Awards and citations:


1997: Le Prix du Champagne Lanson Noble Cuvée Award for investigations into Champagne for the Millennium investment scams

2001: Le Prix Champagne Lanson Ivory Award for investdrinks.org

2011: Vindic d'Or MMXI – 'Meilleur blog anti-1855'

2011: Robert M. Parker, Jnr: ‘This blogger...’:

2012: Born Digital Wine Awards: No Pay No Jay – best investigative wine story

2012: International Wine Challenge – Personality of the Year Award




Wednesday 13 September 2017

2017 Loire vintage: Muscadet – pickers in action: Bonnet-Huteau: 12th September




Late yesterday afternoon we dropped in to see Rémi and Jean-Jacques Bonnet (Domaine Bonnet-Huteau in the commune of La Chapelle-Heulin. Unfortunately they were badly affected by the late April frosts this year. Apart from greatly reducing the crop it has also made picking difficult due to the marked variation in grape maturity between those bunches not affected by the frost and those that were frosted so any fruit is second generation – inevitably less ripe than the first generation bunches.  

Jean-Jacques was entertaining a couple of Dutch journalists – Esme and Roland. We caught up with JJ and Rémi in a parcel of vines close to the chai where the day's picking was concluding.

Fashionable head gear – happy picker 
anticipating the looming pause 

Marie, who is doing a stage at Bonnet-Huteau, 
has clearly enjoyed her first day picking

Rémi Bonnet 

Jean-Jacques Bonnet being interviewed 
by the Dutch journalists 






3 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you Jim, for your recommendations and help. We were so happy with Damien! Cheers!

Unknown said...

Hi Jim, thank you for your help and recomendations. We had the best time with Damien! Cheers!

Jim's Loire said...

Esmee. Delighted that you had an interesting and good time. Santé Jim