Remembering the 2009 Loire vintage – Le Pays Nantais

Chereau-Carré (Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine) – offices  

Chereau-Carré (Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine)

Melon de Bourgogne grapes from the 100 year old vines 

(above and below)

 Bernard Chereau

Bernard with the 2009 juice 

 

 Picker

Melon de Bourgogne 

 The pigeonnier 

Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin 

Pierre Luneau with a sample of Muscadet

2009 Muscadet, Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin

Domaine des Herbauges (Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu) 

 Jérôme Choblet and his family

Luc Choblet – Jérôme's dad

Loire vignerons in the round: Bernard et Matthieu Baudry (Chinon)

Bernard and Matthieu Baudry (Domaine Bernard Baudry, Cravant-les-Coteaux, AC Chinon)

Quick trip to Chinon on Monday afternoon  to taste some 2009s. First visit was to Domaine Bernard Baudry where Matthieu has now taken over from his father, Bernard who is now officially retired although in fact he is still very much involved.

Matthieu Baudry

Details of wines and tasting notes to be added.

2009 Loires@RSJ Restaurant: 15 November 2010

2009 Coutures, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

Certainly Frédéric Mabileau's 2009 Coutures from 40-year-old vines and aged in oak for some nine months was the favourite red of the evening.

Part of the tasting sheet

Just checkin!

Wines tasted:

Aperitif

2009 Touraine Sauvignon Vincent Roussely

White:
2009 Quincy, Domaine des Ballandors, Jean Tatin and Chantal Wilk

2009 Anjou Blanc, Château de la Roulerie, Philippe Germain

2009 Savennières Clos de Coulaine, Claude Papin

Red:
2009 La Cerisaie, Anjou Rouge, Domaine de la Bergerie, Yves Guegniard,

2009 Saumur Champigny, Domaine des Roches Neuves

2009 Domaine de la Perrières, Chinon, Baudry- Dutour

2009 Les Coutures, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

More to add later today...

2009 Quincy

Picking machine in Quincy 2008

Here is a slightly expanded version of my post in early June on the Quincy wines tasted at Sancerre:

'Last Thursday afternoon I started my tasting of 2009 whites from Pouilly-Fumé, Quincy and Sancerre with 15 from Quincy. This was the most homogeneous flight with many of them having the typical grassy and citric characteristics of Loire Sauvignon Blanc. Although none showed great complexity, equally there were none that were just too big and fat, lacking freshness as was the case with some of the Sancerre whites.

Of the 15 wines tasted my very clear favourite wine was the concentrated, grassy 2009 from Jean-Michel Sorbe with attractive minerality and acidity – a fine bottle. Other wines well noted were Villalin from Domaine Villalin – I preferred this cuvée to their Tradition, Philippe Portier and Vincent Siret-Courtaud. I also noted Tradition from Domaine Trotereau and Haute Victoire from Domaine Bourgeois.

2009 Clos Roche Blanche, 1960 Romorantin plus rare good sense@ACs

 Didier holding the cork for the 1960 Romorantin Clos Roche Blanche

Wednesday afternoon we dropped down to see Catherine Roussel and Didier Barouillet at Le Clos Roche Blanche to taste the 2009s. Having scaled back their vineyards to just 9 ha Catherine and Didier are in the fortunate position of having far more orders for their rightly highly regarded wines than they can fulfill. This now means being able to turn away fair weather clients who only bought the best vintages and stayed away in the difficult years.

In their heavily pregnant cat in attendance, we started with the Touraine Sauvignon Blanc Cuvée No2 which has just been bottled. Rich on the nose and palate with ripe yellow plum flavours, this comes in at 14.5%, although I didn't find any alcohol burn in its mineral finish, although Didier did. Although SB Cuvée No5 has three grams of residual sugar (against one for No2) this gives the impression of having a little more zip at present. This is partly due to the No2 being bottled very recently and also No5 won't be bottled until the end of August, so it currently has more CO2 which gives it an additional freshness. Both Sauvignons have been through malo. 

Next onto the pale pink Pineau d'Aunis Rosé – a typical vin gris with the touch of pepper – the signature flavour of Pineau d'Aunus and well as the aromas of rosehip. The three reds – Gamay, Cabernet and Côt – all really really well. The Gamay, which was bottled just a week ago, has wonderful ripe, spiciness. It will be one of those reds that no sooner have you pulled the cork than the bottle is suddenly empty. Just delicious uncomplicated drinking but which will keep surprisingly well if you can keep your hands off it.

Both the Cabernet (black fruits) and Côt (spice and powerful but ripe tannins) are concentrated, the Côt especially, and will need time to show their best. We finished the tasting of recent vintages with a return to white and the lovely 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Cuvée No5 dominated by ripe yellow plum.

Didier then pulled out a 1960 Clos Roche Blanche Romorantin that was a mid gold in colour with some oxidation on the nose – perhaps maderisation is a better descriptor  along with aromas of honey and dried but not sweet rainsins with a high acid – tonic! – finish. Catherine and Didier explained that some Romorantin was planted on the property until 1974 when Catherine's father grubbed up the vines. He died the following year and Catherine replanted with Sauvignon Blanc. The Romorantin,  and this may well have been the same the other wines, was only bottled in good years, so clearly 1960 was a good vintage for Romorantin. One reason for only bottling the best vintages was the lack of bottles in the 1950s and early 1960s. Wine would be bottled in previously used bottles – quite often Champagne bottles as this one looks to have been.  

The top of the 1960 Romorantin

It seems to be a typical Champagne or sparkling wine bottle from the time when these bottles were closed with a normal Champagne cork for the secondary fermentation and, not as almost all are today, with a crown cap. 

Talking about the Romorantin and the diversity of grape varieties that used to be grown in Touraine moved us onto to discussing the current madness – the urge to simplify the Touraine appellation. I had fully appreciated the stupidity of the current proposals. Not only will Sauvignon Blanc with Sauvignon Gris be sole authorised varieties for white Touraine but pure Pineau d'Aunis will not be allowed for the rosé (or as a red either). For the reds 100% Gamay will be permitted, otherwise it will have to be a blend of Cabernet and Côt. This simplification flies in the face of the history of the area where pure Côt is typical and is often the best red produced here. These new regulations ignore that eastern Touraine is naturally the melting pot of grape varieties found in the Loire and that this diversity should be treasured. Instead the plan appears to be to legislate it out of existence – just at the moment when many other wine regions around the world are increasing celebrating and promoting a plurality of grape varieties, especially indigenous ones. 

It is tempting to blame bureaucrats for this stupidity but it is the vignerons themselves who have voted to put themselves in a strait-jacket. I suspect that the desire to banish grape varieties from the label is the motivation behind this. The goal is to be able to sell Touraine Blanc without the mention of Sauvignon Blanc on the label. 'Touraine Blanc' may work on the French market but I'll be amazed if it does on export markets. In the UK Touraine Blanc is highly unlikely to sell without the magic words – Sauvignon Blanc. You only have to look at Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge which is very rarely sold in the UK without Chardonnay or Pinot Noir on the label.

Where's the C word?
Amongst all this nonsense there is one crucial element that has been ignored – the C word: culture. In all this rule making there is no mention of how the vineyards should be cultivated. You can  use as much artificial fertilizer as you and zap the whole of your vineyard with weedkiller and it doesn't matter – it is still appellation contrôlée. Surely the vineyard – the terroir should be the cornerstone or the foundation of the appellation contrôlée system. Instead producers can do what they like. Driving around it is shamefully evident that the use of weedkiller is indiscriminate and widespread in AC Touraine.

Didier Barouillet's three proposals
To have the right to sell wine as appellation contrôlée, producers should not use:

a) artificial fertilisers
Their use both causes vines to over-produce and encourages the plant to grow a lot of roots on the surface rather than to search deeper into the soil for nutrients. 

b) weedkiller throughout the vineyard
Destroys a vineyard's biodiversity and the natural balance which assists in keeping the vine healthy. Widespread use means that other chemical products have to be used to protect the vine against various diseases. It also encourages erosion.    

c) systemics
These penetrate into the soil destroying the microbacterial life and this Didier believes is responsible for diseases like esca because the protection this life provides for the roots of the vine has been destroyed.

Producers, who want to use the above products and practices, would have to opt to sell their wine as vin de pays or vin de table: they would not have the right to appellation contrôlée.  Perhaps a new France wide vin de pays could be created – vin de pays de Monsanto – it could prove to be a popular choice.

Those who say that this measure is too extreme should be reminded that the rules for the new AC Saumur Le Puy-Notre-Dame ban the indiscriminate use of weedkiller (desherbage total) in the vineyard.

AC Touraine should be following Le Puy's good example.   

2009 vintage in the Loire: some figures – rosé overtakes red

I have received some interesting figures from Interloire for vintages 2005 to 2009. This latest vintage is the largest since 2005 with an overall total of 2,850,202 hls produced – in 2005 the figure was 2,875,147 hls. In comparison to 2008  – the smallest vintage of the second half of the decade (2,102,759) – 2009 was up by 36%. 

Production of sparkling wine was at a record level in 2009 despite the economic crisis. 344,305 hls up by 25% on the previous year (274,864hl). With the exception of 2008 the amount of sparkling wine produced has been on steady progression over the five years. In 2005 the figure was 273,899, which may have been low due to this being a hot year. Whites shot by by 50% in 2009 to 1,273,812 compared to 851,676. This was due to the severe early April frost that hit the Pays Nantais so badly in 2008.

Rosés also increased markedly – up by 37% to 632,184 compared to 452,406 (2008). The amount of rosé produced has progressed over the five years and probably reflects its increased popularity. Red wines, however, showed the smallest increase on 2008 being up only by 17% to 599,901 against 513,813 in 2008. 2009 was the only year in the five when the production of rosé exceeded that of red – surely an indicator of rosé's currently popularity. In 2005, 708,944 hls of red was made compared to 512,784.       

Bourgueil in Tours: 27th March – my favourite wines

I was delighted to have the opportunity to taste a big selection of the 2009s from Bourgueil on Saturday afternoon in Tours. Admittedly 2009 is a very good vintage, so the standard should be high but there were no undrinkable wines among those I tasted and I tasted all the 2009s on show from the 46 vignerons present. I fancy that 10 years ago this would not have been the case: there would still have been some rough, rustic, unripe wines despite 2009s favourable conditions.

A pity that some of the hordes of wine merchants and journalists heading to Bordeaux for the en primeur tastings this coming week did not take the time to stop in Tours on Saturday to become acquainted with these 2009s. Almost all of them less than 10€ a bottle prix publique from the domaine – many closer to 5€ and likely to be offering more pleasure per euro than many of the highly priced wines being tasted in Bordeaux.

My favourite producers/wines
These are the wines/producers I picked out from tasting the 2009s Don't forget that many of the wines have yet to be bottled.  The light styles will be bottled fairly soon, while some of the vin de garde will not be bottled until 2011. The lighter styles come from vines planted on sand and gravel or gravel, while the more structured wines come from the clay-limestone coteaux.

My impression is that some of the 2009 'cuvée printemps' would in a lesser vintage be considered vin de garde given their concentration and structure. 

Listed in the order I tasted them:

Château de Minière (Ingrandes de Touraine): showed three wines. My preference was for the middle cuvée: Château de Minière from 40 year old vines planted on the coteaux. The Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is very concentrated but currently quite marked by the wood, so difficult to assess properly at this stage.

Lamé Delisle Boucard (Ingrandes): Domaine des Chesnaies.

Jean-Marc and Stephane Breton, Vignoble de la Grioche (Restigné). One of my discoveries of the day. 13ha of vines. Liked their cuvée printemps, Cuvée de Santenay (5€) from 30 year old vines  on gravel but was particularly impressed by their Cuvée Manon from 60 YO vines on the coteaux, which will be around 6€ when it is available – a bargain! I see from Stéphane's rather dormant blog  that they won a Saint-Vincent at the Bourgueil Concours 2008 for their 2007 Cuvée Manon.

Delanoue Frères, Domaine de la Noiraie (Benais). 32 ha estate including 7ha in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. 10ha in Bourgueil is in conversion to organic viticulture. Won a Saint-Vincent for their rosé. Their soft and supple spring red Cuvée Saint-Vincent comes from 25 year old vines on the gravel. They used carbonic maceration on 10% to emphasize the fruit. The dense and structured Cuvée Prestige is from 50-60 YO vines on the coteaux.

Nau Frères (Ingrandes): I find this domaine consistently impressive and 2009 is no exception. Les Blottières (6€) will be bottled in June, while the powerful and impressive Vieilles Vignes is unlikely to be bottled before 2011.

Jean-Marie Amirault (Benais). 10 hectares – 5ha on the gravel at Restigné and 5 on the coteaux at Benais. Powerful, black fruited and impressive 2009 – not sure which cuvée I'm afraid!

More to add



Also liked: 
Christophe Chasle/ Xavier Courant: Coteaux
The is a domaine of seven hectares in Saint-Patrice which was run by Christophe Chasle from 1982 to 2008. Last year he decided to retire and sold the domaine to Xavier Courant, who used to be a caviste and then studied viticulture and how to make wine at Montreuil-Bellay. Xavier made the 2009s.

Joël Julienne (Chouzé-sur-Loire):  a small domaine of just 2ha of vines on sand/gravel.

Domaine Jérôme Godefroy  (Chouzé-sur-Loire): Wasn't very impressed with the slightly rustic 2009 but certainly liked the concentration, balance and structure of the 2008 Les Champs Colesses. 8 ha of Bourgueil plus some in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.  


Other recent posts on Bourgueil around 8th Fête de Bourgueil here (Concours), here and here.

See also my posting on Le 5 du Vin for Tuesday 30th March.

In progress 

Introduction to Charles and Philippa Sydney’s 2009 Loire vintage report

Chenin Blanc@Le Puy Notre Dame early October 2009

Charles and Philippa Sydney have been based in the Loire since 1988 working as courtiers to supply the UK wine trade with Loire wines. Every year they produce a vintage report. Here are their introductory remarks to the 2009 edition.

'You'll see that we're actually quite excited: 2009 is looking really good. Perhaps not the vintage of the century - hail across chunks of the eastern Loire and a desire for higher yields on the part of less dynamic growers saw to that, but we're very, very happy.

The quality is there right across the board - to over-simplify, we're seeing the ripeness of our beloved 2003 vintage with the freshness of the 2005s, hence this year's name : The Smiley Vintage.

In some ways better still, many growers have understood that they need to help their importers survive the economic mess and have either held prices (sometimes for the 7th year running...) or reduced them. Not easy when you're sitting on the second small vintage in a row, as is the case in places like Pouilly, where they are again around 25% below normal yields.

Do remember, though, that whatever you read in the press (!), the mass of price rises over the last couple of years comes not from the greed of the growers but from a deliberate policy of a weak pound and an iniquitous tax system that seems designed to redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich. (how else do you describe 47% tax on a £5 bottle and 18% on a £50 bottle?)

As I've noted before, in 2006, we calculated an ex-cellar price of 2.25 €/bt to retail at £5.99. Today that's more like 1.50 €... and we expect 1.30 € after the budget. That includes bottling costs of 50 cents or more. *

And as for 'a minimum price per unit of alcohol', that already exists - it's called duty.

Sorry. I'll get off that hobby horse!'

(* Difficult to see how a price of 1.50 €/1.30 € a bottle to the producer starts to cover the cost of production of a drinkable Loire wine let alone to make a profit, so as to be able to invest in the business. If the exchange rate remains as it is and it shows few signs of getting much above £1 – 1.10 € we will just have to get used to paying more for our wines from the Euro zone.)

The Sydney's 2009 vintage report is here.

Charles and Philippa Sydney's 2009 Loire vintage report

Charles Sydney: 3rd February 2009

Charles and Philippa Sydney have been based in the Loire since 1988 working as courtiers to supply the UK wine trade with Loire wines. Every year they produce a vintage report.

Charles and Philippa Sydney’s 2009 Loire report: the Smiley Vintage
'2009 is going to be a great vintage for us right across the Loire, though some areas are a touch less even than we’d have liked. And given the economic hassles that follow frost and hail damage in 2008, la crise and a god-awful exchange rate, that’s a blessing!

It all started with a real winter (minus 13° here in Chinon!), early summer storms (including viciously damaging hail that effectively wiped out the crop in Menetou-Salon and large swathes of the Coteaux du Giennois) and a hot, dry and long summer that ran all the way through to the end of October, by which time the reds were safely in and the growers in the Layon were starting to think ‘raisins’ instead of grapes.

14th September, Muscadet was the first to kick off and results are good, with some truly great wines (no exaggeration) from the likes of Jérôme Choblet, Pierre Sauvion and the team at Domaine de la Fruitière in the heart of the Sèvre et Maine.

Great because the guys had learnt the lessons of 1991 (spring frost in 2008 = low yields = vines over compensating in 2009) and had pruned hard before going back into the vineyards to de-bud in the spring and then thinning out any excess crop in the summer. These wines have lovely fruit, wonderful concentration and balance and are on a par with 1989 and 1997.

Unfortunately, too many growers have short memories and were happy to let nature have its say – and the result is simple: higher yields, less concentration and some dilution, especially true for wines sold in bulk. That said, the grapes were healthy, the wines are nicely balanced and will be easy to drink, full of fruit and sensibly priced.

A week later, the Sauvignon producers of the Touraine started picking – and the wines are really, really attractive. Despite 2008’s low yields, this year’s crop is reasonable* (say 60 hectos / hectare on average, which suits Sauvignon right down to the ground) and the grapes were healthy and ripe. With the more committed growers we’ve got an extra dimension : big, ripe wines with depth, sweet fruit and loads of fresh sauvignon aromas - think citrus and box wood and cut out the cat’s pee!

In Sancerre and Pouilly the harvest ran over a wider period, starting 18th September, with some growers waiting till the end of the month before picking (in Menetou some hail-hit growers didn’t pick at all).

In Pouilly, Christophe Denoël, director of the excellent co-op reckons on the same overall yields as last year, so we’re looking at a low 48 hectos/hectare (vs the permitted yield of over 60) That said, the wines have an almost cristaline purety and concentration that is far superior to the rather lean 2008s.

Over in Sancerre, yields are variable - most growers would say low (the cynic in me says they always say that), with some areas - notably the Chêne Marchand in Bué - being badly hit by hail, with guys like François Crochet in Bué bringing in just 32 hl/ha.

The only downside of the fine weather and low yields is that some growers at that end of the river chose to wait for some rain to swell the grapes, soften the skins – and give higher yields. As the rain didn’t come, that was a definite no- no, resulting in high degrees, high acidity and a lack of Sauvignon aromas. So stick to the best growers: the quality is fab! Imagine 2003 ripeness with the freshness of 2006 and you’ll get the idea.

The comparison with the truly great vintages holds for the Chinon, Bourgueil and Champigny reds too, with the summer heat and drought giving conditions similar to 1989... though this time we got even luckier, as the drought was broken with 4 days of light rain in September, restarting the vegetation and pushing the crop to a real if late maturity, with the bravest growers hanging on till the 19th October before starting to pick! The results are outstanding – wines with more ripeness and fruit than 1989, maybe more on a par with 1990. In Bourgueil, Jacky Blot rates this as better even than 2005.

Finally, the Chenins. The dry wines in Vouvray, Montlouis and in the Anjou are delightful, with loads of fruit, concentration and balance. Reasonable yields, fine weather and continuing efforts in the vineyards in the Anjou really paid off. In Vouvray the guys are chuffed to bits, bringing in fruit-rich secs and demi-secs before starting their selective tri picking for moelleux. The Jeremiahs of this world may say that the dry wines are just that bit ‘too ripe’ to make great wines for keeping, but that’s their problem – I always thought great wines were for drinking!

And for afters?** In the Coteaux du Layon, the wines are lovely, even if some growers grumble that November’s rain stopped them making really concentrated show-stoppers. There are plenty of delightfully pure ‘entry-level’ moelleux – like Denis Goizil’s ‘straight’ Layon - coming in at over 18° (you’re already talking 100 gms/litre residual sugar), while some of the top cuvées – like Stéphane Branchereau’s Quarts de Chaume and Jo Pithon’s Les Treilles – came in at around 24°... So who’s got a big grin, then?!'

••

Couple of comments

* Those hit by hail in the Cher Valley will have made very substantially less than this. (JB)

** Afters? Surely not wise to encourage the UK wine trade in their fixation that any sweet wine should be called a dessert wine!

Bué on 28 September 2009

The centre of Bué with its church

Am very busy putting together the December issue of Circle Update, the newsletter of the Circle of Wine Writers, so time only for the moment to post some shots taken in the vineyards just to the west of Bué which, along with Chavignol and Amigny, is one of the quintessential wine villages of the Sancerre appellation. Memories of a magical September harvest!

Bué is built in a steep thin valley with vineyards on three sides

Bué with the dominating and steep Clos de la Poussie to the left

Picking

Steep vineyards leading down to Bué with a procession of tractor, trailer and vans moving to a new parcel of vines

See reports on 2009 vintage in Sancerre here, here and here.

Patrick Baudouin reports on end of 2009 vintage in the Layon

Botrytised grapes in Patrick's vineyard late November 2009 (photo from Patrick's blog)

Patrick has posted here a very positive report on the end of his 2009 vintage – stressing the importance of making a succession of tris. See here.

6th December: Nouvel An du Muscadet, Clisson

2009 Muscadet

Les Vignerons de la Vallée de Clisson vous invitent au 21ème anniversaire du « Nouvel An du Muscadet ».

Dans le cadre enchanteur des Halles de Clisson, spécialement décorées et aménagées pour l’occasion, venez à la rencontre des viticulteurs et des producteurs locaux :

Découvrez et dégustez le nouveau millésime du Muscadet, mais aussi les autres millésimes et les crus communaux (Granite, Gorgeois et Monnières-Saint Fiacre).

Participez à l'atelier oenologie « Accord mets et vins » (3 séances 15h/16h/17h - 2€ par personne - places limitées)

... le tout en musique avec le groupe « Digue Bazar Cie », à partir de 15h !

Tentez également de gagner un week-end en Vallée de Clisson !

Restauration sur place avec les producteurs locaux (huîtres, charcuterie, fromage, crêpes…)

Modalités d'accès : 11h à 18h
Vente de verres gravés 4€ pour la dégustation

Lieu : Clisson
France
Renseignements :
Office de Tourisme de la Vallée de Clisson
Tél : 02 40 54 02 95
animation-developpement.ot@clisson.com
www.valleedeclisson.fr

2009 Loire vintage: some more reports: Anjou, Touraine, Le Loir

Chenin Blanc in Anjou 2009

Philippe and Catherine Delesvaux, Saint-Aubin, Anjou
2009, chez nous c'est bien, pas de stress hydrique gràce au travail du sol depuis 10 ans maintenant. La bio et biodynamie portent leur fruit dans ce style de millesime.On a atteint les maturités optimums assez rapidement avec une vendange très saine.On a ainsi pu finir les vendanges dès le 20 octobre avant les pluies qui ont délavées les raisins.

Beaucoup de viticulteurs ont ramassé très tard les raisins, car ils n'étaient pas mûrs: trop de rendements et stress hydrique= raisins verts. Ce n'est pas en les laissant sous les pluies continues de fin octobre et début novembre que les choses se sont arrangées.

Domaine Philippe Delesvaux, Les Essards, La Hair Longue, 49190 Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné
Tel: 02.41.78.18.71
Email: dom.delesvaux.philippe@wanadoo.fr
(No website so address given.)

••

Jean-Sébastien Marionnet

Henry et Jean-Sébastien Marionnet, Domaine de la Charmoise, Soings (AC Touraine)

'Magnifique 2009

Les Vendanges sont désormais terminées et on peut maintenant dresser un premier bilan de cette riche année.

Si l'hiver fut assez froid, avec des températures qui descendirent à -10°, il dura malheureusement assez longtemps, car la végétation commença à apparaître avec quinze jours de retard, vers la fin avril. Le Printemps fut moyen, sans réel beau temps, et l'été commença dans la difficulté car, un orage de grêle, heureusement peu important, martela une petite partie des raisins qui venaient juste d'être formés. Mais la situation changea complètement avec le mois d'août, et surtout septembre qui furent très chauds et secs. Ce fut une véritable rédemption. La vigne caressée par le soleil, nous offrit une vendange d'une qualité extraordinaire avec des raisins parfaitement sains et mûrs. Nous avons eu la plus grande liberté pour cueillir chaque parcelle au bon moment.

Lire la suite – read the rest here

Website: www.henry-marionnet.com/

••

Elisabeth et Benoît Jardin, Domaine les Maisons Rouges, Ruillé-sur-Loir

‘Nos vendanges 2009

Les vendanges 2009 se sont très bien passées grâce à une arrière saison superbe jusqu'à fin octobre.

Les raisins de très belle qualité, nous ont donné la possibilité de faire des secs et des moelleux en Jasnières et en Coteaux du Loir comme en 2005. Ce millésime 2009 sera très proche du magnifique millésime 2005, à nous de le vinifier tranquillement en conséquence avec des élevages sur 1 et 2 ans.

De même, la récolte de Pineau d'Aunis, plus abondante que les millésimes précédents nous permettra de répondre à toutes les attentes, avec un excellent niveau de qualité. Nous envisageons deux cuvées, "Garance - Pineau d'Aunis" avec les vignes de moins de 50 ans et un élevage en cuve disponible en mai 2010 et "Alizari - Pineau d'Aunis" pour les vignes de 50 à plus de 100 ans en élevage barrique de un an ou plus si nécessaire.’

•

‘Notre évolution vers la biodynamie
Cette première année en biodynamie a nécessité du travail supplémentaire mais nous semble positive pour le comportement des vignes et la qualité des raisins. Maintenant il faudra un peu de recul sur d'autres millésimes pour vérifier les progrès en qualité des raisins à la vendange indépendamment d'un millésime exceptionnel.’

Date for Parisian’s diaries:
Prochain rendez-vous en région parisienne à la Cave du Moulin Vieux, 4 rue de la butte aux cailles Paris 13ème le 28 novembre 2009 toute la journée.

Website: www.maisonsrouges.com

2009 Loire: Christophe Daviau happy with result

8 November 2009

Christophe Daviau checking Chenin Blanc in mid October 2009

I caught up with Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut, Brissac-Quincé) on the phone this evening:

Christophe: "We finished on Thursday 29th October when we were still enjoying the summer weather. I'm very glad that we finished then as we have subsequently had quite a lot of rain. On the Friday it was still fine and summery but it got very humid on Saturday and we had rain on Sunday 1st November and we continued to have rain during this week.

Domaine de Bablut, Grandpierre Chenin Blanc 2009

"Although we will obviously have to see what the wine is like once it has finished fermenting, I'm very happy with the Coteaux de l'Aubance. The last tri of Grandpierre was 19% potential. I'm also happy with the Anjou Blanc sec. For the reds the quality is good but it would have been good to have had about 10hl/ha more. I haven't done the calculation yet but I estimate that the yield for the red was around 30hl/ha."

Cabernet Franc destined for 2009 Petra Alba, Anjou-Villages Brissac

Checking ripeness in Cabernet Franc

16th October 2009

Ripe enough to pick?

Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut) showed me how to check to see whether the Cabernet Franc on argile calcere destined for his Petra Alba cuvée was ripe enough to pick. The days of relying just on a refractometer that tells you the potential alcohol are now well past. We walked up a row selecting single grapes as we went and separated the sweet pulp from the skins and the pips.

When you have a palm full you chew the skins as though it is chewing gum. Is it bitter? How tannic? Is it green? Then you chew the pips. Amongst my pips a few were green but most were turning brown. Naturally they were quite tannic but it took a while for the tannin to become apparent and it wasn't excessively bitter. I had no reference point as this was my first experience of chewing a handful of pips but Christophe said that compared to a week ago both the pips and skins are much riper. They are likely to pick these by hand on Monday. Next I tried a grapillon (an unripe third generation grape). This was noticeably less ripe – green and sharp – and the pips immediately bitter and tannic. This bitterness lasted much longer in the mouth than the earlier handful of pips.

Harvesting Cabernet Franc for Anjou Villages

Emptying harvested Cabernet Franc into a trailer

Anjou Villages vineyards near Brissac

Two post-vintage visits in Cher Valley: Vincent Ricard and JF Merieau

Jean-François (Jeff) Merieau with his deep coloured 2009 Côt (see below)

Dropped into see Vincent Ricard (Domaine Ricard, Thésée-la-Romaine) and Jean-François Merieau (Vignobles des Bois Vaudons, Saint-Julien-de-Chédon). Both have now finish their 2009 harvest – Vincent on Friday (having started on 12th September) and Jean-François this morning finishing off some seven rows of Cabernet Franc that remained. Both are equally happy with the quality and the quantity that this year has brought. Fortunately both escaped the hail that devastated parts of the Cher, especially parts of Angé and Monthou.

View of the Domaine Ricard winery

I tasted 2009 fermenting wines at both properties and once again the weight and purity of the 2009s is impressive, although will have to wait and see how the finished wines are. "2009 is a year when you can have both quantity and quality. My average this year is around 57/58hl/ha – Le Petiot at 60 hl/ha, while 42hl/ha for Les Trois Chênes." This suggests similarities with 1990 when the quality was excellent even with high yields, although Vincent would not remember 1990 as I guess he was still at schoool then.

"The 'gros bêtes' came in at over 14% potential. I've got 5000 litres of Gamay at 15.5%, so I'm goiung to make a moelleux rosé – 11.5%-12% alcohol and the rest as residual sugar."

Vincent has recently acquired a new 3.6 ha vineyard called Le Bouc overlooking the centre of Thésée. It was planted with "Gamay pourri" and other poor quality clones, which Vincent has ripped out and replaced with Sauvignon Blanc, for which he gets assistance from the EU towards restructuring the vineyard. They pay for the plants, the wires and the posts. Vincent now has 23 ha.

Vineyard posts

We also tasted some 2008 Sauvignon Blancs. Both 2008 Le Petiot (6.40€ at the cellar) and Les Trois Chênes (8.50€) are showing really well now, having taken on considerably more weight since I last tasted them in April. Just shows that some of these Sauvignons from the Cher valley are drunk too young and really need a year or so to be at their best. '? 2008' was bottled just before the start of the harvest. There is a lot of concentration there but it's quite lean and austere at the moment – just needs more time in bottle. The vines for '? 2008' are over 75 years old and were the first Sauvignon Blanc to be planted in the Cher Valley.

Jean-François with his 2009 Côt

Jean-François Merieau, Vignobles des Bois Vaudons
I started by tasting through the current range. The following wines showed best: the creamy Pétillant Blanc Brut, which is good value at 6.30€, the light and delicate 2007 Le Bois Jacou, Touraine Gamay (5€), and the powerful and concentrated 2005 Les Grands Champs Touraine Cabernet Franc (6€) – all smoky black fruits and needing more time. Apparently a US importer dismissed the idea of importing this 2005 Grands Champs saying 'it was too old'!

The tasting concluded with two Boa wines that have extended wood aging. Boa le Rouge (13.50€) is a 2006 Gamay. It has attractively soft Gamay fruit but the wood is quite dominant and drying in the finish. Not convinced that the wood brings much to the party – perhaps it just needs to be used more sparingly. Instead of Boa le rouge I'd rather have two bottles of the 2005 Cabernet and the change. Guele du boa (2006 Côt – 14.10€) is more successful – Côt has more power and structure to support the wood and this has good smoky, concentrated black fruits. Even so the wood is still dominant and this needs more time.

Then we went down to the winery and tasted the impressive 2009s in progress. I was very interested to learn from Jean-François that in the past the vignerons used to plant a few vines of Alicante Bouchet to give colour to their reds. Alicante Bouchet is a teinturier (a red fleshed variety). It is a Mediterranean variety, so it was a surprise that it ripened sufficiently in these cooler climes.

Hand destemming Cabernet Franc

While I was at the winery two workers, including the son of Xavier Frissant who is on a stage with Jean-François, were busy destemming the last of the Cabernet Franc by hand.