Sancerre: further photos from 2012 vintage

Looking across Loire to Saint-Andelain (AC Pouilly-Fumé)

More photos from yesterday's brief sort out of pics.

 

 

 Looking across Loire to Château de Tracy

The Loire and Saint-Andelain

 

Bué

Le  Cul de Beaujeu vineyard from Chavignol

 

 Clos de la Poussie in distance showing parcels in process of renovation

 Hang glider over Clos de la Poussie

 Old railway viaduct near Ménétréol 

 Sancerre

 Stylish vendangeur

 Tractors and trailers on steep slopes

Harvest activity within sight of town of Sancerre

New budget hotel near Amigny 

 

Sancerre: dusk light on roofs

Cryoextraction in Australia = increasing sugar concentration

Domestic freezer

In the light of the controversy over cryoextraction/cryoextraction sélective and Domaine des Baumard's 2012 Quarts de Chaume, there was an interesting news story published on decanter.com yesterday about a made 'ice-wine' in Western Australia. Clive Otto is in the process of making an 'ice wine' from grapes picked at 13.0˚ Baume (13.34% in potential alcohol. Freezing has raised the sugar level to between 17.0˚-21.5˚ Baume (in potential alcohol between 18.31% and 24.53%). 

This seems to indicate that in Australia, at least, as well as in Washington with the Pacific Rim Vineyards that the use of cryoextraction concentrates the sugars and can facilitate the making of sweet wine from grapes, which would not be sufficiently ripe to make sweet wine without freezing them.           

'Western Australia's first 'ice wine'

Monday 11 March 2013

by Danielle Costley

While Western Australian winemakers have been sweltering in soaring heats, Margaret River winemaker Clive Otto from Fraser Gallop Estate has been working in freezing temperatures to create his own 'ice wine.

Traditionally, ice wine is made in the cooler regions of central Europe and Canada from grapes that have been naturally frozen on the vine.

Otto is making a similar style of dessert wine by freezing late picked Chardonnay grapes overnight in a commercial freezer at -16C. The fruit, which was at 13.0º baume sugar levels prior to freezing, was then quickly pressed the following morning at a high pressure.

‘We were excited when we inserted a hydrometer into the juice and were getting sugar readings of 17º to 21.5º baume,’ Otto said.

Read the full story here.

Equally from the Pacific Rim Vineyards' blog on cryoextraction:

'The concentration process is fairly simple; when a grape gets frozen, the water freezes first and the sugar last – this is reversed when the grapes are thawed. If you follow me, when you thaw the grapes while pressing, you end up extracting all the sugar first, leaving the water frozen in the press thus concentrating your juice.'

On Wine Berserkers' forum there is a thread called Baumard "hits back" vs Jim Budd. Amongst the comments is one from Chris Kissack (the Wine Doctor) which is also reproduced on Chris' blog here. He provides a very clear statement of the issues involved. 

Some on Wine Berserkers have suggested that this is a very geeky controversy, which if you focus solely on the small but prestigious Quarts de Chaume may in part be true. I think, however, that the main issue is far more fundamental – namely the right of the consumer to be told the truth and to be confident that a product is what it says it. Surely this was the original motivation behind the establishment of France's appellation system: if you buy a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape the wine comes from Châteauneuf and it has been made according to agreed and legally binding rules.  

Put into a current context if you buy a 'beef' product it should contain beef and not horse. There may well be a market for horseburgers or horse lasagne but the labelling has to be very clear.  

Cryoextraction and the Quarts de Chaume décret 

There continues to be confusion over the legality of cryoextraction under the 2011 Décret. Section 9 bans any lowering of the temperature of the grapes below -5˚C. However, section 11 – 'mesures transitoires' (transitional arrangements) states that this ban will be applied from the 2020 vintage.

In this transitional arrangement producers can only lower the temperature of their grapes if they have satisfied the first requirement relating to the harvest: 'les vins sont issus de raisins récoltés à surmaturité (concentration naturelle sur pied avec présence ou non de pourriture noble).' (wines have to be made from grapes that have become extremely ripe on the vine; noble rot may or may not be present). 

Baumard's Quarts de Chaume Vignes Larges@9th October 2012

 Img_3524: 15.08.21: Domaine des Baumard: showing vignes larges with a view across Layon

A series of photos taken in the Vignes Larges section, that are planted on the terraces of Domaine des Baumard's Quart de Chaume holdings. These terraces overlook the Layon.

   Part of the Quarts de Chaume from Google Earth.

The Layon flows from bottom centre westwards

The white track running parallel with river is old railway, other track that joins it leads down from Chaume and the Quarts de Chaume

My photos (9.10.12) taken in upper part of the terraces with the vignes larges plus the block on plateau north of terraces to right of grassy patch. I spent an hour alone in the vines.     

   

A comment here suggests that the photos I have so far published on Jim's Loire of the 2012 potential Quarts de Chaume crop taken on the afternoon of 9th October are not conclusive: 'They are distinctive. But you have still failed to provide a photo of the vignes larges with the questionable grapes. These photos are still not conclusive in my opinion.'    

 Img_3525: 15.09.46: vignes larges with some 13 bunches 

Img_3526: 15.09.58 vignes larges with some 13 (14? – difficult to tell exactly) bunches 

Img_3527: 15.10.33: two vignes larges with generous fruit

  

Img_3528: 15.11.10 Vignes larges with considerable fruit, with next terrace close by – a step down, and then view to south bank of the Layon

Img_3529: 15.11.46: Detail of vine and grapes with vignes larges and 

the South bank of Layon in distance

Six photos (Img_3524 - Img_3529) taken in sequence with three minutes and 25 seconds separating the first and last. This sequence shows that the photos were taken in the upper part of Domaine des Baumard's terraces that overlook the Layon. These vignes larges are distinctive – the only other vignes vignes that I know of are those of Domaine des Baumard in the Clos du Papillon in Savennières, which is not that far away but would take considerably more than three minutes to get there and back. The unthinkable alternative is that I have somehow manipulated the camera settings – both timings and image numbers – in order to frame Florent and Jean Baumard.      

Millésime Bio: sweet Loires rare in 2012

2011 Quarts de Chaume, Grand Cru, Château de Plaisance

None made here in 2012 but the fine and beautifully balanced 2011 makes up for this.

 Guy Rochais, Château de Plaisance, with his 2011 Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru

(Unfortunately I misjudged the depth of field required to get clear view of label 

so took a close up of the bottle as well)

Had a good day at Millésime Bio yesterday and managed to see quite a number of the Loire producers present at the Salon. Unfortunately as I have to head back to London today I will have to try and catch up with as many of the rest as I can this coming weekend in Angers.

Naturally conversations often turned to discusssing what a pig of year 2012 was weatherwise, although there are some good wines from the vintage, so it shouldn't be written off. Volumes in many places are low to very low. It is clear that very little sweet wine was made in 2012 or should have been made. A number of producers including Patrick Baudouin, Philippe Delesvaux, Pierre Chauvin and Eddy Oosterlinck said that they hadn't made any due to the October downpour. 

Philippe Delesvaux: "The sugar content actually went backwards. I had grapes that were at 13% natural when the rains started that had dropped to 9% when the rain eventually stopped." Understandably Philippe decided it was impossible to try to leave the grapes in the hope it might eventually be possible to make any sweet wine in 2012.

A few basic Coteaux du Layon cuvées have been made but will be surprising if anyone has managed to make anything more prestigious where the appellation requires a higher level of natural sugar. Even making a generic Layon may well have required the assistance of additional bagged up sunshine! With the recent Quarts de Chaume décret requiring a minimum of 18% potential it will be amazing if anyone managed make any in 2012.

Fortunately there are some very fine sweet wines from the 2010 and 2011 vintages to enjoy. 

  

Sancerre – beware producers threatening price rises

2012 is not a cross for Sancerre to bear!

Over the past week two significant and well respected UK importers have independently told me that they have been told by one of their Sancerre suppliers that due to the well publicised short harvest in 2012 they will regrettably be obliged to raise their prices. 

I'm sure that this is not the general message from Sancerre – just a few producers. Sancerre did very well in 2012: they mainly picked before the good weather, which started in late July, broke at the end of September and they enjoyed a near normal yield of around 50 hl/ha. They can have few complaints as they weren't one of the Loire regions hit by a tiny 2012 harvest. Muscadet, for example, averaged 22-23 hl/ha. 

Some Sancerre producers may need to raise their prices but this is unlikely to be due to a small crop in 2012. Instead they may have a new sophisticated piece of winery equipment, new Jaguar or a de luxe Mercedes lawnmower to pay for or be going through a messy and expensive divorce...   

The same would also apply to Pouilly-Fumé.      

2012 Loire – the official view from the Central Vineyards

Two hoddies@at Vincent Pinard in Bué

Here is the official view of the 2012 vintage in the Central Vineyaards from the Bureau interprofessionel des Vins du Centre. It confirms that the Central Vineyards enjoyed a Sarkozy vintage in 2012 – those who have will get more. The region was lucky to have been less affected, with the exception of Reuilly, by the frost of the night of 16th/17th April. This report was prepared by Bertrand Daulny of SICAVAC.

 

Certainly the fruit as well as the pressed juice was very clean when we visited during the harvest. 

Des vins complets et racés 

'La campagne viticole

Dans un hiver 2011-2012 sec et relativement doux, la seule période de froid significative a eu lieu au cours de la première quinzaine de février, occasionnant la destruction de quelques bourgeons. 

Le débourrement fut précoce, de fin mars à début avril. Le retournement climatique à partir du 10 avril entraîna une longue période de trois mois globalement froids et humides. Quelques bourgeons furent à nouveau gelés en avril. Petit à petit, l’avance du début de saison s’est perdue. 

La floraison s’est déroulée avec environ une semaine de retard s’étendant sur trois semaines. La coulure et le millerandage ont sévi de façon irrégulière. Les rouges ont été assez touchés alors que les blancs ont bien résisté. La pression des maladies cryptogamiques, mildiou et oïdium, a été forte mais bien maîtrisée dans l’ensemble. 

Une nouvelle inversion de climat s’est produit mi-juillet avec la fin des précipitations. A partir du 10 août, les températures sont redevenues supérieures aux normales. Ces conditions climatiques sont arrivées juste au bon moment pour  provoquer l’arrêt de la croissance des rameaux, accélérer et resserrer la véraison. La sécheresse a perduré jusqu’au 20 septembre où on a commencé à constater des blocages de maturation dans les jeunes parcelles sur les sols sensibles. Du 21 au 27 septembre des pluies importantes (50 à 60 mm) sont arrivées à point nommé pour relancer la maturation.

  

La maturation

Les conditions de maturation ont été très favorables. La sécheresse a permis la concentration en sucres. 

Cette évolution a été stoppée par les pluies des derniers jours de vendanges. Les nuits fraîches ont préservé le charnu et l’acidité (teneurs élevées en acide tartrique et normales en acide malique) tandis que les arômes se sont développés lentement et tout en finesse.  L’ensoleillement a été bénéfique pour la couleur et les tanins des rouges, mais également pour les arômes. 

Grâce aux peaux épaisses, l’état sanitaire est resté excellent, ce qui a laissé toute la sérénité nécessaire aux vignerons pour attendre que les raisins soient bien mûrs.

Les vendanges

L’étalement de la floraison s’est retrouvé à la maturité. Reuilly a entamé la campagne le 15 septembre par les pinots gris. 

Les parcelles les plus précoces de Sancerre étaient récoltées dès le 20 septembre mais c’est le premier octobre que les vendanges ont véritablement débuté sur l’ensemble des vignobles du Centre-Loire. 

Le suivi précis des maturations technologique, aromatique et phénolique, parcelle par parcelle, est aujourd’hui bien ancré. Aussi, de nombreux vignerons ont récolté de façon discontinue, en cohérence avec les différences d’évolution des terroirs.

Les premières impressions du millésime

Les vins affichent une plénitude et une concentration remarquables. Les bouches ont de superbes expressions, avec des équilibres différents selon la date de vendange : les premiers raisins récoltés donnent des vins plus incisifs, puis au fur et à mesure de la maturation, le gras se développe et s’amplifie.

Les blancs exhalent de superbes arômes. Bien ciselés, ils sont à la fois délicats et complexes. Les nuances de fleurs blanches et de fruits frais dominent. Elles peuvent être agrémentées de notes épicées ou de subtiles touches végétales. Dotés d’une grande pureté, les blancs ont à la fois de la fraîcheur et du charnu.

Les rouges montrent des robes profondes, rubis plus ou moins nuancées de violet. Avec les extractions douces qu’on pratique aujourd’hui, leurs tanins sont mesurés. Le fruité gourmand des raisins se retrouve dans les vins dont la bouche, en fonction des origines, est dense à séveuse.

Contact Presse :

Benoît ROUMET

benoit.roumet@vins-centre-loire.com'