ROBERT PARKER'S WINE ADVOCATE Bernard Fouquet's 2008 Vouvray Cuvee Silex was not picked until October 8 (and then at over 13% natural alcohol) and it shows in a wine whose combination of ripeness, hint of botrytis, and brightness puts me in mind of 1996. Lychee, yellow cherry, Mirabelle, quince, and narcissus in the nose lead to a musky, subtly oily, chalk-inflected, honeyed, yet incisively zesty palate. This combines richness and palpably high extract with cut and invigoration in a way that only Chenin (and then only in the Central Loire) can. Its 6 grams of residual sugar perfectly set off the yellow fruits and hint of honey in this wine's long finish. This formidably-concentrated yet elegant wine is worth following for at least half a dozen years. That's assuming the screw-caps used in bottling for the U.S. cuvee since the 2007 vintage are up to that challenge. In other markets, you're out of luck, because Fouquet normally bottles this extraordinary and otherwise ageworthy cuvee with a plastic stopper, to which I attribute the loss of aromas in my bottles of 2005 after a couple of years.
The latest installment of what is surely the consistently best value in its appellation. 92 Points
-- David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate, August 1, 2009
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