Fouquet’s 2009 Vouvray Cuvee Silex is effectively what many growers refer to as “sec tendre” in character, with its discreet residual sugar supportive and subtly noticeable, and its soil origins are obvious from the name, though his single-site Girardieres also originates in flint-rich soil. A nose of fresh quince, Persian melon, and honeysuckle leads to a palate subtly silken in texture, impeccably balanced, and with a prominently wet stone mineral character along with bittersweet hints of candied citrus rind. This lacks the sense of clarity or wafting inner-mouth florality that can accrue to this cuvee at its best, but those are not virtues very compatible with the 2009 vintage. Fortunately, the finish here does not lack for sense of either citric refreshment or of mineral cling. This vintage, incidentally, perpetuates Fouquet’s limited use of screwcap closures, a big improvement on the plastic stoppers that caused his wonderful 2005 Silex to go downhill precisely when it should have entered its glory at 3-5 years of age. It was good to be able to taste an expanded range of Bernard Fouquet’s many cuvees, some if which – I am ashamed to admit – I had never tasted before, having never paid him a visit. Fouquet has followed the fashionable tendency to abolish labeling with “sec” or “demi-sec” as a taste indicator (a trend notably resisted by Fouquet’s two best-known neighbors and arguably the only ones making even more exciting wine than his, namely Foreau and Huet). As with many growers’ German Rieslings, the surest hint to the wines’ degrees of sweetness is the levels of alcohol indicated on the label. But with one exception that he does label “sec,” it’s true that from 2009 none of Fouquet’s still wines taste totally dry.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800