Bruno Curassier (Bléré): Portes Ouvertes 2 et 3 décembre 2017

 
From Bruno Curassier (Domaine de la Grange)

'Chers amis
Nous avons le plaisir de vous inviter à nos journées «Cave ouverte»
qui se dérouleront les 2 et 3 décembre prochain.

Vous pourrez déguster les vins du domaine accompagnés de produits du terroir proposés par des artisans locaux comme :

• La maison Dufrexe et ses produits autour du canard
• Les confiseries de Mr Perrin De Vernoil Le Fourrier
• Les miels de Jojo l'apiculteur
• Les escargots de «L’escargolette»
• Les charcuteries et fromages Corse de Alain Sémion

Cette année, nous avons le plaisir d’accueillir une exposition du photographe JF Souchard ainsi que le créateur de meubles Renaud Bellon.

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. 

Deux régales – 2005 Côt, Clos Roche Blanche + 2014 Saumur Champigny, Château de Villeneuve

 2005 Côt, AC Touraine, Clos Roche Blanche 

2014 Saumur-Champigny, Château de Villeneuve 

2005 Côt, AC Touraine, Clos Roche Blanche 

Last night we opened a bottle 2005 Côt, also sometimes called Malbec outside the Loire, from the Clos Roche Blanche in Mareuil (Cher Valley), Catherine and Didier have now retired but this 2005 is a great testament to them. Over time the tannins of the Côt have softened, the 2005 has richness, floral notes – violets and in the finish a freshness – the hallmark of the Loire. 

It matched perfectly the wonderfully good calves liver from the Criée de la Boucherie in Bléré. 

Too presumptuous to hail this 2005 as a Grand Vin de Loire?  

2014 Saumur-Champigny, Château de Villeneuve 
Very different in approach to the 2005 Côt, this domaine Saumur-Champigny from the always impressive Jean-Pierre Chevallier is definitely ready to drink now. Unlike the Côt it doesn't need time in bottle to show its best. The 2014 has  softly textured black fruits, very soft tannins and a lovely balance. The level in the bottle or decanter falls so quickly that you fear that the container is cracked and leaking.

Jean-Pierre also makes a Vieilles Vignes and his Grand Clos. Both are more structured and need time to show their best. Equally they are likely to age a long time. I suspect that the straight Saumur-Champigny will age well but why not enoy its delicious fruit now?       

2017 Loire – flowering starting

Vines in AC Touraine above the village 

of Francueil, Indre et Loire 

Not yet flowering but probably not far off

Speaking today to Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut, Brissac-Quincé, Anjou) and Philippe Boucard (Lamé Delisle Boucard, Bourgueil) both confirmed that flowering is now underway in their vineyards. Although not as early as in 2011, the fact that flowering has started before the end of May indicates that the 2017 vintage will be quite early. Philippe estimated that they will be picking their Cabernet Franc around 20th September.
 

The good news is that the weather for the moment is warm and settled. There will still be the problem of a marked difference in maturity for those badly frosted and who are relying on second generation bunches, which won't flower for some time yet.  

Fingers crossed that the good weather holds!  

Lunch in the footsteps of Henry James

Le Bon Laboureur – long established and easily 
the best restaurant and hotel 
in the popular village of Chenonceaux 

On our last Monday at the end of our recent stay in the Loire we spoiled ourselves by lunching at Le Bon Laboureur in Chenonceaux. Here we were following in the footsteps of the writer Henry James, who was born in America but who spent much of the latter part of his life in Europe. In his Little Tour in France James describes a very comfortable and congenial meal, in his case dinner, he and his companions enjoyed at Le Bon Laboureur:

A Little Tour in France by Henry James
(originally published as a serial in 1883-1884)

Chapter 7

Chenonceaux

Here are two extracts that feature Le Bon Laboureur as it was towards the end of the 19th Century

Extract 1:
'In going from Tours you leave the valley of the Loire and enter that of the Cher, and at the end of about an hour you see the turrets of the castle on your right, among the trees, down in the meadows, beside the quiet little river. The station and the village are about ten minutes’ walk from the château, and the village contains a very tidy inn, where, if you are not in too great a hurry to commune with the shades of the royal favourite and the jealous queen, you will perhaps stop and order a dinner to be ready for you in the evening.'

In between this extract and the one below Henry James describes his visit the Château de Chenonceaux. He spells both the village and the château ending in an x. Today the château is written without an x. Although one might be inclined to think that James made an error in adding an x to the château this may not be the case as some of the pictures showing the château in the past use an x in the spelling.

Wikipedia, as opposed to Wikileaks, suggests that it was Louise Dupin de Francueil, the château's owner during the French Revolution, who dropped the x in order to show that the château was royal. Apparently there are no official papers to confirm this story. However, James was writing years after the Revolution.

Anyway it strikes me as rather strange that in revolutionary times you would want to stress a building's royal pedigree. Instead it seems to me much more logical and more prudent not to draw attention to your splendid château spanning the Cher in case marauding revolutionaries either set up camp there or razed the building to the ground. Anyway what do I know for Chenonceau, however it was spelled, survived the Revolution unscathed. 

 

The church in neighbouring Francueil

Extract 2:
'Venice a year and a half before. We took our way back to the Bon Laboureur, and waited in the little inn-parlour for a late train to Tours. We were not impatient, for we had an excellent dinner to occupy us; and even after we had dined we were still content to sit awhile and exchange remarks upon the superior civilisation of France. Where else, at a village inn, should we have fared so well? Where else should we have sat down to our refreshment without condescension? There were a couple of countries in which it would not have been happy for us to arrive hungry, on a Sunday evening, at so modest an hostelry. At the little inn at Chenonceaux the cuisine was not only excellent, but the service was graceful. We were waited on by mademoiselle and her mamma; it was so that mademoiselle alluded to the elder lady as she uncorked for us a bottle of Vouvray mousseux. We were very comfortable, very genial; we even went so far as to say to each other that Vouvray mousseux was a delightful wine. From this opinion indeed one of our trio differed; but this member of the party had already exposed herself to the charge of being too fastidious by declining to descend from the carriage at Chaumont and take that back-stairs view of the castle.'

•••

Back in February we three were certainly 'very comfortable', 'very genial' and 'the cuisine was not only excellent, but the service (led by Fabrice and his team) was graceful'. I'm not sure that James' 'so modest an hostelry' is still apt. The 21st century Le Bon Laboureur is very comfortable with an airy and light dining room. There was a time was it was a little dark and gloomy but that has long gone. It is true, however, the building is modest in comparison to Touraine's grand châteaux hotels like Artigny and La Rochecotte  but Le Laboureur has a Michelin star and they don't.

We chose the Menu du Marché, which is available only at lunchtime and not on Sunday. At 32€ for three fine listed courses it is excellent value, especially by the time you add in all the extra treats – canapés, mise en bouche, pre-dessert et mignardises – it is more like eight or nine courses!

   Excellent 2010 100% Côt (outside Touraine sometimes called Malbec)
from Domaine de la Chapinière, AC Touraine

First courses:

Tartine de légumes, magret fumé, faisselle de chèvre

Velouté de lentilles, champignons & lardons

Main course:

Epaule d'agneau confite 72 heures, jus d'agneau et crème d'ail

Desserts:

Praliné-chocolat, crème Amaretto

Gratin aux agrumes & ananas, sorbet orange sanguine

Touraine – memories of 8th June 2011 in Cher Valley

 Flowering was very early in 2011. Grapes already 

well formed by 8th June. 

In both 2013 and 2016 flowering 

hadn't started by this date

Recalling visits Nigel Wilkinson (RSJ Restaurant) and I made to Noëlla Morantin and Vincent Roussely in June 2011. 

Noëlla 

 Noëlla Morantin

 Nigel Wilkinson tasting and noting 

Terre Blanche 

•••

Vincent Roussely:

 Vincent in his temporary shop in Angé – 

he has now moved into renovated premises

 Nigel and Vincent in Le Clos vineyard

 that overlooks the village of Angé

 Vincent's cellars in Angé

 Hole straight down from vineyard above 

 Some of the vehicles in Vincent's father's 

collection of old lorries and cars

 

 

2016 Loire harvest – Chardonnay @Epeigné-les-Bois

Harvesting the Chardonnay for Crémant de Loire 

Before heading the Pays Nantais to get an impression of 2016 in Muscadet, we stopped off quickly to see James Marchais and his equipe picking the Chardonnay for Crémant de Loire.

Unfortunately as in many places in the Loire this year James was hit by frost at the end of April, so this is a decidedly small harvest. Each vine has only two or three bunches – if you are lucky.

 Some good quality grapes but few 

and far between – tiny yield

 James picking

 Matching shoes and trousers

    

A few forthcoming 2016 Loire dates for your diary: Bourgueil, Petit Thouars, VitiLoire

 Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th March 2016: 

Salon des Vins et du terroir @Romoratin

30 exhibitors from across France 

including Lamé Delisle Boucard (Bourgueil)

3€ entry

19th March: 14th Fête des vins de Bourgueil

Boulevard Heurteloup, Tours  

Some 50 Bourgueil producers showing their wines 

Château Petit Thouars: Portes Ouvertes 

Easter weekend: 26th to 28th March 2016

 

Vincent Roussely: Portes Ouvertes – 11th - 12 th April

 Vincent's father has a remarkable collection of old cars and lorries

Vincent Roussely held his annual portes ouvertes on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th April – a chance to taste Vincent's 2014 Sauvignon Blanc and Gamay. His 2014 Le Clos Sauvignon Blanc (€7 at the domaine) is attractively easy drinking, clean and lightly grassy. Vincent's superior and later bottled cuvée of Sauvignon Blanc – Espirit du Clos – is still 2013 and has more weight, concentration and good length (€8 at the domaine). 

Bottled in March the 2014 Canaille Gamay was picked in mid-October has lovely juicy fruit with a tough of spice. Vincent also has Favourite, which is a Blanc de Blancs Méthode Traditionnelle made from 100% Chardonnay from vines at Château de Menars near Blois, which used to belong to Madame de Pompadour. Toasty from 24-months sur latte and non dosé.      

   

 Vincent Roussely 

(the domaine in in the village of Angé)

(above and below)

 Vincent and Amélie

Vincent's young assistant