Foire aux Vins@Amboise

This morning we went to the annual Foire aux Vins at Amboise (11th-13th April), which is held in a tunnel under the château over the Easter weekend. Many years ago I went a couple of times but then there were no spittoons, so you had spit on the earthen floor and some of the growers treated you as a Martian for wanting to spit rather than drink. Also the wines were distinctly variable – some very good, others best left for the producers' close friends to enjoy. Notable that Damien Delecheneau, one of the stars of the appellation wasn't here.

It is good to report that the Foire is now much bigger than it was with various stands outside selling food, clothes etc. The wine tasting is still in the tunnel under the château but it has been much improved with a proper floor and all the stands have spittoons even if some of them are tucked away on a shelf behind the stand. Now this is altogether a much more pleasant experience. Doubtless the standard of the wines have improved – certainly many of the labels are much more modern – but there remain big variations in quality. Inevitable I guess when you have some producers who export and have a significant area of vines, while others are much smaller and sell everything locally.

I worked my way along the tunnel tasting the reds and returned tasting Chenin Blanc sec and demi-sec. Tasting Chenin Blanc is always a good test of quality. Here Chenin Blanc has the Touraine-Amboise appellation, while Sauvignon Blanc can only be labelled Touraine. Whether the consumer distinguishes between Touraine and Touraine-Amboise or even cares is quite another matter. Unfortunately I tasted a number of old fashioned rustic Chenins not entirely clean – some with the famous wet dog character that has all too often given Chenin Blanc a bad name. Some were clean but dilute. Fortunately there were some good examples. It is perhaps not surprising that Amboise is about the furthest east in the Loire where Chenin will ripen properly.

There was also a considerable variation amongst the reds, which ranged from being rustic and mean to polished examples with some concentration. One of two had had that piercing and unpleasant green pepper character. The Cuvée François I is the popular, easy drinking, entry level wine – a blend of Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Côt. The proportion varies from year to year and from vigneron to vigneron but for most producers Gamay makes up around 50% or more. Their more serious cuvée tends to be a a blend of Cabernet Franc and Côt.

Unfortunately wine temperatures were not ideal for tasting as the ambient temperature kept the reds a fraction too cool emphasising the tannins and many of the whites were much too cold.

François Pequin, Domaine des Bessons

My picks of the Foire:

François and Brigitte Pequin, Domaine des Bessons, Limeray

New discovery for me – was particularly impressed the whites. Vineyards are grassed over.

Best red: 2005 François I – 40% Côt, 40% Cabernet Franc, 20% Gamay – being 2005 this had more weight and structure than most of the other François I shown at the Foire, which tended to be 2007s.
Best white: 2008 Les Silex Sec with 7 gms of residual sugar – precise, mineral style, length. Picked by hand.

Xavier Frissant, Mosnes
Long one of the leading, newer generation of Touraine Amboise producers
Best red: 2006 Renaissance, Touraine-Amboise – 50% Cabernet Franc, 50% Côt aged one year in 50 hl foudres. More successful at the moment than an identical blend – 2006 L'Orée des Frênes, which is aged in barrique for a year, where the wood is currently over dominant.
Best white: 2007 Délice des Frênes, demi-sec, Touraine-Amboise – lightly floral, clean and precise, delicacy. Vinified and aged in 400 litre barrels.

Lionel Truet, Domaine de la Grande Foucardière, Saint-Ouen-les-Vignes
I enjoyed and was impressed with Lionel's wines when I first tasted them years ago and I bought a few, some of which were subsequently disappointing – but that was many years ago. His wines showed well again today.
Best reds: 2007 Gamay, AC Touraine – floral and juicy; 2006 Clos du Vau, 50% Côt, 50% Cabernet Franc – good concentration of black fruits and length.
Best white: 2004 Cuvée Juliette – spends 12 months in barrique after fermentation in vat. Clean, some wood spice and fair length. Surprised this is not also fermented in barrique to get better wood integration.

Séverine Tancrez

Worth following up
Séverine and Pierre Emmanuel Tancrez, Domaine Tancrez
Although I found the Tancrez wines variable, worth following up if only because as Séverine explained their wines were declassified in 2007 because it was there was too much grass and weeds in their vineyards to qualify for appellation status. If there weren't other factors involved then this is truly preposterous! Has anyone ever been denied the appellation because they blitzed their vineyards with weedkillers? Producers adopting an organic approach should be encouraged by the wine authorites not hindered.

Séverine et sa fille

They have 15 ha of vines at Cangey – just to the east of Limeray. Their first vintage was 2004. I tasted the 2004 François I, which was not a success – rooty and fierce aromas of vegetal green peppers. Not an easy vintage for a début! In contrast 2005 Vendémiare Touraine-Amboise moelleux was not more the business – 13.5% alcohol and 122 gms of residual.

Closerie de Chanteloup

Chez Bruno

Three vignerons decided merge and work together in 2007. They have 22 ha of vines 9including three in Montlouis at Lussault) and they also own the wine bar Chez Bruno, which is just opposite the Château of Amboise. Of the three reds that I tasted, the most convincing was 2007 Les Douves – 90% Cabernet Franc and 10% Côt and vines of 50 years old. 50% of this cuvée spends six to eight months in 400 litre barrels. Unfortunately by the time I got back to this stand the producer had gone to lunch and it wasn't possible to taste their Chenin.

Also noted
Jacques et Gilles Dutertre, Domaine Dutertre, Limeray
Substantial producer of 37 ha making pleasant middle of the road wines.

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Boulangerie Emmanuel Godineau
Following the tasting we bought some quiche, paté de Paques and an apple tart from the Godineau stand in the Place Michel Debré. All were excellent. Godineau is based in Saint-Patrice, at the beginning of the Bourgueil appellation to the west of Tours. You'll find them at the monthly marché gourmand in Tours (Place de la Resistance) on the first Friday of every month from 16.00-22.00.