Château du Petit Thouars, Saint Germain-sur-Vienne
Finally there is good news for the producers growing Cabernet Franc and Chenin in western Touraine, so cruelly orphaned by their heartless parents, AC Touraine, in their insane pursuit of grape purity: they have been adopted by AC Chinon. The producers of Chinon turned good Samaritan on the 15th March when they voted to extend the appellation to the west and accept producers in communes like Lerne, Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne and Seuilly.
The vote at 60% for and 40% against was a comfortable majority if not an overwhelming endorsement. Perhaps there was a feeling that Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne had its chance be part of the Chinon AC when it was created in 1937 but the Mayor at the time turned it down fearing that being part of AC Chinon would push up taxes. The vineyards joining Chinon, some 70 years late, have the same limestone and clay soils as those in communes like Ligre on the south side of the Vienne.
The next move is down to the INAO who will have to delimit the area that can be admitted and revise the appellation's cahier de charge (criteria). This will take a while but producers like Châteaux du Petit Thouars and Trochoire will be part of the Chinon appellation by 2014. Because they grow the traditional varieties – Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc – in the Pays de Rabelais, they were to be excluded from the 'reformed' Touraine appellation under its ludicrous restrictive and regimented rules. Does a surfeit of Sauvignon Blanc drive you insane!?
Château du Petit Thouars, Saint Germain-sur-Vienne
Many Thanks Jim, we're thrilled to join Chinon!
ReplyDeleteWill this "save" Joguet's white, Clos de la Plante Martin? I suspect the vineyard is outside the revised Chinon AC. I rather like it and in fact had the 2006 for lunch - starting to lose its fruit now but has been very pleasurable over the last few years. And the moelleux is pretty good too.
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