name as the vineyard, Coteau de Noiré. More recently, however, Alliet has added another vineyard to his portfolio, this being l’Huisserie, which is found adjacent to the Chêne Vert vineyard of Charles Joguet, close to the Vienne. Although only planted with young vines the potential here is tangible, this being another clay and limestone site. And so today the domaine totals 16 hectares in all, with a mix of gravel, clay, flint and limestone terroirs. From these spring two standard cuvées of Chinon - the domaine wines and the Vieilles Vignes - as well as the special cuvées mentioned above.
The Wines of Philippe Alliet
The tasting opened with the 2006 Vieilles Vignes cuvée, which is sourced from vines between 35 and 65 years old planted on gravelly soils. After fermentation the wine spends a year in five year-old barriques so that the wood influence is minimised. It is typically a fresh and exciting example of the appellation, often showing much typicité, and I found the 2006 to be no exception to this generalisation. Then came the latest addition to the portfolio, l'Huisserie, again in the 2006 vintage. This wine comes from a plot of land only recently acquired, so that Alliet's first vintage was the 2004. The vines were only planted in 2000, so these are not old vines, and yet this fact is not betrayed by the wine itself which has tremendous substance. The soils are clay and flint, and after fermentation the wine sees between one and two years in large 600 litre oak barrels, including new, one and two year-old casks. After this came the 2006 Coteau de Noiré which is sourced from vines planted on one of Chinon's favourable côtes in this case with a 40% incline, affording the vines full exposure to the sun. The soils are clay and limestone, and the vines have an average age of 15 years. There is a 1 hectare plot with 25 years under its belt, but the remainder was planted between 1997 and 1999. The wine will see a period in oak, 80% in new and the remaining 20% in one year-old casks. Both of these latter two wines can be excellent, and indeed any single wine in this portfolio has the potential to delight. But it is in taking all three together that we see just why Alliet has - quite rightly in my opinion - come to be regarded as one of the top domaines, if not the top domaine, in Chinon.
Having completed the tasting it was only natural that I should buy some of
Alliet's wines; in tasting them, Alliet’s professionalism shines through. In an
appellation where hard work is required to get the very best out of the vines,
he has the necessary nerve and commitment. Reading through my notes on previous
vintages, I see some common themes; freshness, purity, flavour, elegance. This
is a must-taste domaine for those interested in the red wines of the Loire. For
the 2006s, the characteristics of younger wines were more apparent; fine fruit,
composed structure, and although I was tempted to add some of each of the three
cuvées tasted to the steadily increasing pile of cases in the boot of my car, I
restricted myself to the Coteau de Noiré and l'Huisserie. This provided a
fascinating opportunity to see some of the Alliet machinery in action as Madame
Alliet lined up the bottles on a nearby piece of equipment, as pictured above. The bottles trundled
along, the capsules placed on by Claude's hand and then spun into place by the
machine. They were then labelled by hand, some by me and some by Claude; needless
to say my labels, although applied with great care and deliberation, were poorly
positioned. Those labels put in place by Claude were not only applied with much
more speed, but were also applied in a much straighter position. It
seems there are more skills to being a successful viticulteur than you
would at first imagine. (29/8/07, updated 23/9/08)
Contact details:
Address: L'Ouche Monde, 37500 Cravant-les-Coteaux
Telephone: +33 (0) 2 47 93 17 62
Fax: +33 (0) 2 47 93 17 62
Philippe Alliet - Tasting Notes
Click
to locate stockists.
Philippe Alliet Chinon Vieilles Vignes 2006: This has a melange of bright red
fruits on the nose, swirled with more dark fruit tones. It has a bright and
stony character, and on the palate is firm, almost austere, with a pile of
tannin and yet a lot of style too. There is a lot of appeal and freshness here,
but good firm structure too. Needs a little time. 17+/20 (July 2008)
Philippe Alliet Chinon l'Huisserie 2006: This has a much rounder character
than the Vieilles Vignes of the same vintage, showing a more fleshy style of
fruit and some appealing spice. The palate bears this out with its display of
fleshy fruit, full and generous substance and tautly delineated structure,
Despite the vintage, which was much less successful than 2005, this is a very
good wine with excellent potential. 17.5-18+/20 (July 2008)
Philippe Alliet Chinon Coteau Noiré 2006: This has a fabulous nose, deeply
characterful, with vibrant cassis fruit simply leaping out of the glass. There
is an unexpected and welcome richness on the palate, with finely balanced
midpalate tannins underneath a lot of character and substance. This is truly
excellent and it should do brilliantly in the cellar. 18.5-19+/20 (July 2008)
Philippe Alliet Chinon 2004: Moderately dense appearance, vibrant and yet quite dark
in colour, a deep claretty core with a very thin rim of pink. An interesting
nose, obviously a style on the fresh, lighter side of Chinon, with nuances of
charcoal and strawberries, raspberries, beetroot and smoke. A fresh, vivacious
style on the palate as expected, clean, with a very well defined frame of cherry
stone acidity around a blend of rhubarb and baked strawberry fruit. A nice red
for warmer weather, served cool. Good. 16/20 (August 2007)
Philippe Alliet Chinon Vieilles Vignes 2003: Sourced from 50 year-old vines. When poured this has
a very dark, glossy appearance, a deeply coloured dark claretty hue, extending
from the core right out to a thin, deep pink rim. The nose is really impressive,
showing a deep purity of dark berry fruit that is not a common finding in the
appellation. It is deeply characterful and yet also very pure and fresh. On the
palate, it has an old vines creaminess and again a fine freshness, gently
underpinned by a little core of ripe, polished tannins. This has a wonderful
concentration and extract, all framed in a stylish and smooth texture. Very good
indeed, with fine potential for the cellar. For label images and more see my
Wine of the Week write-up. 17+/20 (May 2007)
Philippe Alliet Chinon Coteau de Noiré 2002: This wine also has a very dark,
glossy, richly coloured core, with a deep rim too. There is some beautifully
pure, dark berry fruit on the nose, very deep and characterful, but in
possession of a certain freshness also. It is pleasingly rich and creamy on the
palate, certainly stylish, with a good extract and character, backed up by a
fine grip. This has the freshness suggested on the nose, but plenty of elegant
presence, and overall is finely balanced. Very good indeed. 17/20 (August 2007)
Home - Site index - Site updated October 07, 2008 - © The Winedoctor 2000 - 2008 - Wine Scores - RSS
