Off to the Salons + some recent bottles

 

 

On Saturday I'm off to Montpellier for Millésime Bio and its associated events. I shall look forward to meeting up with Marco and Marie Louise (Les 5 du Vin) and probably Michel Smith, our distinguished retired founder member. This will be the start of a busy ten days for me as once the three days (27th-29th) of MillyBio are over I'm off up to the Loire for the Salon des Vins de Loire/La Levée and and the Renaissance tasting.

It is a testament to the growth in the number of organic and biodynamic producers that Millésime Bio has become a monster. The 2020 is the 27th edition of the fair that started with I believe some 40 producers from the south of France in 1993. There will be well over 1300 exhibitors from 20 different countries at this edition, which is an increase of 15% on last year. It will be nearly double the 700 exhibitors that were at the 2017 edition.

This edition will be spread across five enormous halls at Montpellier's Parc des Expositions. The photos above give a flavour of the size of MillyBio. Egalité continues with all the simple tables being the same size. No possibility of bling stands here aka Vinexpo etc.  However, unfortunately the organisers are continuing with their policy of mixing all the exhibitors up. The policy has always been to mix up the exhibitors, so encourage visitors to make fresh discoveries. This doubtless made perfect sense when Millésime Bio was still small but now with 1300 exhibitors it is surely boneheaded.

This means, for example, that the 85 Loire producers are scattered across the five halls. It must be best part of a kilometre from one end of the fair to the other. Great for easily getting in your 10,000 daily fitbit steps but otherwise a complete waste of time. Little wonder that the smaller Salons-Off like Biotop, Les Affranchis and Le Vin de Mes Amis are popular.

•••

A few recent bottles 

2018 Froggy Wine, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie,
Domaine Luneau-Papin 

This is a fun, easy drinking Muscadet from the renowned Domaine Luneau-Papin, which is intended to be drunk young with friends and some shellfish. This 2018 has the print of 2018 with weight and rich ripe fruit. The style of the wine is captured by the label.

 

2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Domaine de la Combe,
Pierre-Henri Gadais 

This is an ambitious and fine Muscadet from Pierre-Henri Gadais, who has taken over the wine making for the family domaine in Saint-Fiacre but is also making wine from his own vines. It also has the ripeness of 2018 with attractive texture along with good balancing acidity. It can certainly be enjoyed now but has the potential to last and develop over a number of years. I am not convinced, however, that the label really does the quality of this wine justice.

2001 Château Petit Village, Pomerol

Pomerol has been somewhat controversial on Les 5 du Vin recently so I thought it was time I tasted and drank a bottle from this appellation. This 2001 has been sitting under our bed in an AXA six-bottle presentation box for a number years. This 2001 was delicious - fully ready to drink with luxuriously evolved soft fruit with an inviting spicy aroma, well balanced with a long finish. It was a good partner for poached ham.

A few days prior to pulling the cork on the Petit Village we had also tried the 2001 Margaux Cantenac Brown that unlike the Petit Village was not at all memorable merely dull – perhaps it was the bottle? It wasn't obviously corked but .....

2018er Pinot Noir Blanc de Noir Edition trocken, Kabinett

Brought by some friends to us to try this is an intriguing white Pinot Noir from Baden. Although it has a little residual sugar (6 gms per litre) it has good balancing acidity so it has attractive citric mouthfeel without being in any way cloying. Good as an apéro it would probably partner grilled fish or scallops well.

A dispatch from the lunatic asylum.....I'd rather be @Le Salon des Vin de Loire

But for a slip on black ice on 2nd January I would be at the Salon des Vins de Loire in Angers. Unfortunately when I fell my left leg went underneath me and ruptured my quads from my knee cap. This necessitated having on operation on 4th January to reattach the tendons. (See ambulance and knee photos below). 

Fortunately my recovery seems to be going well. I can now go out for long walks relying on just one crutch rather than the two I started out with after the operation. Despite this progress it is still impossible for me to travel, so very sadly no Millésime Bio and no Salon des Vins de Loire this year. 

However, I gather from Chris Kissack, the estimable Wine Doctor, that the catering in Press Office has gone down very sharply in my absence. In the past the Press were offered a very considerable spread for lunch. Clearly austerity has arrived in Angers! Chris reports that the Salon, which for the first time runs for only two days, was busy on Monday and that La Levée de la Loire has expanded considerably. Doubtless this is a reflection of the continued growth of organic viticulture in the Loire. 

But to return to the lunatic asylum – the lamentable state to which the madness of Brexit has reduced in the UK. The latest piece of lunacy is Teresa May ruling out staying in the Customs Union after we leave (if we leave) the EU at the end of March 2019. How May and her government are going to square this with the agreement at the end of Phase One that there would be no hard borders between Northern and Southern Ireland? 

May parrots the aim of achieving 'frictionless' trade ignoring the fact that the Customs Union provides frictionless trade. So why attempt to create a new system, which the EU may well not accept anyway? It is amazing that 18 months after the referendum vote on 23rd June 2016 the UK government has still not agreed on what they are seeking as a trading arrangement following Brexit. 

At least being in Scotland I'm in the antechamber of the lunatic asylum and there have been some compensations being in Scotland. As already posted we ordered a selection of wines from The Wine Society – a selection of whites from South West France, a selection of reds from Spain and some Sherries. 

In addition Château de Tracy and Couly-Dutheil have kindly sent me a selection of samples, so that I can continue to work during my convalescence.        

    

 

5.2.18: the scar healing up 

Black ice 6 Millésime Bio and Le Salon des Vins de Loire 0

Following my operation on my knee yesterday I will have to have a rigid splint on my left leg for the next 12 weeks. For the first six weeks my leg has to be kept straight. This means that I cannot travel so no visit to Montpellier for Millésime Bio and very sadly no Salon des Vins de Loire this year. I had hoped it might be possible to go to Angers for the Salon but there is no way it can be done.

I am so grateful for the outstanding care I received from Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and the ambulance crew from Kingussie who took me from Newtonmore to Inverness.

So it goes......!!

Loire producers @2017 Millésime Bio + brief comments (Part 1)

Jean-Jacques Bonnet, Domaine Bonnet-Huteau, 

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 

Makers of fine Muscadet 

Rémi Bonnet (below)

 

Thomas Carsin, Clos de l'Élu, Saint Aubin de Luigné, Anjou

Excellent Chenins 

Xavier Cailleau, Château Bois-Brinçon, Anjou

Good range of Anjou

Fred Niger, Domaine de l'Ecu, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 

The great experimenter

 

Philippe Vatan, Château de Hureau, 

Saumur and Saumur Champigny 

has long made a good range of Chenins and Cabernet Francs

Laura Semeria, Domaine de Montcy, 

Cheverny and Cour-Cheverny 

Laura started in 2007

Sadly has been hit a number of times by frost 

Denis Jamain, Domaine de Reuilly
Excellent white and red Reuilly

Benoît Landron, Domaine Landon Chartier

Muscadet Coteaux du Loire  

Good Muscadet's including potential 

future cru Champtoceaux

 Some of the range of wines from Domaine Landon Chartier,

which is in the commune of Ligné on north side of the Loire 

between Ancenis and Nantes 

 

Organic 'bombshell'! – Millésime Bio leaves Montpellier for Marseille

'Coup de tonnerre dans la filière viti-vinicole régionale : le plus grand salon international de vins bio a voté en conseil d’administration, le 13 juin, son départ de LRMP pour la région PACA. En cause : un désaccord avec Vinisud, l’autre salon montpelliérain.' 

Marie Corbel of La Tribune has broken the news that Millésime Bio, the world's largest annual organic wine fair, has suddenly decided to leave Montpellier for Marseille for the 2017 edition. After using a number of different venues including Narbonne, Millésime Bio has been a fixture at Montpellier for some time.

It appears that the row is over the decision by Vinisud, to hold their now annual Mediterranean wine fair (always in Montpellier) in 2017 at the same time as Millésime Bio at the end of January. Clearly Millésime Bio did not want to share Montpellier's exhibition space with Vinisud, where there would be many non-organic wine producers. 

The decision was taken yesterday by Millésime Bio's organising committee. There was only one vote for staying put, while there were also some who favoured Toulouse or Bordeaux. 

Carole Delga, the président of Languedoc-Roussillon, is reportedly furious at this decision by the Millésime Bio committee, which she considers rushed as there were hopes that a solution could be found. Corbel reports that Delga likened the sudden decision to 'Des méthodes de voyou' – the way hooligans' behave. 

Read the rest here

•••

The 2107 Millésime Bio will be held at the Parc des Expositions Marseille-Chanot, du 30 janvier au 1er février 2017.

It remains to be seen whether this decision by Millésime Bio is wise. Will all of the 800 or so exhibitors opt for Marseille? Will a number of producers in the Languedoc-Roussillon and other parts of the Mediterranean opt to stay in Montpellier and exhibit at Vinisud? A number of these producers already take stands at both Vinisud and Millésime Bio, which have previously be held about three weeks apart.

By moving to Marseille Millésime Bio will lose the 300,000€ it currently receives from the Languedoc-Roussillon region. 

For myself I will have to cancel the hotel room I had already booked. Then wait to see how many producers, especially those from the Loire decide to go to Marseille. A suivre !

Clearly the politics of wine shows are by no means sulphur free!  

 

Millésime Bio: some photos from day one

 Luc Percher, L'Epicourchois Luc Percher

 - Cherverny and Cour-Cheverny 

 Patrick Nivelleau, Domaine de Paleine  

– Saumur and Saumur-Champigny

 Mathilde Sauvété, Domaine Sauvété _ Touraine

 Jérôme Sauvété, Domaine Sauvété _ Touraine

 Vincent Roussely, Clos Roussely – Touraine 

Nathalie Mabileau, Domaine Frédéric Mabileau –
Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Bourgueil 

 Romaine Paire, Domaine des Pothiers – Côte Roannaise

Martin et Pierre Clavel, Domaine Clavel – Languedoc 

Considerable tax relief!

It's finished and gone!

It's that anxious time of year again – filing your tax return if you live in the UK! The deadline of midnight 31st January looms if you file your return on line. If you still file by paper then the deadline for this tax year (2014-15) is long past as it was midnight 31st October 2015. 

These days it is easier to file on-line – once you have collected together all the necessary information. On-line filing has become easier as the HMRC site now works out the tax you owe and when. This wasn't the case when on-line filing was introduced. 

However an increasingly sophisticated site doesn't mean that nothing can go wrong as I discovered this morning. Having collected all the necessary information together, I was feeling reasonably smug at being considerably further in advance of the deadline than I have in some previous years. 

I tapped in my user ID and password that I had been given back in January 2014 by HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) and used successfully for my last two returns. Horrors! My ID and password weren't valid – despite them matching the information sent two years ago. 

What to do?! You can ask for a new ID and password but can take HMRC up to ten days to get it to you by post. Far too late for me as I'm off to Montpellier and Millésime Bio on Saturday and then going onto the Salon des Vins de Loire in Angers. Not back until after the end of January deadline and £100 fine for late filing. 

I tried applying on-line for a new password but my ID wasn't recognised – nor initially did it like my email address – declared to be invalid despite HMRC sending me emails using self-same address.... 

Fortunately there was another option: GOV.UK Verify. This allows you to establish your identity through a company. I chose The Post office. According to GOV.UK this would take around 10 minutes. Fat chance and ridiculously optimistic. About 90 minutes later I was finally registered with the Post Office identity scheme. The tricky bit is getting the pictures of your passport right as well as a couple of selfies, which have to show a little movement to prove that you a living being – not a stuffed dummy. 

However, it was worth the hassle. It got me onto my tax return form – easier than faffing around with HMRC's disappearing ID and password. Let's hope GOV.UK Verify works again in January 2017....!

        

Millésime Bio – around the fair Monday

 Marc Vanhellemont – one of Les 5 du Vin

 Michel Smith – another member of Les 5 du Vin – 

with a good and inexpensive red from the Abbaye de Valmagne

 Rémi Bonnet, Bonnet-Huteau (Pays Nantais)

Bonnet-Huteau: their Muscadet Sèvre et Maine looking very promising – concentration and vivacity.  

 Jean-Jacques Bonnet, Bonnet-Huteau (Pays Nantais)

 Jean-Luc Danto

 Frédéric Sigonneau, Domaine de L'R (Chinon) 
searching for finesse rather than power

 Hamish Wakes-Miller makes a defiant last stand for the tie 

 Jérôme Bretaudeau, Domaine de Belle Vue (Pays Nantais)

Domaine de Belle Vue: 2014 Main-mian – good juicy easy drinking red from Cabernet Franc; 2014 Muscadets very promising with lovely textures and balance.

 Guillaume Pire, Château de Fosse-Sèche (Saumur)

Good 2013 Arcane Saumur Blanc much better than 2012 Eolithe Saumur Rouge. 

Sylviane Quenioux, Domaine de Veilloux (Cheverny)

Another example of a promising 2014: their Domaine white: 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Chardonnay.