Celebrating being back in the Loire – 2Gs: Saumur Blanc (Guiberteau) and Chinon (Grosbois)

We arrived in the Loire early evening yesterday just in time to settle in and relax with an apéro. We went for Domaine Guiberteau's straight 2011 Saumur Blanc refreshing and mineral and ideal after a drive from London.    

Then with our individual chicken pies bought from Billings in Sydenham and, I confess, imported into France. We buy almost everything from local shops here but we make an exception for the first meal in Epeigné because of the long journey. Anyway the pies matched Nicolas Grosbois easy drinking 2014 La Cuisine de ma mère, Chinon with its lovely juicy black fruits and soft tannins. Despite the rather iffy label Nicolas' wine was delicious and the level in the bottle slid down with alarming rapidity.  

Tomorrow another remarkable dance to the wine of time @Lamé Delisle Boucard!

Les Copains Vignerons – tasting 11th November 2013

Seven vignerons (Les Copains Vignerons) from around France will be showing their wines in Les Riceys (Champagne) on Monday 11th November.

The seven are:

Carine and François Crochet (Sancerre)

Bruno Dubois (Saumur-Champigny)

Julien Mus (Côtes du Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)

Nicolas Grosbois (Chinon)

Michel and Stéphane Ogier (Côte Rôtie, Condrieu)

Marie and Pierre-Marie Luneau (Muscadet Sèvre & Maine)

Marie and Olivier Horiot (Champagne, Rosé des Riceys)

Address: 25 Rue de Bise, 10340 Les Riceys (Bas). Tel: 03.25.29.32.16 email: champagne@horiot.fr  

Nicolas Grosbois, Domaine Grosbois, Panzoult (AC Chinon)

2nd June 2009

Views over the vineyards across the Vienne Valley towards the village of Tavant

The Domaine Grosbois has nine hectares of vines and is on the coteaux up from the road that runs between Panzoult and Cravant-les-Coteaux. There are records showing that the Grosbois family has been here since the French Revolution. They may have lived here before then but any records that existed have been lost. Nicolas took over the domaine in 2005 having worked at wineries around the world – the south of France, New Zealand (Pegasus Bay near Christchurch), Oregon and Australia (Brokenwood). His first full vintage back home was 2006.

Nicolas Grosbois

Apparently Nicolas’s father had sold a substantial proportion of the production in cubitainer, although some was bottled. This old website lists a Cuvée Printemps and a Vieilles Vignes (www.chinon.com/vignoble/grosbois). When Nicolas took over he decided that he would be bottling the wines according the different parcels of vines and by terroir. Nicolas has moved away from chemical treatments and, in 2008, he asked for organic certification, so he is currently in conversion. “It’s important to look and listen – organic viticulture is about prevention,” explained Nicolas. “You need to be in the vineyard not following a specified spraying programme and going away on holiday.”

Flowers under the vines

The nine hectares are Cabernet Franc. "The soil here is not right for Chenin Blanc," Nicolas explained. "You need to be on pure tuffeau." Yesterday a few of the vines were starting to flower, particularly those of the edge of the vineyard. Unlike fruit trees or flowering shrubs, vines flowers are in no way spectacular – indeed they are very discreet: just little white stamens.

Henri Chapon and Nicolas assessing at the vines

Cabernet Franc almost in flower

Cabernet Franc .... in flower – see the tiny white stamens

We started our tasting with the soft, charming, easy drinking 2007 Clos du Noyer. This parcel is at the top of the coteaux just below the trees. Some of the vines here are 40 years old, while the rest are 20. The more concentrated and structured 2006 Clos du Noyer with its pruney fruit demonstrates the difference between the 2007 and 2006 vintages.

Then we had a change of terroir with the 2006 Boeuf alais, which comes from the gravel terrace of the Vienne but from the highest part of the plain. It’s here that you’ll find the hamlets as people wanted to build above the areas liable to flooding. The 2006 has attractive sooty aromas, ripe black fruits and liquorice and some structure and tannin with just a touch of greenness in the finish.

None of these wines sees any wood. “I want to see what my different terroirs give – to understand their character without them being masked by a barrel’s influence. I am, however, doing some small experiments with barrels. For instance, some of the 2007 Boeuf alais spent 18 months in two-year-old barrique.” Although the use of wood was well judged on this 2007 trial it had lost its Chinon character.

Domaine Grosbois (unfortunately the sun in an awkward position!)

We then tried various 2008s that have good vibrant fruit and look promising. The tasting finished with the 2006 Gabare and 2006 Vieilles Vignes. The Vieilles Vignes comes from a parcel adjacent to the winery just below le Clos du Noyer, while the Gabare is at the base of the coteaux on sand and clay. Neither were really convincing: the Gabare having rough tannins although a second bottle was better, while the Vieilles Vignes had the pencil shavings character of old style Loire Cabernet Franc from fruit picked before it was fully ripe.

However, the 2007s and, particularly, the 2008s shows that Nicolas is getting to grips with his terroir and he is a young vigneron to watch.

Domaine Grosbois
Le Pressoir, 37220 Panzoult
Tel: 02.47.58.66.87
Email: vignoble.grosbois@wanadoo.fr

UK importer: Vinetrail www.vinetrail.co.uk/

Visits to three young vignerons in Chinon

2 June 2009

Nicolas Grosbois

Yesterday with Henri Chapon I visited three Chinon producers: Nicolas Grosbois (Domaine Grosbois), François-Xavier Barc (Charles Joguet) and Jérome Billard (Domaine de la Noblaie).

François-Xavier Barc

I plan to produce a separate report on each visit as soon as I can – hopefully at least one today.

Jérome Billard

Les Portes Ouvertes (open house) à Montlouis in June

Samedi 6 et dimanche 7 juin Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June

Invitation from a small band of 30-year-old wine and cider producers

Antoine Foucault (Brezé)

Lise et Bertrand Jousset (Montlouis)
Antoine Foucault (Saumur)
La Grange aux Belles (Anjou)
Nicolas Grosbois (Chinon)
Cyril Zangs (Ciderond Normand)

Nicolas Grosbois, Panzoult (Chinon)

Also exhibition of sculture by Olivier Masson and visits to the vineyard with the producers.

36 Rue des Bouvineries, 37270 Montlouis-sur-Loire. Tel: 02.47.50.70.33; mobile: 06.03.10.27.06

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Samedi 13 juin : 14h / 19h & dimanche 14 juin 2009 : 10h / 19h

La cave se rebiffe chez Frantz Saumon,

Frantz Saumon

vignerons, cidre"rond", brasseur et paysan-boulanger

vous invitent aux journées de dégustation

Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th June
At Frantz Saumon’s cellar in Husseau

Frantz Saumon (Montlouis)

Patrick Corbineau (Candes-Saint-Martin – Chinon and Touraine)

Laurent Barth (Alsace)

Patrick Corbineau (Brouilly)

Cyril Zangs (Cidrerond Normand)

Brasserie de la Pigeonnier (brewer@Saint-Martin-le-Beau)

Jean-Baptise Jamin (paysan-boulanger)

15 Chemin des Cours, Husseau, 37270 Montlouis sur Loire
At the northern end of the pretty little village of Husseau