Anges Vins 2019 – this weekend 30th November - 2nd December 2019

Anges Vins 2019: 30th November - 1st December 2019

 

Explanation:   

 'Dix-huit vignerons et vigneronnes originaires d'Anjou (département du Maine et Loire) seront présents pendant trois jours pour faire déguster et vendre leurs vins produits en agriculture biologique. L'entrée du salon est au tarif de 5€. Un verre sera offert à chaque visiteur pour goûter aux vins présentés par les vignerons :

• Domaine Mosse
• Domaine de Juchepie : Mileine et Eddy Oosterlinck
• Domaine de Bablut : Christophe Daviau 
• Jérôme Saurigny
• Les Vignes de Babass : Sébastien Dervieux
• Benoit Courault
• Didier Chaffardon
• Nadège Herbel
• Domaine des Sablonettes : Famille Ménard
• Le clos des plantes : Olivier Lejeune
• Guillaume Noire
• Toby Bainbridge
• Patrick Baudouin
• Jean Christophe Garnier
• Domaine de Mirebeau : Bruno Rochard
• Stephan PZ
• Thomas Zurbach
• Nicolas Arnou

Les Anges Vins, c'est un salon organisé depuis plus de 10 ans par une association de vignerons d'Anjou, qui se sont regroupés pour promouvoir leurs vins auprès du grand public et pour présenter leur manière de travailler, respectueuse de l'environnement et du goûteur de vin !
Car tous les vignerons présents au salon, produisent des vins issus de l'agriculture biologique depuis de nombreuses années et plus de vingt ans pour les plus anciens.

En plus du vin, il sera possible, tout au long du week-end, d'acheter des produits bios et locaux proposés par des producteurs d'Anjou.

Côté restauration

Laure et Arnaud : crêpes et galettes.

La Grande Tablée : restauration végétarienne.

Le coquillage breton d'Olivier Corbin : ostréiculteur.

Et toujours les supers sandwiches des Angesvins

Côté marché

Le Grain Perché : torréfacteur

Gaec Bellis Pérennis : fromages

Alex Fagat : poissons de Loire

Les ruchers de la terre ferme : apiculteur

Les jardins de l'amandier : tisanes

Franck Perrault : boulanger

Brasserie des Fontaines : bière.

Au salon Anges Vins, on aime bien finir la journée par l'apéro et en musique. Alors, le samedi 30 novembre, à partir de 19h, c'est le groupe RadioForro qui proposera un apéro à base de musique Brésilienne à danser et de vins d'Anjou à déguster. Une émission de bonnes ondes pour garder la bonne fréquence !

Informations pratiques :
Salon Anges Vins - Dégustation et vente de vins produits par des vignerons en bio.
Salle Jean de Pontoise - 49190 Saint Aubin de Luigné
Accès Google Maps
 
Samedi 30 novembre : de 10h à 19h - Apéro concert à partir de 19h et repas.
(Modalités de réservation à venir) 
Dimanche 1er décembre : de 10h à 19h
Lundi 2 décembre : de 10h à 13h

Entrée : 5€ - Verre offert
Parking - Restauration sur place pendant tout le salon.

Suivez toute l'actualité du salon sur www.facebook.com/lesangesvins'

8 from 36 Canadian wines

2017 Riesling, Niagara Peninsula, Henry of Pelham

Yesterday I was at a small tasting of Canadian wines in London. The event brought back memories as restaurateur and writer, Stephen Barrett was at the tasting. Stephen and I had been on a memorable Canadian press trip way back in 1996 – July I think it was, although it might have been June. We made our separate ways to Vancouver, met up there and then caught a small plane up to the Okanagan Valley. Once we climbed out of the vicinity of Vancouver we flew over completely barren land with no apparent sign of life or habitation – a wilderness. It wasn't until we approached the Okanagan Lake and Valley – some 220 miles to the east – that we saw renewed signs of civilisation.

After spending a few days in Okanagan, we headed back to Vancouver to catch a plane across Canada to Toronto. Here we visited the sole eponymously named winery on Pelee Island and a number around Niagara.  All in all it was a fascinating visit when the Canadian wine industry in its modern form was still in its relative infancy.

My choice:   
From the tasting I have picked out eight wines that most impressed me. Overall I thought that the whites – Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling – were stronger than the reds. Among the whites I found the Rieslings to be far and away the best, most interesting and complex wines. My guess is that these Rieslings will age attractively.

Rieslings
Starting with the 2017 Riesling, Niagara Peninsula from Henry of Pelham, which was one of the wineries that we visited back in 1996. This 2017 has attractive peachy aromas, crisp crystalline palate with good length that includes a touch of salinity at the end.  Trade price: £9.04 and distributed by Wine Rascals.

2016 Limestone Vineyard South Riesling, Redstone Winery, Niagara 

Redstone Winery is seeking distribution in the UK. Their 2016 Riesling certainly deserves distribution with its peachy, lemon and lime flavours, attractive texture and good length and power. Ex-cellar price: $9.00 CAD.

2016 Picone Vineyard Riesling, Charles Baker, Niagara 

The 2016 Picone has expressive, seductive floral and lime aromas, texture and good length with a touch of sweetness in the finish. Potential to age. Trade price £20.80, distributed by Bibendum.

2016 Sauvignon Blanc, Haywire Waters & Banks,
Okanagan Crush Pad Winery 

Christine Coletta, one of the people involved in the Okanagan Crush Pad Winery, organised our itinerary in British Columbia back in 1996. Their Sauvignon Blanc has grassy aromas and is richly textured, complex and with good length. Trade price £16, distributed by Graft.

Ice Cuvée Classic, Peller Estates, Niagara

This sparkling wine from the Peller Estates has an interesting twist as its dosage is ice wine, which is very much a Canadian speciality. The addition of the ice wine naturally gives this sparkling wine both some sweetness and a round texture with a touch of honey. A crowd pleaser, though I suspect that to my taste I would enjoy the first glass but quite probably find that subsequent glasses cloying.  Trade price: £21.56, distributed by Enotria.

2018 Baco Noir, Niagara, Henry of Pelham

It is always interesting to taste a grape variety that you encounter only rarely. In this instance, Baco Noir, a hybrid that is popular in the US North East and Canada but rarely encountered in France nowadays. Dark, densely coloured the 2018 has mouth-filling, slightly rustic fruit with leafy aromas and good freshness in the finish. Probably best drunk young to enjoy its dark fruit, Trade price: £9.04, distributed by Wine Rascals.

2015 Syrah, Painted Rock, Okanagan  

This powerful dark and dense Syrah from the Painted Rock winery in the Okanagan Valley was for me the best of the Canadian reds that have distribution in the UK. It has concentrated and powerful black fruits and length. Still youthful it would benefit from more time in bottle.

There were several unexciting Pinot Noirs included in the tasting that I didn't think offered value for money, especially as they would hit the shelves at well in excess of £30 and, of course, even more on a restaurant wine list.

2016 Cabernet Franc, Mission Hill Family Estate, Okanagan

There were several Cabernet Francs included in this tasting, this example from Mission Hill, a long-established – 1966 – Okanagan winery was easily the most convincing with textured black fruits along with delicacy, structure and good length. I would keep this a little while longer in bottle to soften further. I found most of the other Cabernet Francs in this tasting had their fruit crushed by harsh tannins.  Surprisingly for a long-established and well reputed wine estate Mission Hill is looking for a UK importer. The cellar price of this wine – $45 CAD – may provide a clue.

Ice Wines
There were also a number of ice wines to taste. I opted to taste four – all made using different grape varieties. It was a timely reminder that the concentrated acidity in these wines makes them these cloying than similarly rich sweet wines. I enjoyed all four that I tasted – Vidal  (Henry of Pelham) trade price £11.43 (200 mls),Wine Rascals. Cabernet Franc (Inniskillin) £50.70 trade (375 mls) Liberty. 2017 Riesling (Peller Estates) trade £33.96 (375 ml) Enotria. Finally the most interesting, complex and unlike the other three from the Okanagan Valley: a 2016 Roussanne (Rebel Pi) trade £55 (375 ml).

Wineries with distribution showing their wines: 
Bachelder, Henry of Pelham, Inniskillin, Le Vieux Pin, Norman Hardie, Okanagan Crush Pad, Painted Rock, Pelee Island Winery, Peller Estates, Quails’ Gate Winery, Stratus, and Westcott Vineyards.

Loire 2019 – a final report: Anjou and Chinon + Le Pot de Lapin (Saumur)

Part of the hamlet of Chaume showing some of the vineyards
of the Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru

Quarts de Chaume (15.10.19) –  bunch of variable ripeness

A bunch that appears to have been frazzled by the sun

Mushrooms in the Quarts de Chaume (15.10.19) reflecting
the end of the drought from 21st September 

followed by a spell of we weather

Anjou
On Tuesday 15th October we headed across to Anjou for a quick look at how the 2019 vintage had gone here. The essential message is that the quality is good as elsewhere in the Loire but quantities are severely down due to a combination of factors starting with frost on 4th April, difficult conditions during part of flowering, drought and several summer heat spikes.

We arrived in Anjou in time to have a leisurely picnic in the Quarts de Chaume. Quite a lot of the grapes here had already been picked. Given that a significant proportion of the grapes here are now vinified dry it was impossible to tell. Furthermore it may not be easy to make good Quarts de Chaume and other Anjou sweet wines this year as the drought here broke on 21st September – figures from the Met station at Beaucouze (Angers). Overall rainfall in September 2019 was 50.5 mm mostly falling in the last 9 days of the month. For October the current total is 83 mm (up to 27th October) above the average 71.8 mm. Admittedly readings in the Quarts de Chaume do not necessarily mirror those at Beaucouze. However, mushrooms in the vineyard tells its own tale.

2019 is last year that cryo-extraction is permitted in Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru. I noted that all of Domaine des Baumard's grapes had been picked. It will be interesting to see whether the strategy of Domaine des Baumard changes with cryo-extraction ruled out. Will they, perhaps, follow other domaines who are increasingly making dry Chenin here? It might also be worth keeping an eye on ebay or Gumtree for a cryoextraction facility going cheap .........

Comments from Anjou producers (15th October 2019):

Réné Papin, Château Pierre-Bise, Beaulieu-sur-Layon
"We started on 23rd September picking for our Crémant. We have now finished the dry whites. Quality is good but quantities are catastrophic due to frost on 4th and 25th April as well as the drought and the summer heat spikes. We started the reds at the end of September and finished last week. The grapes that remain are nicely mature but volume is well down. Yesterday we did a first sweep through the vines for the sweet wines – recording a potential of 21.3 degrees in Les Rouannières, which was pleasing but there will be less sweet wine this year.

Smart new Taransaud vat – Adrien's new toy!

Adrien Moreau, Domaine Belargus, Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay
"We have finished. There will be just dry whites this year no sweet wines. We picked Les Treilles (the famous steep vineyard on the north side of the Layon that overlooks the river)  in two tris in mid-September."

As well as trying some of the promising fermenting 2019s I also tried a few of the 2018s that had just been bottled – again they showed their potential with Les Gaudrets, Savennières showing particularly well. Les Gaudrets is a small parcel above the village of Savennières in the eastern part of the appellation. The 2018 Ronceray dry Chenin from Quarts de Chaume I found less expressive at present with a tight finish – just needs some time.

Emmanuel Ogereau, Domaine Ogereau, Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay
Again a similar message: "Quality – yes; quantity – no. We started on 13th September in Savennières, on the parcellaires on 16th September and finished the harvest on Friday 5th October. We haven't made any sweet wine this year and no Côte de la Houssaye (Cabernet Sauvignon) which was badly hit by frost on 6th May. Yields are low, especially for the whites – our Chenin is at 15 hl/ha. The reds are better 30/35 hl/ha, so overall we are at around 20 hl/ha."

Marie Guégniard , Domaine de la Bergerie, Champ sur Layon
"We have finished – having started on Monday 16th September and finished on 7th October. The quality is good but volume is small – 20 hl/ha. We have made any sweet wine this year instead making more dry white. For the whites the potential alcohol degrees are quite high but have good acidity – more than last year. The reds are less structured than the 2018s.

Eddy Oosterlinck, Domaine de Juchepie, Faye-d'Anjou
"We started on 22nd September with the sec with potential degrees up to 14.5% but some lower between 13-13.5%. We have started our selective picking for the sweet wines. Saturday's grapes were between 18.5%-19% and yesterday (14.10.19) was up to 20%. However, we are now waiting a week as it has rained quite a bit.  Quantities are down by 20%, so a yield of around 16 hl/ha."
As with the other producers Eddy was happy with the quality.

Chinon
The following day we dropped in on a couple of Chinon producers – Jérôme Billard (Domaine de la Noblaie) and Francis Jourdan and Philippe Pichard (Domaine Jourdan).

Jérôme Billard
"We started picking our Chenin on 23rd September finishing on 26th. Potential alcohols are between 12.75 and 13.7 with acidity varying between 5.15 and 6.45 – good acidity levels. Our yields are around 43 hl/ha. We picked grapes for our Rosé on 27th September. For our reds some of our Cabernet Franc benefitted from the start of the rains making the skins softer and less thick.  Yields for our grands terroirs are around 23-26 hl/ha. Elsewhere they are up to 45 hl/ha - 55 hl/ha.

Our yields were affected by the cold and wet conditions at the beginning of June that caused some of our fruit not to set properly. Maximum temperatures in early June were only 14˚C but from the 15th they were at least 25˚C."
The end of June saw a sharp heat spike with temperatures hitting around 40˚C.

Philippe Pichard and Francis Jourdan
Philippe: "We started picking on 30th September and finished on 9th. Our yields are correct – between 40 and 45 hl/ha. The wines are deep coloured. We were affected by the drought but our grapes weren't frazzled by the sun. The grapes were small but with a surprising amount of juice."

Francis (president of the Chinon Appellation):  "The harvest has gone well despite volume being down by 50% due to the frost (25%) and 25% because of the drought. Savigny en Véron was particularly affected by the drought. Here is the soils are very sandy and do not retain water. Overall yield vary from 20 hl/ha to 45 hl/ha."

We also dropped into Baudry-Dutour but both Christophe Baudry and Jean-Martin Dutour were absent.

Frost protection machines in the commune
of Panzoult (Appellation Chinon)
(above and below)

As elsewhere in the Loire producers in Chinon have recently invested millions in measures to combat the devastating spring frosts that have been such a feature of the last few years.

•••  

Le Pot de Lapin (Saumur)

We have long been fans of Le Pot de Lapin. If I remember rightly we first went there in 2005 soon after it opened finding the relaxed style of eating very enjoyable along with a very good wine list with Saumur and Saumur-Champigny producers having pride of place. Naturally when we hear earlier on this year that Olivier Thibault had sold up we were concerned that a favourite Loire eatery would now disappear. Fortunately this is not the case as Le Pot continues under new owners.

Following our speedy visit to part of Anjou we stayed overnight at the refurbished Cristal Hotel that is on Saumur's Quai de Loire overlooking the river and named after Antoine Cristal. Naturally we decided to try out Le Pot de Lapin. The new owners formerly ran a restaurant down in Provence but decided that the heat of the summer was too much and have sought refuge in the Loire. He rattles the pots and pans in the kitchen to great effect, while Madame runs the front of house. Happily the wine list continues to feature the local growers. We enjoyed a bottle of Dominique Joseph's 2015 Les Poyeux, Saumur-Champigny. We decided that although under Olivier the cooking had always been good, it has now moved up a notch.

We can certainly recommend Le Pot de Lapin under its new ownership. The restaurant is small, so always best to book. The refurbished and centrally located Cristal Hotel is also recommended as being comfortable and reasonably priced.

Le Pot de Lapin
49400 Saumur
Tel: 02.41.67.12.86