Yesterday I took the opportunity at the marché aux truffes@Marigny-Marmande to taste from most of the four or five Loire wine producers present. I started with the Jasnières from Christine de Mianville, a completely new producer to me.
She has just a hectare of vines in the Jasnières appellation at L'Homme and set up in 2005. I did wonder afterwards why it was worth her while driving the 113 kilometres from L'Homme to Marigny-Marmande. However, I see from Richard Kelley's profile that her home is in Varrains close to Saumur and only just over 60 km from Marigny.
She has just a hectare of vines in the Jasnières appellation at L'Homme and set up in 2005. I did wonder afterwards why it was worth her while driving the 113 kilometres from L'Homme to Marigny-Marmande. However, I see from Richard Kelley's profile that her home is in Varrains close to Saumur and only just over 60 km from Marigny.
Christine de Mianville has two parcels of vines and makes two cuvées of Jasnières, which has to be made from pure Chenin Blanc. Everything is picked by hand into small boxes. I started with the 2008 Chante de Vigne (13€) that comes from very flinty ground on the middle of the slope. The 2008 has bright fruit with touches of apricot and a quite lean, mineral finish. The 2007 (14€) has all the precision and minerality that is typical of this vintage. Both wines should age well. The last two wines came from their clay and limestone parcel – Les Cotières. The 2008 Les Cotières (17€) is richer and fuller than the Chante de Vigne and was my favourite of the three dry wines. I also tasted the concentrated and mineral 2007 Les Cotières Passerillées (25€ for 50cl) made from grapes that have concentrated on the vine rather than been affected by noble rot giving it vivid and vibrant flavours of fruits confits leading to a long mineral finish.
Production may be small but Christine's wines are clearly worth following. She and her husband have restored an old loge des vignes and they intend to offer visitors special weekend breaks in the Loir Valley.
Christine de Mianville
72340 Lhomme
Tel: 02.41.52.91.62
Mobile: 06.71.80.5763
email: demianville@voila.fr 
1 comment:
You’re a lucky chap, Jim. I drink much more white wine than red, yet don’t produce any.
Hence, my own – Belgian born – cellar runs to its end. And I love the wines from Jasnières.
One – short, I promise – anecdote.
You’ve surely met the immense Eric Boschman (Meilleur Sommelier de Belgique in 1988 and wine-writer). Well, he was the owner and mentor of a funny restaurant in Brussels (Le Pain et le Vin) in the nineties. We once convened there with some university professors of cardiology, all of them connoisseurs. He served us an indeterminate white wine, not very much to our taste: “Too acidic” they said. Thereafter, with a smile, he came up with one of Joël Gigou’s sharp scythes, vintage 1987 to make things worse! I loved every drop of it, but our guests were unplussed!
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