From the Val de Loire newsletter:
Touraine: 50% off hotel rooms:
Although the INAO accepted AC Saumur le Puy Notre Dame on 14th June 2006, it took a further three years and more for the French Minister of Agriculture to find his pen to sign the décret, which was done on 14th October 2009. Apparently the reform of the agrément system held things up.
The new AC is for reds only and covers 17 communes roughly centred on Le Puy Notre Dame. These are: Brézé, Brossay, Cizay la Madelaine, Distré, Doué la Fontaine, Epieds, Le Puy Notre Dame, Les Ulmes, Le Vauldenay, Les Vergers sur Layon, Meigné, Montreuil Bellay, Berrie, Les Trois Moutiers, Pouancay, Saix and Saint Léger de Monbrillais. The new appellation stretches nearly 30 kilometres from Doué la Fontaine in the west to Les Trois Moutiers in the east.
23 producers from the 17 communes covered by the AC will be making 3000 hls of the 2009 vintage, which will bear the new appellation. The late Henri Aupy started the campaign to get the appellation in 1975. Under the rules the base yield is 50 hl/ha, which is 20% less than that permitted for straight AC Saumur, with a maximum tolerance to 56hl/ha. Weedkiller can be used in part of the vineyard but not across the whole area. The wine cannot be put on the market before 1st June following the vintage. The producers are hoping that the wine will be priced between 6-10€ a bottle. (See l'anjou agricole (22.10.09).
I don't want to make a big thing of this but it cannot surely be mere coincidence that Jim's Loire and friends spent half a morning picking Chenin Blanc (yes I know the new appellation is for red wine) at Le Puy Notre Dame on Saturday 3rd October and just eleven days later the new décret became official.
Related articles:
l'anjou agricole (22.10.09)
2 comments:
The Georges Sand is in a lovely place, but I had a rather unsuccessful lunch there this summer. Some odd combinations (rillons, spinach, poached eggs and mussels) and murdered ingredients (hugely overcooked and underseasoned zander overpowered by a vicious and unadvertised vinegary raisin dressing). But others had slightly more success, so perhaps it's worth a revisit.
Martin. Thanks. The terrace has a lovely position over the Indre. I agree the food is not the same level as the other establishments in the offer but it is very considerably cheaper.
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