Charles Hours' 1994 Clos Urolat, Jurançon with foie gras

About ten days ago we had a couple of friends round for dinner on the basis that one of the friends promised to bring some foie gras. She kept to her promise, so it was a question of what to drink with the foie gras. 

We could have gone for the traditional choice of Sauternes but these can be just too rich for the equally rich foie gras. Instead something with some acidity and freshness in the finish I think is much better. I could, of course, gone for something from the Loire from Vouvray, Montlouis or Anjou but instead chose to go for Charles Hours impeccable 1994 Clos Urolat Jurançon. 

The 1994 restrained, honeyed richness balanced with acidity in the finish was an ideal match with the foie gras. It was also a fine foil for a later cheese course, especially the Stilton.  

The dry and sweet wines of Jurançon have something in common with Loire Chenins. They both can age brilliantly. Charles Hours' 1994 (22 years old) was still youthful and will comfortably last 20 or 30 years more probably longer. This bottle had been kept in a London flat – not ideal storage conditions and the 1994 was still in excellent condition.         

2014 Ballet d'Octobre, Jurançon, Domaine Cauhapé

We enjoyed this attractive light sweet 2014 Jurançon from Henri Ramonteau's Domaine Cauhapé with our cheese course last night. Made from 70% Gros Manseng and 30% Petit Manseng picked at the end of October. It was particularly good as you might expect  with some Stilton but also worked with Duckett's Caerphilly, which is made in Somerset.  

Although the back label claims that it would match desserts, I fancy this would be difficult as I'm not convinced that the Ballet d'Octobre is sufficiently sweet to match many desserts.    

(This was an unsolicited sample.)

Pierre Luneau's 2008 Clos des Allées kicks off evening@Terroirs

2008 Clos des Allées, Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine, Domaine Luneau-Papin

Last night several of the judges@the Decanter World Wine Awards met up for an evening in Terroirs, a fashionable wine bar near Charing Cross. To start the evening with distinguished wine writers:Andrew Jefford (now returned from his year in Australia), John Livingston-Learmonth (King Rhône and betting-aficionado extraordinaire), Anthony Rose (wine correspondent for The Independent) and Giles Macdonogh (author of many books on wine and history).

Clos des Allées from old vines grown on miscaschist is frequently one of my favourite Luneau Muscadets and this concentrated yet fresh 2008 was no exception, particularly as the April frost severely reduced the yields. We followed this with an old favourite – the 2005 Vitage Vielh Jurançon sec from Jean-Bernard Larrieu's Clos Lapeyre,

Then a couple of reds: juicy, easy drinking 2009 Vin de Petanque de Libian from the Mas Libian in the Coteaux de l'Ardèche and a fine and characterful 2008 Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, Brouilly from Jean-Claude Lapalu.

Most of us shared a generous selection of charcuterie including salami, duck rillettes and a paté of pork and pistachio nuts. For main course I had a very good boudin noir with a couple of fried eggs, mousserons and baby broad beans.  

Some links to add.

Weekend wines – L’Arpent Rouge 2007 Clos Roche Blanche and a cousin of Vouvray

2007 L'Arpent Rouge, AC Touraine, Clos Roche Blanche

One of my favourite Clos Roche Blanche wines is their L’Arpent Rouge made from Pineau d’Aunis (also called Chenin Noir). Unfortunately they don’t make it every year as the Pineau d’Aunis rosé has first call. Light bodied, juicy and spicy L’Arpent Rouge is a great summer wine. The 2007 is drinking really well now and has a particularly spicy character – certainly pepper, which is the signature note of Pineau d’Aunis – but also nutmeg and cinnamon. Delicious but I fear this was out last bottle and there was none made in 2008. Let’s hope Didier is able to make some in 2009!


1986 Clos Uroulat, Charles Hours, Jurançon
Made from Petit Manseng this has some similarities with a sweet Montlouis and Vouvray, especially with its clean and refreshing acidity in the finish and its ability to age. Sweet Jurançon is made through passerillage – the sun concentrating the grapes on the vines. The area does not get botrytis. The 1986 has a lovely bright mid-golden colour, rich apricot and honey flavours – perhaps softer toned than a Loire sweet Chenin of the same age. The finish is long and clean.

I’ve never had the chance to taste a really old Jurançon but there is no reason to believe that the 1986 wouldn’t go on for at least another 20 years at least. Served blind I’m sure I would confuse it with a Vouvray or Montlouis.

Charles Hours, Clos Uroulat

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La Grande Maison blogspot has an encouraging report on the green and vibrant vineyards around Le Puy-Notre-Dame.

White winemaker: Didier Dagueneau

A short piece I wrote for a feature on white winemakers in Decanter magazine in 2006

It is too easy to call Didier Dagueneau a rebel citing his long hair, the khaki ambulance with its red cross, naming the small road to his winery and house – Rue Ernesto Che Guevara, the vocal attacks on his fellow producers of Pouilly-Fumé and much else besides. But this trivialises his achievement.

The wines of Didier Dagueneau tower over the rest of the Pouilly-Fumé appellation, existing on a higher plain. He makes brilliantly three-dimensional wines, while too many of his fellow producers in Pouilly struggle to make it to two. The gulf between Dagueneau and most of the rest of Pouilly is not because Dagueneau has uniquely favourably sited vines. The reason is more prosaic and largely comes from the vineyards: low yields most importantly and then care to keep the vines in balance and do everything possible to make sure that the fruit ripens properly.

In the winery Dagueneau is as non-interventionalist as possible with wine moved by gravity. Oak is used only to give complexity and additional roundness. His best-known wines are Buisson Renard, Pur Sang and Silex as well as a very limited production called Asteroide from ungrafted vines. In 2002 he bought a vineyard in Jurançon, so that he could make sweet wines.

Chapel verticals of Didier Dagueneau with Billie

Didier D

Extract from a report on press trip to the Central Vineyards in September 2007, which first appeared in Circle Update, the newsletter of the Circle of Wine Writers.
We stopped at 3 Rue Ernesto Che Guevara, St Andelain – one of the communes of the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. No 3 houses the winery of Didier Dagueneau.

Didier is on benign form today. To say that Didier doesn’t suffer fools gladly is wide of the mark – he doesn’t suffer them full stop. However, he is clearly prepared to suffer us today. Over the years he has happily enraged his fellow Pouilly producers by pointing out their shortcomings in the vineyard, in particular high yields, to the media. Although they can complain it is difficult for them to argue as Dagueneau’s Pouilly Fumés are completely in a league of their own.

We opted to visit the vineyards first guided by the girl friend of Louis Benjamin, Didier’s eldest son. Driving through the Pouilly vineyards we could see patches ravaged by mildew where no leaves remained – not, I should add, ones belonging to Didier. We started with a look at Buisson Renard. Originally called Buisson Menard, Didier renamed it after Michel Bettane made a mistake in print calling it Buisson Renard. Then on to the La Folie vineyard, near the hamlet of Moussard, the source of Pur Sang as well as the famous patch of 18 rows of ungrafted vines that produce Didier’s Asteroide. Badly hit by hail it is estimated that there will only be 200 litres of Asteroid this year.

Didier put on a magnificent tasting in a restored former chapel that now serves as his imposing tasting room. Billie Holiday provided the soundtrack. He included the first vintage of his Sancerre – the minerally and restained 2005 Les Monts Damnés. “Difficult for a producer from Pouilly to have vines in Sancerre, impossible in Chavignol,” commented Didier. We tasted Pur Sang, a range of vintages of Silex, and three of Asteroide – all different reflecting the different terroir they come from. Not a dud among them, of course, just a question of picking out the finest of the very pure wines. I particularly liked the 2003 Asteroide – rich but with great tension in the long finish. The balance of the 2002 Silex was wonderful with a hint of that toastiness found in aged Hunter Semillons. 2002 is a really lovely Loire vintage. A 1984 Silex in magnum was also superb – “I like acidity,’ commented Didier. Also superb was the fresh and complex 1986 Silex.

We finished with Didier’s Jurançon, tasting the 2004 and 2005 Les Jardins Babylone from 100% Petit Manseng. The 2005 was clearly the superior wine with wonderful rich, pure fruit and a thrilling balance.

Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau

Didier Dagueneau, 3 Rue Ernesto Che Guevara, 58150 Saint Andelain. Tel: 03.86.39.15.62