2017 Loire – Quarts de Chaume: Grand Cru status comes with responsibilities

 Track to Les Martinières

After visiting Domaines de la Bergerie and Ogereau last Tuesday we had a very quick look at what fruit was left to pick in the Quarts de Chaume. We took part of the the track up to Les Martinières. 

With no claims that what I saw was representative of the Grand Cru appellation this year – we only looked at a small part and this is well into the harvest – but the fruit management looked worrying variable. On some vines there were clumps of  bunches with individual vines looking to carry a substantial weight of grapes. Under the 2011 regulations that set up Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru the maximum weight of grapes on each individual vine is set at 1.7 kilos – for the remaining Vignes Larges (more widely spaced vines) 2.5 kilos are allowed. 

I have been a strong supporter of Quarts de Chaume becoming a Grand Cru, which it did in 2011. However, the Grand Cru status surely imposes certain responsibilities and accepting a commitment to very high quality on all of the producers. There are 20 producers with just 29 hectares in the Quarts de Chaume. Given that two producers – Baumard and Suronde – have some 12 of these 29 hectares – that means that the average for the remaining 18 producers is less than a hectare. Allied this with the status of grand cru and price that these wines can command, there should be no excuse for less than impeccable viticulture in the Quarts de Chaume. Otherwise the consumer is being taken for a ride, which is exactly the reason I have been critical of Baumard's methods.

Grand cru viticulture?  

You cannot be serious!    

I should make it clear that none of the vines in the photos below belong to Domaine des Baumard. On this occasion we didn't have time to visit any of their parcels.

Mix of botrytis and golden grapes 

– typical of Chenin's variable ripening 

– on this well spaced out bunch

Similarly above and below

Some spread out bunches but two clumps 

– just 1.7 kilos of grapes on this vine? 

Surely the bunches on these vines should have been thinned 

Is this viticulture of grand cru standard? 

(above and two below) 

Grand Cru viticulture?

 

2017 Loire – a generally promising vintage – my impression so far

After a week on the road we are now back in our base in the Cher Valley. Time to relax, reflect on what we have seen, heard and tasted as well as get out on the bike to work off any additional pounds gained. 

Since we arrived in the Loire we have been to the following appellations looking at vineyards, talking to producers and often tasting the recently pressed juice or juice that has recently started fermenting. ACs: Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Fiefs Vendéens, Touraine, Menetou-Salon, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Saumur-Champigny and Saumur. We have not yet had time to visit Anjou nor indeed any of the vineyards of the Upper Loire.

The vintage is a  truly magical time of the year! I am always grateful for the time that so many producers give me at this very busy period. It's a great privilege!

My overall impression – though I agree it is still early days –   is that 2017 is a good to very promising vintage. Tasting juice from Muscadet to Pouilly I have found that they all have weight of fruit, are very clean, precise and well balanced. 

The major concern, of course is the loss of crop due to the late April frosts. However, the effects are very variable with, of all the places, we have visited  Muscadet being the worst hit but this is very variable with some producers barely affected to those who have lost virtually all of their 2017 crop. Picking will now be over in Muscadet and a substantial proportion of the crop in Sancerre will have been picked by the middle of next. 

In contrast most of the Cabernet Franc in Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Bourgueil and Chinon has yet to be picked. Many producers are planning to start this coming Monday. 

For the moment the weather forecast is good more settled than the first part of the month, which has been quite wet after a dry summer and sometimes very hot summer. 

One producer I saw today thought 2017 might be as good as 2005. Maybe but the September rains must have brought some dilution, although below the top soil the ground remains very dry. 

Time early next week to have a look at Montlouis and Vouvray.

Over the next few days I plan to post more detailed reports on individual appellations. 



  

2017 Loire – emptying a case of Sauvignon Blanc @Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre

The start – picking up the case

A series of photos of 2017 Sauvignon Blanc grapes being emptied onto the conveyor belt to be loaded into the vat to begin their transformation into 2017 Sancerre. 

 

 Starting to tip 

 a bit more 

 Grapes beginning to fall

Grapes in full flow

 Last few grapes 

 

Off up the conveyor belt

2017 Loire – Sancerre - some photos of the harvest (18.9.17)

Victory sign from Jean-Laurent Vacheron 

busy shifting palettes of Sauvignon grapes 

 Hod carriers on the edge of Clos de la Poussie (Bué)

(above and below)

 Pickers near Amigny 

 Sancerre in the shade, vineyards in sunshine 

– signs of picking.

White vans rool OK! 

Vincent Pinard: prototype design for the new

– Le Chàteau design by Clément Pinard's 5 year old son

 

Fuller report on 2017 vintage at Sancerre to come shortly.

2017 Loire – good news for a change in Menetou-Salon

 The view eastwards from Menetou-Salon

 towards Parassy and Morogues 

Following the Loire vintage is always fascinating. No two years are the same – each one has their different challenges. Overall, from what we have seen in the Pays Nantais, Touraine, Menetou-Salon and Sancerre, there should be some very good wine made this year. All the juices I have tasted this year to date have been round with variable degrees of potential alcohol. Generally rich, ripe fruit – often around 13% with the acidity between 5 and 5.4, so well balanced. 

On our way over from Touraine we first dropped in on Philippe Gilbert, just on the eastern edge of the small town of Menetou-Salon. In contrast to last year when he made virtually nothing, 2017 has given him a good harvest. Philippe started slowly on 11th September on his Sauvignon Blanc. The grapes are coming in around 12.0 to 12.8˚ with acidities around 4.7. 

After last year's  shockingly small vintage in in Menetou-Salon it is good to see that producers like Philippe Gilbert have been blessed with a generous harvest. Last Tuesday (12th September) they harvested as much, if not more, of what they picked last year in total.

Philippe is bringing in 50 hl/ha for his Pinot Noir for rosé, while his whites are fine at around 55/60 hl/ha. 2017 is a generous harvest. This often happens after a severe frost, which gives the vines a rest, so the following year they tend to produce big harvest. This happened in in 1992 following the severe frost of 1991. 

After a week of harvesting they have about another ten days left. The contrast between Philippe's demeanour of last year and this is very marked. He is now a 'happy boy'!  

Wednesday will be 'Les Vendanges pour les Copains'. Under this laudable initiative Philippe and his team will be picking for friends like Fred Niger in Muscadet, who have been very severely affected by the April frosts. It provides them with some wine that hopefully will keep them afloat in these difficult times.     

  

Domaine Henri Pellé

The news here was also very positive: they started on Thursday 7th September – a day before the actual Ban des Vendanges. Again 2017 is a generous harvest with 60 hl/ha for their Sauvignon Blanc, while they are getting 50 hl/ha at 13% potential for the Pinot Noir. We tasted some of the juices for the Sauvignon Blanc, which were impressive – good fruit, very clean and well balanced with attractive freshness in the finish.  

Most of the picking so far has been in their vineyards in the commune of Menetou-Salon. Only now are they picking in Morogues, which is a little higher in altitude, so ripens a little later. 

In the Pellé vines Les Blanchais:

We visited Les Blanchais near Morogues where there was a big team of more than 50 pickers.    

 One of the Pellé pickers

 One of the pickers

Drowning in vines......?

 Capped picker

 Carrying a hod up and down 

the slope is tough work

Trailer @the bottom of the slope

Les Blanchais is a steeply sloping vineyard  

Vincent Lacour (AC Touraine) on 2017 vintage

 Vincent Lacour's modern winery in Saint Georges sur Cher

"Last year was a short vintage due to the frost and mildew and I made 700 hls," Vincent Lacour explained on Friday afternoon when I dropped in to see him during my mountain bike ride through the local vineyards. "However, I doubt if I will even make that this year because of the April frosts. Also there is little juice in the grapes this year." 

It is not clear whether this is due to the dry weather in the early summer or whether bunches that appeared to survive the frost were actually affected and this damage reduced the amount of juice in the berries.

Fortunately the quality of the fermenting juice appears good – we tasted from a couple of vats – with good weight and very clean. Vincent has still to pick his Cabernet and Côt. 

2017 Loire vintage: Muscadet – pickers in action: Bonnet-Huteau: 12th September

Late yesterday afternoon we dropped in to see Rémi and Jean-Jacques Bonnet (Domaine Bonnet-Huteau in the commune of La Chapelle-Heulin. Unfortunately they were badly affected by the late April frosts this year. Apart from greatly reducing the crop it has also made picking difficult due to the marked variation in grape maturity between those bunches not affected by the frost and those that were frosted so any fruit is second generation – inevitably less ripe than the first generation bunches.  

Jean-Jacques was entertaining a couple of Dutch journalists – Esme and Roland. We caught up with JJ and Rémi in a parcel of vines close to the chai where the day's picking was concluding.

Fashionable head gear – happy picker 

anticipating the looming pause 

Marie, who is doing a stage at Bonnet-Huteau, 

has clearly enjoyed her first day picking

Rémi Bonnet 

Jean-Jacques Bonnet being interviewed 

by the Dutch journalists 

2017 Loire vintage: Muscadet – pickers in action: Jo Landron + Vincent Caillé: 12th September

Jo Landron's equipe

 

Garrett heading up the ladder to the trailer

Garrett starting to upload

 Garrett: last few grapes 

 Another hod carrier – you have to be strong

 Jo Landron picking Montils

 Jo Landron's team were picking Montils, a grape variety 

that is apparently similar to Ugni Blanc.

Jo uses it as part of the blend of the sparkling l'Atmosphere

Vincent Caillé's equipe:

 

FI ready for action....

Checking over the grapes