Facel Vegas @Domaine de la Noblaie, Appellation Chinon

 Three classic cars @Noblaie, Ligré:

Two Facel Vegas and a Lagonda 

(above and below)

 Open top Lagonda  – not ideal with Wednesday 

afternoon's wet weather

A small group of classic car enthusiasts had asked me to set up some visits in the Loire. As they were staying at the Hotel de France in La Chartre-sur-le-Loir and wanted to visit red wine producers over two days, it made sense to organise visits in Bourgueil and Chinon. I have already posted Tuesdays visit to Lamé Delisle Boucard and subsequent lunch at Vincent le Cuisinier: here and here.  

Wednesday they were due to visit Château de Rivau in the morning but they only had time to have a quick glance before heading to the Auberge Val de Vienne in Sazilly for lunch where we met up for an excellent meal. 

Sign at the Auberge Val de Vienne 

 Philippe Alliet's 2014 Chinon Rosé – crisp and refreshing

Starters:

 Escargots

Langoustines

Mains:  

 Carré d'Agneau

Homard

2012 Pierre de Tuf, Chinon, Domaine de la Noblaie 

A successful 2012 that would benefit from further bottle age

Dessert:

Chocolate et framboise millefeuilles

Domaine de la Noblaie: 

Elodie Billard 

After lunch we drove the short distance from Sazilly to Ligré for our appointment at Domaine de la Noblaie. Here with Elodie Billard we tasted the attractive 2011 Touraine sparkling – Mon Ange – a blend of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, followed by clean and quite rich 2015 Goutte de Rosé with its pear aromas and flavours. Next up the 2015 Chinon Blanc with good weight and pineapple fruit before we moved on to the reds.

The 2015 Temps de Cerise sees no wood and is bottled in June – very much an easy drinking, early maturing wine. With its ripe black fruits this is very much a wine to enjoy with friends rather than one to analyse. The Cerise was followed by three 2014s – Les Blancs Manteaux, Les Chiens Chiens and Pierre de Tuf, which is vinified in an ancient vat carved out of tuffeau - the local limestone. All of these 2014s are matured in 500-litre barrels. They have attractive weight of ripe black fruits that is currently typical of the 2014s. They can be enjoyed now but will improve with further time in bottle. Of the three I had a preference for Les Chiens Chiens and Pierre de Tuf.  

We finished the tasting with a ten-year-old Pierre de Tuf – 2006. This had a lovely truffle and lightly mushroomy character along with some gamy notes, very attractive texture and noticeable structure in the finish. Although the 2006 vintage was a race against rot the reds have turned out well and are very good to drink now.     

Noblaie sign and the classic car line up

Domaine de la Noblaie, Chinon: Jérôme and Élodie Billard – new profile

Touraine:
Domaine de la Noblaie, Chinon

Jérôme and Élodie Billard

Jérôme Billard – October 2015
Vintage time with a very young 2015 white
 

 Vines close to the family house

  
Domaine de la Noblaie is in Ligré on the south side of the Vienne – the river that runs through Chinon and joins the Loire at Candes-Saint-Martin. The domaine can trace its history back several centuries – it appears on a Cassini map of 1765. 

In 1952 it was bought by Jacqueline and Pierre Manzagol. They were originally from Corréze and ran a dairy in Poissy, one of the western suburbs of Paris. On a visit to Chinon they fell in love with La Noblaie and bought it on the spot. In 1953 the domaine produced just three barriques from five hectares of vines.

In 1968 Madeleine, their daughter, married François Billard from Bordeaux who was trained in wine, so brought with him his wine knowledge and his contacts in the wine trade. François became a professor of oenology at the Lycée Viticole of  Montreuil Bellay running the domaine in tandem. One of his pupils was Christophe Daviau of Domaine de Bablut.

By 2000 the domaine had 12 hectares of vines. In 2003 Jérôme, Madeleine and François, returned from working at Pétrus and Dominus (California). The area under vines had now expanded to 18 hectares. Jérôme's wife Élodie joined in 2006. By 2012 the domaine had grown to 24 hectares and a new and spacious winery was built in 2012. Although not fully finished the winery was just operational in time for the vintage. 

Jérôme is now one of the best producers in Chinon.  

The wines 
Noblaie now produces four Chinon reds, two whites, a rosé and a Touraine Mousseux (sparkling).

The reds:  
Domaine de la Noblaie – the straight domaine Chinon emphasis on the fruit, aged in stainless steel for eight months.
Les Blanc Manteaux – single vineyard on a limestone ridge, aged for 12 months in 500-litre barrels. 
Les Chiens-Chiens – another single vineyard with a significant proportion of clay aged for 12 months in 400-litre barrels and then 8 months in stainless steel.
Pierre de Tuf: from vines planted before the 2nd World World on clay-flint. Vinified in a special stone vat hewn out of limestone dating from 15th Century. 12 months in 500-litre barrels and then eight months in stainless steel. 

The whites: 
Domaine de la Noblaie - the straight domaine Chinon emphasis on the fruit, aged in stainless steel for four months. 
La Part des Anges: made from very ripe fruit with some botrytised grapes. Aged in 500-litre barrels for 24 months. Capacity to age for many years. 

The rosé:
Gouette de Rosé: – fruit comes from the less well exposed slopes mainly at the bottom of the coteaux. Bottled early after four months in stainless steel, closed with a screwcap 

The Sparkling:  
MonAnge: fruit comes from the beginning of rows. Partial fermentation before bottling then at least 25 months sur latte.     

Jérôme about to test grapes             

 Jérôme in June 2006

François Billard 

The new winery in October 2012 

– not finished but functioning 


2014: Jérôme loading the Pierre de Tuf vat

2014: Grapes going into the Pierre de Tuf vat

Website: Domaine de la Noblaie 

This is the latest profile from RSJ News blog – our producers.

Domaine de la Noblaie: new chai for 2012 – cutting it very fine!

The entrance to new chai@Nobaie 

We dropped into Domaine de la Noblaie in Ligré (AC Chinon) on Monday 8th October to see whether they had started picking yet. We soon discovered that they couldn't pick even if the grapes were ready as there was nowhere to put the grapes – at least there wouldn't be for the next couple of days – minimum. The Billards were building a new chai. "Just four months from the plans to completion!" said Jérôme. "It's been a panic. The new chai will operate by gravity with the grapes arriving at the upper part of the building – a floor above the press and the vats for red wine, while those for whites will be in the cellar below with the juice descending straight from the press into the vat below." 

We only stayed briefly as there was clearly much still to be done before the Noblaie Chenin Blanc could be picked later in the week. Producers seem to love playing chicken with the harvest when building new wineries but Jérôme looked to be cutting things very fine here!    

 The whites will be vinified in the limestone cave under the new winery  

Bottom of photo: concrete bases for the presses 

Slightly fuzzy pic of François Billard – hurrying to get the job finished in time!

 Jérôme Billard in the white wine cellar 

Some vats in place on the ground level

 The winery from the side with the grape reception area – left hand part of the building

 Winery from the side 

Ripening Cabernet Franc waiting to be processed