Cousin-Florent: compare and contrast

Olivier Cousin: Pur Breton  (vin de France)

Paysan angevin: Vin d'ici

This is lovely juicy, deep coloured, softly black fruited pure Cabernet Franc from Olivier Cousin. Although it isn't complex, this is certainly a wine to share with friends. This bottle was supplied by Les Caves de Pyrène. 

Olivier Cousin@The Real Wine Fair 2013

Olivier will be at the RAW wine fair  on Sunday 19th and Monday 20th May. He is one of the producers to bring their wine over from France by sailing boat (Mil'Pat), which is due to arrive on Thursday afternoon at St Katherine's Dock.

Cousin-Florent

On October 2nd 2013 Olivier Cousin will be before a court in Angers facing trial in a case brought by the French fraud authorities for having put Anjou Pur Breton on a vin de table label. Undoubtedly a heinous crime and one that if it goes unpunished has the potential to entirely undermine the French appellation system!

It is instructive to compare the zeal with which Olivier Cousin has been pursued by the French authorities, who doubtless find Cousin 'a pain in the arse' and their failure to mount any investigation into the miraculous 79 hectolitres of 2012 'Quarts de Chaume' made by Florent Baumard (Domaine des Baumard). Presumably it is all down to connections! See Florent's frozen miracle here. 

Domaine des Baumard, Quarts de Chaume 2012: grapes on Baumard's vignes larges 

planted on the terraces overlooking the Layon (above and below)

Photos taken on afternoon of 9th October. Baumard's first picking 15th/16th October, 

final tri 25th October

Florent Baumard took objection to my frozen miracle post and replied with What can i say. In his response Florent likened the decision of when to pick to that of a talented chef: 

'The photos posted on his blog purporting to show unripe grapes cannot be conclusive evidence of the average maturity of the parcels in question. The factors that go into the decision to harvest and selectively pick – at least in our vineyards – does not rest solely on theoretical calculations but also more delicate tools: look, taste, local knowledge, observion, and instinct.

This decision is not an easy one to make, and is comparable to when a talented chef instinctively knows to take something out of the oven or start cooking the next part of the meal.'

Declarations of 2012 Quarts de ChaumeDomaine des Baumard: 79 hls from under 5ha (Florent Baumard has declined to answer questions on the precise area declared)  

Château de Varière: 10hls from 1.25ha-1.30ha (picked on 8th November)
Pierre Aguilas: none declared
Patrick Baudouin: none declared
Château Bellerive: none declared (not possible due to weather conditions)
Domaine de la Bergerie: none declared
Domaine FL: none declared 
Vignobles Laffourcade: none declared
Château de la Mulonnière (Guy Saget): none declared 
Domaine du Petit Metris (Joseph Renou et fils): none declared 
Château Pierre-Bise:none declared
Pithon-Paillé: none declared 
Château de Plaisance (Guy Rochais): none declared
Château de Suronde: none declared

What can I say?

 

  

Jean Baumard: 2012 Quarts de Chaume – 'grace à la cryoselection'

'Grace à la cryoextraction'

I'm delighted to report that Jean Baumard and I are in agreement. This may strike some as surprising but we both maintain that the Domaine des Baumard were only able to make a 2012 Quarts de Chaume 'grace à la cryoselection'.

In a letter sent to Didier Paillat of Le Courrier de l'Ouest on 29th October 2012, Jean Baumard asserts that: 

'Sur notre vignoble, en raison de l’état des raisins et des prévisions météorologiques , nous avons jugé que nous pouvions satisfaire à la condition requise de 298 grammes de sucre par litre de moût en toute légalité grâce à la cryosélection et éviter ainsi le risque d’apparition de faux goûts éventuels dus à une pourriture continuant à se développer.'

Jean Baumard's letter of 29.10.2012 is reproduced in full below but it is significant that he makes no mention of the décret's requirement that the grapes have to be harvested when they are at surmaturité on the vines not in the pneumatic press after cryoselection. The required '298 grammes de sucre par litre de moût' has been achieved 'grâce a la cryoselection'.

Cryoselection is defined by the OIV (Office International de la Vigne et du Vin) in their International Code of Oenological Practices (1.10 CONTROL OF THE SUGAR CONTENT OF THE HARVESTED GRAPES (OENO  2/93) (OENO  2/02) thus:

d) Cryoselection in the vineyard without recourse to physical procedures: Prescription consisting of letting grapes partially freeze on the vine, then pressing them at low temperatures to produce a must with a higher sugar content. (The traditional and natural way of making ice wine. Jim)

e) Cryoselection by physical procedures: Prescription consisting of partially freezing grapes in a cold room, then pressing at a low temperature in order to produce a must with a higher sugar content. (The use of cryoselection in a cold room or using a freezer. Jim) 

{(e) Cryosélection par procédés physiques: Procédé consistant à congeler partiellement les raisins en chambre froide, suivi d’un pressurage à basse température, afin d’obtenir un moût plus riche en sucre.}

The letter from Jean Baumard: 

 

Jean BAUMARD                               Le 29 octobre 2012
49100 ANGERS
 
Monsieur Didier PAILLAT
LE  COURRIER  DE  L’ OUEST

4, boulevard Albert Blanchoin
BP 10728
49007 Angers Cedex 01

Cher Monsieur,

         Je lis dans le Courrier de l’Ouest du 27 octobre, dans un sous-article intitulé :

           Y  AURA-T-IL  DU  QUARTS  DE  CHAUME  CETTE  ANNEE    ?

les  phrases suivantes : « Le cahier des charges imposé sur l’aire d’appellation (une petite cinquantaine d’hectares) est draconien : 18°5 à chaque passage, pas de chaptalisation, pas d’osmose et pas de cryosélection ». « Aujourd’hui, aucun de nous ne peut récolter », disait Claude Papin jeudi . »

         Ces informations étant erronées, je vous demande de les rectifier le plus tôt possible dans une édition de diffusion comparable. Car les faits sont différents et les voici :

D’abord, la cryosélection n’est pas interdite. Le cahier des charges emploie le terme général de « tout traitement thermique de la vendange ». Il feint ainsi d’ignorer les travaux remarquables de Messieurs Chauvet et Sudraud dans les années 1980. Ces travaux connus d’abord sous le nom de « cryoextraction sélective » puis ensuite par ceux plus exacts de « cryosélection »  ou de « pressurage à basse température » sont pourtant précisément l’objet direct de la restriction portée au chapitre XI, en 3° du cahier des charges. La déontologie exigerait que l’origine de ces travaux universitaires et scientifiques soit clairement énoncée.

     Le texte exact du cahier des charges indique : « la disposition relative à l’interdiction de tout traitement thermique de la vendange faisant intervenir une température inférieure à-5° s’applique à compter de la récolte 2020 ».
Ayant expérimenté le processus de cryosélection en grandeur nature depuis 1989, je puis vous affirmer qu’il est toujours légal en 2012 .
Ensuite, le terme osmose ne se comprend que s’il est complété du terme inverse. Cet oubli de l’adjectif est à signaler.

Autrement plus grave est d’affirmer « Aujourd’hui, aucun de nous ne peut récolter », car  le terme « ne peut » est  inapplicable à la date du jeudi 25 octobre en raison du ban des vendanges ouvert avant cette date. 

    Le cahier des charges indique : « Ne peuvent être considérés comme étant à bonne maturité les raisins présentant une richesse en sucre inférieure à 298 grammes par litre de moût ».
     Sur notre vignoble, en raison de l’état des raisins et des prévisions météorologiques , nous avons jugé que nous pouvions satisfaire à la condition requise de 298 grammes de sucre par litre de moût en toute légalité grâce à la cryosélection et éviter ainsi le risque d’apparition de faux goûts éventuels dus à une pourriture continuant à se développer. 
     Nous avons donc effectué une deuxième et dernière trie et les caractérisques organoleptiques du moût obtenu sont prometteuses. Donc,
 
IL  Y  AURA DU  QUARTS  DE  CHAUME  CETTE  ANNEE.
 
Les propos sur la production de Quarts de Chaume en 2012 par Monsieur Claude Papin n’engagent que lui. D’ailleurs, je souhaite que les conditions météorologiques de la semaine en cours permettent à tous les producteurs de redevenir optimistes.
 
Croyez, Cher Monsieur, en l’expression de mes sentiments bien sincères.

Jean BAUMARD

Where Jean Baumard and I would appear disagree is over the legality of this process with respect to the Quarts de Chaume if the conditions of relating to surmaturité are not met. 

I find it a little curious that M. Baumard does not appear to have read with full attention the Cahier des Charges for the 2011 Quarts de Chaume décret. The Cahier des Charges bans the lowering of the temperature of harvested grapes below -5˚C (Section: IX. C). It does, however, offer a derogation until the 2020 vintage under the XI – Mesures transitoires para 3˚.

For the use of cryoselection to be legal ('en toute legalité') the average potential of the grapes when harvested has to be 298 grams of sugar by litre of must from grapes harvested at surmaturité. 'Les raisins sont alors récoltés by tries successives manuelles au sein d'une même parcelle avec une richesse mimimales en sucre de 298 grammes par litre.' Rather than natural surmaturité on the vine, it was, in the words of Jean Baumard, 'cryoselection' that produced 'a must with a higher sugar content' (OIV's definition) that gave Domaine des Baumard with the required minimum of 298 grams sugar of per litre. After all had the Baumards had satisfied the décret's criteria of surmaturité on the vine, why would they need to rely on cryoselection? 

Thus it would appear that Domaine des Baumard has not made any Quarts de Chaume in 2012.  

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). 

Florent Baumard: 'What Can I Say?'

Florent Baumard at the 2012 Salon des Vins de Loire

I'm pleased to see that Florent and Isabelle Baumard (Domaine des Baumard) have responded on to my recent posts about their 2012 Quarts de Chaume:

‘What Can I say?
The wine journalist Jim Budd has waged a campaign against Domaine des Baumard for 3 years now. The thrust of his ire is the concept of the innovative cold pressing technique and what he perceives to be an injust advantage that Domain Baumard has over other growers in the region.’ 

I was hoping to be able to link directly to their response but as it is a pdf document Google Blogger has unfortunately declined to oblige. However, links to the French and English versions can be found through the Domaine Baumard account on twitter here. 

I also welcome their invitation to see the 2013 Quarts de Chaume harvest at Domaine des Baumard. I continue to be happy to meet Florent. Indeed I tried to make arrangements to meet him either in March/April or June on the first morning of this year's Salon des Vins de Loire.   

It would be good if Florent Baumard took this opportunity to give a little more detail about their 2012 harvest in the Quarts de Chaume: 

a) At the time of picking what was the average potential alcohol of the grapes from the 1er tri picked 15th or 16th October? 

b) At the time of picking what was the average potential alcohol of the grapes from the 2eme tri picked around 25th October?

c) What percentage of your total Quarts de Chaume harvest did the 1er tri represent?

d) What was the total volume of grapes picked during the two tris and from what area of vines?
 
e) What is the exact volume of 2012 Quarts de Chaume that you have declared and from what area of vines?

f) You say: ‘Judicious and laborious manual selection, in conjunction with cold pressing, has produced juices in 2012 that meet the criteria of the AOC.'

Does 'in conjunction with cold pressing' mean that without cold pressing the grapes would not have met the minimum criteria of the AOC? 

I gather that Chris Kissack (The Wine Doctor) has also asked Florent questions on 2012 yields, picking dates and potential alcohol etc. 

Some inaccuracies and misconceptions in the Baumard response:

Right of reply 
‘What a strange world we live in where a journalist can defame a business based upon spurious technical points of which he has absolutely no practical understanding. Surely it is normal practise, if not common decency, for an honest journalist to offer the right to reply before publishing such damaging allegations?'

 

 

Florent Baumard was offered the right to reply before I posted Baumard's frozen 'miracle'. I sent Florent an email at 21.16 on 7th February 2013 detailing what I was proposing to post. He replied as follows at 8.16 on 8th February 2013: 

'Monsieur BUDD,

Vous êtes manifestement inconscient de l'inconvenance de votre démarche et du ton que vous employez.

Vous semblez disposer de beaucoup de temps, pour ma part, j'interromps là tout échange, j'ai du travail.

Florent Baumard'

I replied at 9.39 thanking him for his response.

'no practical understanding'

Although I would not claim the experience that Florent Baumard and other producers of sweet wine in the Loire have, I am, after more than 20 years reporting on the Loire, able to recognise the difference between green grapes and those at 'surmaturité'.  

It would be helpful to know if Florent Baumard considers whether Ronald S. Jackson in Wine Science: Principles and Applications (published in 2008) provides an accurate explanation of cryoextraction? 

'As with reverse osmosis, cryoextraction can be used with immature grapes, or berries swollen with water after rains. It also may be used to augment the sugar and flavor content of grapes in the production of sweet table wines. Cryoextractionis the technical equivalent of icewine production, except that overmature grapes are not used. Cryoextraction involves freezing the grapes, and the subsequent crushing and pressing of the partially frozen grapes. As the water in grapes cools and forms ice, dissolved sub-stances become increasingly concentrated in the remaining liquid. Because berries of greater maturity (greater sugar content) freeze more slowly than immature grapes, preferential extraction of juice from the more mature grapes can be achieved. Although temperatures down to 15 ºC increase solute concentration, temperatures between 5 ºC and 10 ºC are generally sufficient to remove unwanted water. Cryoextraction appears not to produce undesirable sensory consequences.'

Or this from Nicolas Quillé of Pacific Rim: '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.'

'Vin De Glacière – Wine from the Ice Box December 6th 2012
'We recently received a rave review for our 2011 Vin De Glacière (VDG for short) from the Wine Spectator (90 points) and this reminded me that I have not done a post on the VDG since 2008! It is time to correct this dry spell as we prepare for our 26th vintage of VDG!

If you are just now joining our program, the VDG is a cryo-extracted wine. Cryo-extraction is a technique mimicking naturally frozen ice wine. The handpicked grapes for cryo-extracted wine are stored in cold storage while ice wines (which have been made for over 200 years) use Mother Nature to concentrate grape sugar. 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.

There are several advantages to the cryo-extraction technique versus the true ice-wine method. Firstly, making ice wine in Germany or Canada (the only two countries that have laws insuring that you are getting a “true” ice wine) is a bit like playing Russian roulette; some years you get a good frost, some you don’t and you lose the crop. Secondly, with cryo-extraction, the timing of the frost is predictable; no need to get up at midnight on Christmas day (though making a “Christwein” is somewhat romantic at first glance) and it is less likely to have half the crop eaten by birds. Predictability allows a winery to get a better yield every year, which should be reflected in the price (our VDG sells for $14 vs $100 for a true ice wine). Thirdly, the chemistry is different with cryo-extracted wine; the wines will be a bit tarter (picked earlier) and less “funky” (no botrytis and other fungal influence). We actually make both styles and but for an everyday pleasure, the VDG is perfect for the price.'

After 25 years does Nicolas Quillé, whose CV includes time of general manager at Randall Grahm's Bonny Doon, still not understand the process that allows him to make his Vin De Glacière? 

Photos 
From the French version of Florent's response:
'Il ne peut être tiré des photos de Monsieur Budd aucune conclusion probante. Ni de leur localisation.' 

The photos I took on the afternoon of 9th October 2012, along with the published camera data showing the time they were taken, indicate very clearly where they were taken. 'Ni de leur localisation' is Florent Baumard accusing me of manipulating photos to 'defame' Domaine des Baumard?

Incidentally the first photos of grapes from the Domaine des Baumard were taken and posted in 2010 not in 2009. 

'certainly instigated by other parties'

'This has led to a campaign of intimidation and defamation, via the internet and social media, disseminated by Mr Budd, but certainly instigated by other parties.'

This is fanciful nonsense. I decide where I go in the Loire, who I talk to, what photos to take and what I post on Jim's Loire. I am, of course, aware that relations are not entirely cordial between the Baumards and some of the other Quarts de Chaume producers. 

The reason I have posted on Domaine des Baumard and, in particular, their 2012 Quarts de Chaume is that they are the sole domaine to have declared a substantial quantity (77-79hls) of Quarts de Chaume in 2012 and the sole declaring domaine to have picked their entire crop in October. Château la Varière, the other estate to have declared in 2012, picked on 8th November.  

Also the Baumards are mounting a legal challenge to the November 2011 Quarts de Chaume décret that created the Loire's first Grand Cru. Surely a legitimate story to follow? 

The Quarts de Chaume is a very special site. I have made no secret that I fully support the moves embodied in the November 2011 décret to make the regulations more rigorous than before. With small yields, fine vineyard management and by taking risks it possible to make great sweet wine here in most years. If that means in very testing vintages like 2012, no Quarts de Chaume is made then so be it. What is in the bottle should reflect what was on the vine, so I'm certainly against the use of cryoextraction or cold-pressing (whatever it is called) in the Quarts de Chaume. It is simply not relevant whether or not it is used by some of the great estates in Sauternes/Barsac. The Loire does not have to ape any other region.

 

Previous posts on Baumard's 2012 Quarts de Chaume: 

Baumard's frozen miracle and in French 

Horsemeat and Baumard's Quarts de Chaume 

My inquisitorial questions to Jean Baumard 

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

Florent KO's the Baumards' Grand Cru legal challenge and in French.