Neighbourhood Christmas soirée de la modération

2015 Goutte de Rosé, Chinon, Domaine de la Noblaie

Last Sunday we had a pre-Christmas celebration meal with some of our neighbours. Opting out of fizz, we chose to kick off with Jérôme Billard's excellent 2015 Goutte de Rosé (100% Cabernet Franc) – a fine combination of fruit texture and freshness. One important reason that Jérôme's Rosé is so good is that he sets aside specific sectors of vines for his rosé – young vines and vines on lower slopes where the fruit often will not be quite ripe enough to make good red Chinon.

12 YO Amontillado, Sainsbury's Taste the Difference  

From Emilio Lustau

(above and below)

With mushroom soup, made from a variety of different mushrooms and vaguely following an Elizabeth David recipe which uses bread as a thickener, we served some 12 YO Amontillado Taste the Difference from Emilio Lustau. 

2010 Cuvée Prestige, Bourgueil, Lamé Delisle Boucard  

(above and below)

Main course was slow roasted leg of lamb – sourced from the excellent Billings in Sydenham's High Street. Using a herb, mustard, anchovy, garlic crust with a dash soy sauce the lamb was roasted for a little over three hours. The meat remained succulent and wonderfully tendered.

2010 Cuvée Prestige Bourgueil from Lamé Delisle Boucard has proved to be fatally delicious – so delicious that supplies are fast running out. 2010 is a fine red vintage Loire Cabernet Franc and this was a fine match with the gently roasted lamb. Will be sending Lamé an SOS for more supplies!

We followed that with the impressively softly structured 2013 Syrah made by John Hancock of Trinity Hill in Hawkes Bay, North Island, New Zealand. More evidence that Syrah is well adapted to Hawkes Bay. This was one of a selection of New Zealand wines from The Wine Society.   

John Hancock, Trinity Hill

2012 Majorum, Pouilly-Fumé, Michel Redde et Fils

With a small selection of UK cheeses we offer a choice of continuing with the Trinity Hill Syrah or changing colour and opting for the 2012 Majorum, Pouilly-Fumé from Michel Redde et Fils. One of our guests, who was dubious about white wine with cheese, was converting on trying this well balanced and mineral 2012 Majorum with some raw milk Caerphilly and Montgomery Cheddar.    

 
1967 Château Fayau, Cadillac  

With CRM's fine bread pudding we thought it was time and appropriate to try this 1967 Château Fayau AC Cadillac – a sweet wine appellation on the north bank of the Garonne across from Barsac-Sauternes. We must have bought this some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s – probably in London though it might have been in France. Mid to deep gold colour, this has delicate, attractive sweetness with some evolution but showing no oxidation. It does, however, lack the complexity one would expect from a good Barsac or Sauternes from this vintage.   

Michel Redde – 2014 Barre à Mine, Pouilly-Fumé

This is the first vintage (2014) of Barre à Mine from Michel Redde et Fils.

It comes from their new vineyard in La Roche, which used to be a quarry (see report earlier this year). This new wine is showing very well with attractive weight and mineral quality. It has the balance and acidity that is typical of the 2014 vintage. Doubtless still rather young to drink this single vineyard wine, so I will keep our other bottle for a while before pulling the cork.  

 Stones cleared from the amazingly stony La Mine vineyard

 Sancerre in the background 

  

Recently enjoyed – Pouilly-Fumé 2014, Sancerre 2015 and Chinon 2005

Here are three Loires that we have very recently enjoyed – 2014 La Moynerie Pouilly-Fumé* from Michel Redde et fils, the 2015 Le Manoir* from Vincent Grall and 2005 Les Marronniers Chinon from Baudry-Dutour.  

It was very interesting to compare the 14 Pouilly-Fumé with the 15 Le Manoir. Both had good ripe fruit and attractive mouthfilling texture. However, the 14 Pouilly-Fumé had more zip in the finish with lovely balance. I think this is likely to be largely down to vintage difference with 2014 having more marked acidity, while 2015 has less acidity and a seductive roundness. Both are good vintages and are drinking very well now, so which wine you prefer is down to personal preference. I opt for the 2014 vintage with its higher acidity and freshness but many will, doubtless, prefer the sleek 2015s.

Eleven years on the 2005 Cabernet Francs are now delicious the initially marked tannins have softened. The 2005 Clos des Marronniers, Chinon from Baudry-Dutour is a good example with its very seductive soft fruit and fully integrated tannins. The 2005 remains deep coloured with no sign of brickiness. Proof that Loire reds merit cellaring! 

  

* Both of these wines were samples given me to taste.

Pouilly-Fumé – the Reddes quarry a new wine

Romain Redde with the 2014 Barre à Mine, 

Pouilly-Fumé, Michel Redde

 at the 2016 Salon des Vins de Loire

Romain Redde – more often out in the 

vineyard than indoors at wine fairs 

Having visited the vineyard on a couple of occasions it was good to taste the first vintage of Michel Redde's latest wine – 2014 Barre à Mine – at the Salon des Vins de Loire. 

As the name suggests the new wine comes from a quarry – an old disused stone quarry. In order to create the vineyard – on flint – the Reddes had to remove many huge blocks of rock. These are now piled up around the eastern edge of the vineyard, which is at La Roche on the right of the D4 road heading towards Sancerre and close to the Tracy-Sancerre railway station.

Although recently bottled the 2014 Barre à Mine is attractive textured, with good mouthfeel and balance of rich fruit with mineral acidity in the finish.   

Entrance to the La Mine vineyard 

with some of the massive rocks 

 Autumnal view of the vineyard, which faces west, 

with hill of Sancerre in distance 

Understandably, planting this vineyard has taken several years

  

Completely stoned!

 Sébastien well wrapped up against the cold wind that 

blew across the vineyard when 

we were there in late October 2015

 Sébastien is tall but he is dwarfed here by the rocks

The 42-hectare domaine is now run by Sébastien and Romain Redde with their father Thierry taking a back seat. Sébastien looks after the winery, while much of Romain's time is spent out in the vines.        

Sébastien Redde with the gaffer – Thierry 

 

Michel Redde et Fils and the spectacular Les Champs des Froids

Rocks removed from the vineyard (above and below)

In order to be able to plant the Reddes removed some massive rocks from the vineyard

Michel Redde et Fils has a new vineyard called Les Champs des Froids. In time this will be a new cuvée in their lieu-dit series. The vineyard, which is beside the road (D from Saint-Satur to the A77 is very decidedly planted on silex (flint) in parts there is virtually no soil just a mass of flints. The Reddes are planting the site in sections. Alain Cailbourdin and Benjamin Dagueneau also have vines here. 

Although the area is cold – hence the name Les Champs des Froid, the flint acts as a radiator providing heat for the vines and the grapes.

A mass of flints between the vines  (above and below)

Sébastien Redde points out the new plantings

The vineyard lies east of Sancerre and La Loire

   

2011 Loire vintage: Pouilly-Fumé – a pleasant surprise

Sébastien Redde (Michel Redde et Fils) and the nascent 2011 Pouilly-Fumé

Apologies for a rather belated report on our visit to some producers in Pouilly-Fumé on afternoon of Friday 23rd September.

Although we didn't have time to visit very many, and a couple of people we wanted to see weren't around, our impression was that a number of producers here have been very pleasantly surprised at how 2011 has turned out and that their fears at the beginning of the harvest have not been realised. Certainly the nascent wines that I tried were all clean and precise with no off flavours.

Valérie Dagueneau (Serge Dagueneau et Filles): "I was afraid before the harvest that the grapes would not have enough potential alcohol, that many would be rotten and that the acidity would be low. Certainly we needed to be very selective – we now pick a third of our vines by hand. We started on Monday 5th September and finished on Friday 16th. The Sauvignon came in at around 12% potential and had kept a good level of acidity. Our Chasselas is at 10.5%, which is a good level for this grape, which is very rot resistant."

Jean-Michel Masson and Melanie

Pierre Masson

In the centre of Pouilly-sur-Loire I dropped in and tasted at Masson-Blondlet, who were also happy with the outcome, despite the threat of rot in early September. They harvested between Thursday 8th September and Monday 19th.

Alain and Loïc Cailbourdin

Picked between 6th and 16th September.

Cailbourdin winery extension

Sébastien Redde

Sébastien Redde: 'The Ban des Vendanges was on the 5th September but we had a special derogation to start on Friday 2nd because of the threat of rot in some of our parcels. We finished on Friday 16th. Everything is picked by hand – this year we had a team of 60 pickers and a sorting table in the cellar." Sébastien and his father, Thierry, think that 2011 may be better than 2010.

After tasting with Sébastien we went to see a new Redde vineyard – see a separate post shortly.