Jacky Blot: Le Clos du Château de Mosny and Triple Zéro Rosé

Le Clos du Château de Mosny

We arrived at the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups just after Joëlle and Jacky had finished lunch. As we were the first of the afternoon callers we had time to chat to Jacky about his recent acquisition of Le Clos du Château de Mosny (AC Montlouis). This is quite a complicated story.

Around 2007, while chatting to a representative of Monmousseau, the sparkling wine company based in Montrichard, Jacky expressed an interest in Le Clos Mosny should Monmousseau ever be interested in selling. The rep had told that Jacky even though they had reps in 38 of the US states they were unable to sell their Montlouis there. Instead the grapes from the Clos were going into their sparkling wine range. This made little economic sense as they could buy grapes cheaper on the open market than they could be produced at Le Clos.

Soon the boss of Monmousseau contacted Jacky and they started to negotiate. However, just as they were about to sign in the latter part of 2007, Monmousseau pulled out of the deal. The 2007 vintage was short and Monmousseau were unable to source all their grape requirements, so they decided that it was best to hold onto their vineyards as business was then good. Needless to say Jacky wasn't best pleased!

The Clos: October 2010

Then, of course, in September 2008 the financial world virtually collapsed and the situation changed. In time Monmousseau got back in touch with Jacky and negotations started again in 2009. By this time Ackerman had become involved as they were looking to buy the sparkling wine side of Monmousseau, which is based in Montrichard. Ackerman were not interested in the vineyards and one of the conditions of purchase was that Monmousseau should dispose of their vineyards before the sale went through. Naturally Jacky was now playing poker with six aces!

Monmousseau was keen that Jacky should take the 2010 harvest from Le Clos Mosny but he wasn't interested. "The crop level was far too high," he told me. Eventually agreement was reached and Jacky signed the contract on Saturday 2nd October and I believe that the Ackerman's purchase of Monmousseau then went through the following Monday. Under the sale Jacky Blot has bought the company running the vineyard, which includes the various agricultural buildings. The vineyard, which totals 20 hectares – 12 in Le Clos and 8 outside – is in fermage for 19 years. At the end of the 19 years it will become part of the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups.

I'm delighted that the Clos de Mosny, which is on the road between Montlouis and Saint-Martin-le-Beau is now in the hands of a dynamic individual producer. There may well be possibilities for developing wine tourism here. Jacky intends to make a single vineyard cuvée from the best parcels of the Clos. "I'm sure not all of the Clos has the same terroir or potential for quality," Jacky explained. "I hope we can identify four or five hectares for Le Clos Mosny. This will be plenty for a single cuvée. grapes from the less good parts of the Clos will either go into Les Dix Argents or into Triple Zéro."

By this time customers were starting to turn up, so we tasted the range of 2009 Bourgueils (see a separate post to come) and departed with some 2009 reds along with a judicious investment in the new Triple Zéro Rosé.