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.

Muscadet-sur-Chardonnay approved by INAO

Harvesting 100% Melon de Bourgogne

2018 – Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin

Following pressure from négociants it will now be possible to add up to 10% Chardonnay to the base, generic Muscadet appellation. The zonal Muscadet appellations – Sèvre-et-Maine, Coteaux de la Loire and Côtes de Grandlieu will continue to be pure Melon de Bourgogne. Also for basic Muscadet the requirement to have 6500 vines per hectare has been reduced to 5000.

Declassifying Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie to generic Muscadet will now be forbidden after 31st July after the harvest.

We will have to wait and see whether this rule change with the creation of AC Muscadet-sur-Chardonnay will confuse the consumer used to being told that Muscadet is 100% Melon de Bourgogne. DNA has shown that Melon is related to Chardonnay having similar parents. 

Anyone wanting to buy and drink traditional, real Muscadet should henceforth buy the zonal appellations. To be fair they probably already did as the zonal Muscadets are overall the better product, excepting quality domaines outside the three zones.    

From RayonBoissons :
'Le comité national de l’Inao a acté la refonte du cahier des charges des AOP du muscadet. L’une des principales évolutions concerne le système de repli du muscadet-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie vers le muscadet génériques. Ils seront désormais impossibles au-delà du 31 juillet suivant la récolte. Les professionnels du vignoble veulent ainsi dissocier les deux dénominations.

Le profil des muscadets génériques va également pouvoir évoluer puisque le chardonnay entrent dans leur assemblage en tant que cépage accessoire à hauteur de 10 %. La densité du vignoble a par ailleurs été revue à la baisse de 6500 pieds/ha à 5000 pieds/ha.'

I posted about this controversial proposal to add another grape variety to basic Muscadet back in February 2016 here. I remain unconvinced that this is a sensible move.   

The rumour that the INAO is now considering allowing 10% Melon in Petit-Chablis and even 7.5% of Viognier in Le Montrachet to make it more sexy may be fake news .......

Some more Loire dates: Portes Ouvertes chez Pierre-Henri Gadais, Noblaie + Marché de Noël à Pouilly-sur-Loire

Les Trois Jeunes Vignerons 

– Pierre-Henri, Michel et Christophe Gadais

Portes ouvertes at Pierre-Henri Gadais' Domaine de la Combe: Saturday 1st December and Sunday 2nd December. 

Details of Domaine de la Combe here and here. 

•••

Domaine de la Noblaie, Ligré (Appellation Chinon):
Portes Ouvertes: Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd December  

 
Details here:

***

Marché de Noël at La Tour de Pouilly – Sunday 9th December

20 ans de Gorges

20th anniversary of the foundation of the Association des Vignerons du Cru Gorgeois 

 

Six celebrating Gorges producers in a vineyard

 

The production criteria for Cru Gorges  

2013 Gorges La Vigneaux, Fred Laffer with a lump of gabbro
- Sèvre Nantaise in the background

On Thursday 6th September I was privileged to be invited to the celebration for the 20 years of the Association, which was officially formed in 1998. However, its origins date back to the winter of 1996/97 when five Gorges producers – Michel Brégeon, Gilles Luneau, Christophe Boucher, Damien Rineau and Thierry and Christophe Luneau got together to define the criteria for a top quality Muscadet.

After much work the INAO recognised in 2011 Gorges as one of the first three Muscadet Cru Communaux, along with Clisson and Le Pallet. The criteria for Cru Gorges include: vines planted on the type of soil called gabbro, green harvest to aim for a yield of 40 hl/ha, the wine to spend 24 months on its lees and once in bottle a jury of experts have to agree that the wine is up to scratch.
Interestingly compulsory hand picking is not in the criteria. Perhaps this will be the next step as an insistence on hand picking would really mark out this top tier of Muscadet as something qualitatively different from the rest. Furthermore given the tiny quantities of Cru Communaux currently being produced obligatory hand picking ought to be easy enough to arrange.

We tasted some 15-20 different Cru Gorges from a number of different vintages. Overall they underlined that these Cru Communaux are indeed a step up and that, although slightly more expensive they still offer great value for money – these are very fine wines.

2000 Gorges, Christophe and Brigitte Boucher
served in magnum for lunchtime apéro
when it was magnificent.
Unfortunately they tried pairing it with
the dessert which in my view didn't work at all. 

Our fine lunch was @ The Restaurant L'Atlantide

Our day started with a visit to the recently restored  

Moulin à Papier at Liveau, a hamlet of Gorges. 

Part of the water wheel in the Moulin

The process of making paper

••••

2018 Loire vintage – well underway and accelerating – quality high

Hod carrier @Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin, 

Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine 

A trio of pickers from Romania @ 

Vincent Caillé's Le Domaine le Fay d'Homme,

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine  

The vintage is now well underway with some producers starting as early as the first days of September. Overall quantity is up except for producers badly hit by mildew due to the heavy rains and humid conditions of late May/early June. Quality wise this appears to be the fifth successive good to excellent Loire vintage, which is quite unprecedented.

The very wet and humid weather at the end of May and into June provoked a lot of mildew with organic producers particularly hit. Touraine appears to be have been more seriously affected than the Pays Nantais. Here the producers are very happy after two very difficult years – 2016 and 2017 – due to serious frost damage. It was good to see Vincent Caillé (Domaine de Fay d'Homme) relaxed and smiling in contrast to the obvious worry and concern of last year. Pierre-Marie Luneau (Domaine Luneau-Papin) was delighted with the quality of the fruit and its balance. We tasted some of the juice, which appeared to be very promising indeed. 

With temperatures hitting the 30s early this week the pace of picking is accelerating to avoid alcoholic degrees shooting up and acidity levels declining.  

In Touraine Vincent Ricard started picking on Monday 3rd. He is happy as he has avoided any serious attack of mildew but at the cost of treating his vines 14 or 15 times. His Sauvignon is coming in at between 12.5˚ potential with the acidity averaging 5.2. Yields at 50-55 hl/ha. He expects to finish harvesting the middle of next week. 

Vincent Roussely (Angé) started picking on Monday 10th September. Due to the heat they are only picking in the morning. I saw some Sauvignon Rosé that they had picked – the grapes very healthy and clean. 

Luc Poullain, Domaine des Echardières – also in Angé – like Vincent Roussely also started on Monday but picking Chardonnay. He warned that vines on clay were coping well with the drought – just 10mm of rain in two months – but other on easy draining soils were suffering with maturation blocked especially if they were young vines.

In Montlouis Jacky Blot started last Thursday – earlier than he had originally thought but with the grapes ripening rapidly he didn't want the alcohol levels to shoot up and the acidity to fall away, especially as he picks by hand – three teams of pickers in action.

In certain parcels he has been badly hit by mildew with very small yields. However, the incidence is very irregular with his best parcels like the Clos Mosny and Clos Michet resisting well. 

Today Jacky and a team will start picking his top Vouvray (Vin de France) from the Clos de Venise. 

   

2014 Vallet 'Cru Communaux': Domaine Petiteau

Tasted and enjoyed this 2014 'Cru Communaux' Vallet from Domaine Petiteau this evening. Vallet is one of the latest Muscadet communes to start out on the quest to become a recognised cru communaux. Vallet launched its quest last year. 

The Petiteau's Vallet spends at least 17 months on its lees. Light gold colour with delicate brioche aromas and attractive appley texture with good concentration, balance and length. The long finish has a refreshing touch of bitterness in the finish. This Vallet clearly has the potential to age well and develop further in the bottle.  

2015 L'hermine, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Les Vignerons du Pallet

This 2015 L'hermine from Les Vignerons du Pallet is another cuvée from this coopérative. L'hermine spent at least a year on its lees and comes from a similar terroir to the coop's Juliation, the cru communaux wine that spends at least 17 months on its lees.

The 2015 L'hermine has attractive texture, length and complexity. The extended period on its lees has given it yeasty, bready aromas and flavours as well as being a touch lactic. 

Although it is clearly a sur lie wine, L'hermine cannot be labelled labelled as such because it has spent more than a year on its lees. Under current legislation Muscadet that is still on its lees after 30th November in the year following the vintage cannot be labelled sur lie. The law can be an ass.....!     

2015 Château de l'Aulnaye, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Château Thébaud

2015 Château de l'Aulnaye, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, 

Château Thébaud, Famille Lieubeau 

This very fine rich and concentrated Muscadet spends three years on its lees. It is the style of cru communaux, although Château Thébaud has yet to be formally recognised the French government rather to the understandable frustration of those eligible to benefit from the new appellation.

This style of Muscadet is far removed from the fresh citric version that goes so well with shellfish. We drank the 2015 Château de l'Aulnaye with salmon with butter and lemon in a parcel – a fine match. This Muscadet also worked well with some mature Montgomery cheddar. 

The Lieubeaus are important growers in Château Thébaud.  

  

Bedouet Vigneron: organic Muscadet producer crowdfunds to fight back against the frost

Can you help please? 

Hit by spring frosts in both 2016 and 2107 Michel and Antonin Bedouet, organic Muscadet producers in Le Pallet, are fighting back against the frost. Bedouet Vigneron is a family domaine that has passed down through the generations. Michel Bedouet took over from his father in 1985 and two years ago Michel's son – 25-year-old Antonin – started to work with him. 

Badly hit by April frosts two years running the Bedouets are very keen to install an anti-frost system to protect their vines. They are planning to use an electirc cable system invented in the 1990s by a local electrician Jean-Pierre Heurteau. Heurteau comes from nearby Monnières and is now retired. 

To date Heurteau's system is not widely used: 3or 4 hectares in Muscadet and elsewhere 15 ha in Champagne and Chablis. The electric current starts when the temperature falls and is said to be effective to – 3˚C. Apparently it has worked down to -6˚C in Champagne. Heurteau explains that where his cable system was installed a producer enjoyed a yield of 62 hl/ha, whereas rows not protected only produced 18 hl/ha.   

Apart from installation, the cost of running the cable system is between 30€ to 50€ per hectare per night. If it is effective this is a small cost. In contrast using low flying helicopters to stir up the air will cost around 1200€ an hour.  

The Bedouets have chosen to crowdfund their anti-frost project through Miimosa, which is a French specialist platform to raise finance for agricultural projects. 

All subscribers to the Bedouets' project will receive rewards depending on how much they donate. These range from 10€ where your name will appear on a plaque in their cellar through to 500€. Details are here. 

 

Please make a contribution to their fund. If we want small family producers who are the lifeblood of the diversity of the Loire to survive they are going to need frost protection.  

Quelques détails en français:    

Bedouet Vigneron est une entreprise familiale dans laquelle chaque génération apporte sa pierre à l'édifice.

Michel, 57 ans a pris la suite de son père en 1985 et Antonin, 25 ans, fils de Michel travaille avec lui depuis deux ans.

Notre vignoble est conduit en agriculture biologique, il a été sévèrement touché par le gel de printemps, deux années consécutives. C'est aujourd'hui primordial de mettre en place une protection durable contre ce phénomène climatique qui remet en cause la pérennité de l'entreprise.

En effet, Antonin souhaite s'installer et cet investissement est précieux pour sécuriser son avenir professionnel.

Lire la suite ici

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine – launch of Cru Vallet on 12th November 2017

After a long wait since the first three Muscadet Cru Communaux – Clisson, Gorges and Le Pallet – were launched in 2011, the next in line are now being officially launched. Cru Vallet will be officially launched on Sunday 12th November. Prior to that there will be a press conference on 8th November.  

12th November at 10:00–12:30
Place Charles de Gaulle, 44330 Vallet, France

Details 

Une histoire d'hommes et de femmes Depuis 2011, les vignerons de Vallet et des communes limitrophes se sont réunis autour du projet du "Cru Vallet". Cette démarche est née d'une volonté de valoriser les meilleurs terroirs et d’aboutir à terme à une véritable appellation communale « Vallet » caractéristique des meilleurs crus du Muscadet.

6 années de travail et d’échanges
Exigeant mais très valorisant, le premier travail a été d’identifier les points communs d’un point de vue des sols, du vin mais aussi humain en prenant en considération les typicités de chacun pour définir l’esprit du Cru Vallet.
Des études terrain ont été réalisées durant l’hiver 2012 et ont permis d’établir une cartographie des meilleurs terroirs. Chaque vigneron a ainsi pu récolter, vinifier et élever ses cuvées parcellaires : on parle de savoir-faire, de clos, de spécificités, d’élevage prolongé… tout ce qui fait du vigneron un véritable artisan d’art et de son vin un cru d’exception.

Novembre 2017 : lancement officiel du Cru Vallet
25 vignerons font partie de cette démarche unique. Le mois de novembre sera le lancement officiel du cru. Notez dès aujourd'hui le rendez-vous du dimanche 12 novembre avec notamment une présentation à tous les Valletais avec dégustation lors du marché au sein de l’atrium de la mairie de Vallet. 

Tout au long de la saison du Champilambart, vous retrouverez également les "concerts du Cru", suivis d’une dégustation de 3 crus avec le vigneron pour vous servir et vous rencontrer. 

 

2017 Loire vintage: Muscadet – pickers in action: Jo Landron + Vincent Caillé: 12th September

Jo Landron's equipe

 

Garrett heading up the ladder to the trailer

Garrett starting to upload

 Garrett: last few grapes 

 Another hod carrier – you have to be strong

 Jo Landron picking Montils

 Jo Landron's team were picking Montils, a grape variety 

that is apparently similar to Ugni Blanc.

Jo uses it as part of the blend of the sparkling l'Atmosphere

Vincent Caillé's equipe:

 

FI ready for action....

Checking over the grapes