#2015Loire: Montlouis and Vouvray

Yesterday afternoon we had a quick look in Montlouis and Vouvray. I stopped first at Domaine Flamand Delétang where Olivier Flamand told me that they had finished last Thursday. Oliver: "This is our last vintage. We had sold the estate to a couple in their late 30s who are currently in the Côtes du Rhône – Antoine and Coralie. Previously both were teachers of history before being bitten by the wine bug. Now Antoine is working in Côte Rôtie, while Coralie is an oenologist.

"Our Chenin come in between 11.5%-18.5% potential. We have made a small amount of sweet wine. This has been a good year but the heatwave of late June and July held back the maturation. We needed rain in August and September but not as much as we got. Our Montlouis yield this year was 37 hl/ha.

"Although we have sold the domaine we will continue to live in the area and I will continue to be a wine consumer!"   

We had a brief stop at the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups where Dominique brought me up to date: "We finished harvesting in Bourgueil on Saturday just before the rain started. We are still picking in Montlouis. We have done a première tri for a moelleux Montlouis. The Clos Michet is finished and we will be picking and finishing the Clos Mosny tomorrow."

While Jacky Blot is still picking, I gather that François Chidaine finished last Saturday. 

In Vouvray I saw Alexandre Monmousseau of Château Gaudrelle. "We have a day and half of picking left. I expect we will finish sometime next week. This year has certainly been complicated. There is an incredible gap in the level of maturity of the Chenin even within the same bunch. The grapes are aromatically very rich with plenty of acidity."

 

"Although it is better to make a small amount of good wine rather than plenty of rubbish our yields are lower than we expected – around 35 hl/ha. When you pick up a bunch of grapes it is lighter than you would expect.

"2015 is full of surprises. You pick a parcel of vines that you expect will be around 12% potential and destined for dry wine but it turns out to be 14% instead! Happily we have a tri for a sweet wine at 20% potential."

We tasted a interesting experiment – tressage. Rather than regularly trimming the vines when they reach the top of the wines, they are plaited over. The results are noteworthy – the grapes mature 12 days earlier, with 1.7% of potential alcohol. This comes at a high labour cost as it took 35 hours to plait this parcel.        

A parcel of vines in Montlouis still waiting to be picked

Signs on the front of François Chidaine's winery in Husseau 

Alexandre Monmousseau, Château de Gaudrelle 

 Alexandre Monmousseau (Château Gaudrelle, Vouvray)

Fermentation froth

Affaire Blot/Chidaine: INAO gave Jacky Blot carte blanche to vinify his Vouvray in Montlouis

François Chidaine and Jacky Blot with their Vouvrays 

2013 Les Argiles (François) and 2013 Clos de Venise (Jacky)

  

One of the most intriguing aspects of the barring of Jacky Blot and François Chidaine from vinifying their Vouvray in Montlouis is that Jacky wrote to the INAO in Tours on 15th July 1999 asking for permission to vinify his Vouvray at Montlouis. On 5th October 1999 he received a letter informing him that the Commission permanente de INAO had given a favourable response to his request to vinify Vouvray in Montlouis. No time limit to this permission was given. 

Letter from Jacky Blot to the INAO in Tours 15th July 1999:

Cher Monsieur   

J'ai l'honneur de porter à votre connaissance mon intention de vinifier dans mon installation de Montlouis sur Loire le raisin récolté sur ma parcelle située sur l'aire d'appellation VOUVRAY et destiné à l'elaboration de VOUVRAY TRANQUILLE.

Si ce projet devait poser un quelconque problème, vous voudrez boen en transmettre les raisons dûments justifiées à Maître ANDREA LINDNER-JAMIN avocat à BORDEAUX, 27, RUE Charles CHAUMET.

Avec mes remerciements, et mes meilleurs salutations.

JACKY BLOT

•

The favourable response (5th October 1999) from Luc Valade, le sous-directeur Direction Générale de la Concurrence et de la Répression des Fraudes.

Monsieur 

J'ai l'honneur de vous notifier la décision favourable de la Commission permanente de l'INAO du 9 septembre 1999 au sujet de votre demande de vinification de l'appellation <<VOUVRAY>> (vin tranquille) hors aire de production, en l'occurence sur la commune de Montlouis sur Loire.

Je vous prie de croire, Monsieur, à l'assurance de ma considération distinguée.

Le Sous-Directeur 

Luc VALADE

•

This letter would appear to set a precedent since it shows that vinifying Vouvray in Montlouis was acceptable to the INAO in 1999. Worth noting that the INAO's permission extended only to still wines as the 1974 Vouvray Décret, signed into law by Jacques Chirac, banned the production of sparkling Vouvray outside the appellation with no exceptions made, not even Nazelles-Négron.  

To follow shortly, in a separate post, interviews with François Chidaine and Jacky Blot along with a phone interview with Philippe Brisbarre, the president of the regional committee of the INAO.  

An echo from VitiLoire – storm brewing in Vouvray

I spent the day at Vitiloire in the centre of Tours. This year there were 158 Loire producers from the Pays Nantais to Saint-Pourçain showing their wines. Once again this year there was a very friendly atmosphere making Vitiloire an annual event not to be missed.

I will report soon on some of the wines I tasted but firstly brief mention of a storm brewing in Vouvray that I discovered today. 

François Chidaine 

Jacky Blot

Two of the leading Vouvray producers – François Chidaine and Jacky Blot (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups), who have the majority of their vines in Montlouis just across the Loire, may well be unable to use the Vouvray appellation unless they vinify their wines within the aire of the Vouvray or in the derogation area of Nazelles-Négron. Jacky Blot has no facilities for vinification in Vouvray, while François Chidaine does apparently have some limited facilities at the Clos Baudouin. However, François now has a new modern winery in Husseau which is naturally much better equipped. 

François has recently been elected président de la Fédération des Associations Viticoles d'Indre-et-Loire et de la Sarthe.

At the centre is the latest Vouvray décret of 8th June 2011. This décret sets out that AC Vouvray has to be vinified within the zone of Vouvray with a part of the commune of the Nazelles-Négron, on the north bank of the Loire just across from Amboise. Transitional arrangements were made for the commune of Montlouis allowing Vouvray to be vinified there until the 2013 harvest. These arrangements have now come to an end, so what happens now? 

The relevant parts of the décret:                 

'Décret n° 2011-650 du 8 juin 2011 relatif à l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Vouvray »
1° Aire géographique :
La récolte des raisins, la vinification, l'élaboration et l'élevage des vins tranquilles, la récolte des raisins, la vinification, l'élaboration, l'élevage et le conditionnement des vins mousseux et pétillants sont assurés sur le territoire des communes suivantes du département d'Indre-et-Loire : Chançay, Noizay, Parçay-Meslay, Reugny, Rochecorbon, Tours-Sainte-Radegonde, Vernou-sur-Brenne, Vouvray.'

3° Aire de proximité immédiate :
L'aire de proximité immédiate, définie par dérogation pour la vinification, l'élaboration et l'élevage des vins tranquilles et la vinification, l'élaboration, l'élevage et le conditionnement des vins mousseux et pétillants, est constituée par une partie du territoire de la commune de Nazelles-Négron du département d'Indre-et-Loire (partie du territoire au nord de la route départementale n° 1 et à l'ouest de la route départementale n° 75).'   

'XI. ― Mesures transitoires:'

'2° Aire de proximité immédiate :
A titre transitoire, la vinification, l'élaboration et l'élevage des vins tranquilles peuvent être assurés jusqu'à la récolte 2013 incluse sur le territoire de la commune du département d'Indre-et-Loire de Montlouis-sur-Loire.'

Since there was a special dérogation introduced for Nazelles-Négron, it seems odd that there wasn't a similar permanent dérogation for Montlouis as both Chidaine and Blot had vines in Vouvray when the current décret passed into law. 

Both Jacky Blot and François Chidaine have no real need to put AC Vouvray on their labels in order to sell their wines. It's their reputations that counts. Should François and Jacky chose to label them as Vin de France they would still sell with no problem.

A suivré!

   

2014 Loire – vintage also underway in Vouvray + 2011 Foreau Sec

 Chenin Blanc@the Clos de Venise

Yesterday we had a quick look@Vouvray, in particular in Jacky Blot's (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups) two parcels on the north side of the Loire – Le Clos de Venise (Noizay) and Le Clos de la Bretonnière. With wonderful fine weather at the moment, which has lasted for much of September and now into October, the vignerons are optimistic at last after two difficult years, although yields are tending to be low – Jacky says he will be lucky to see 30 hl/ha this year. On the other hand he thinks 2014 could well be potentially the best sec he has made in Vouvray and Montlouis. Comparisons with the 2002 and 2008 vintages are being made.

With a less favourable forecast for early next week, Jacky is keen to get as much as possible of the top parcels picked this week, so one picking team in Vouvray, the other in Montlouis – tackling Clos Mosny and Clos Michet. 

Clos de Venise: 

 Phew! Hot work for the first day of October!

 Clos de Venise – sorting (above and below)

Very little waste in 2014 – grapes rejected in Clos de Venise

– big contrast to last year

•••

 Picking machine@work in vineyards near Noizay

 

 Vernou-sur-Brenne

Grapes@Vernou

 

Vernou: picking machine returning to vines after its lunch

 Grand houses along the Premier Côte@Vouvray

(Above and below)

Clos de la Bretonnière

 Organising pickers

 Jacky Blot@the sorting table

 Grapes in the upper and older part of the Clos de la Bretonnière 

are being left to see if sweet wine can be made this year

 

 Hod-carrier

 Sun-bathing vintage..

Another hod carrier

On the way back to Epeigné-les-Bois we dropped in La Grange Tiphaine where we saw Coralie Delecheneau, who reported that Damien was over at Saint-Martin-le-Beau (AC Montlouis) picking for their sparkling cuvées.

Philippe Foreau: 2011 Vouvray Sec 

Domaine de Clos Naudin

While in Vouvray we drove up the Rue de la Croix Buisée to see if anything was going on at Philippe Foreau's Clos Naudin. As it was lunchtime there was not unnaturally little activity but we did get a glimpse of his pickers all seated round a table enjoying a sitdown lunch. So it seemed appropriate yesterday evening to open in celebration of the 2014 vintage a bottle of his 2011 Vouvray Sec. Still very young, of course, but with an attractive citric and slightly baked apple character with just a touch of sweetness to balance the acidity.   

Vouvray 1954?

A question from Mark about how the quality of the 1954 vintage in Vouvray: 

'Hi Jim,

Hope that you don't mind scouring your mental memory banks for a bit of advice? A good friend is turning 60 next year (a group of us hope to be joining him in Gigondas/Sablet in the Rhone for the celebrations) and I have been thinking of trying to source a bottle or two from his birth year. I've emailed Lopez de Heredia & CVNE in Rioja and hope to hear back from them and then my mind turned to Vigneau Chevraux in Chancay. I popped into VC about three years back and was able to source both '64 and  '69 Vouvrays for respective friends birthdays (at incredibly fair prices) and know that they keep considerable volumes of older vintages. Do you know if 1954 was any good in Vouvray?'

I can't remember ever tasting a 1954 Vouvray. Indeed I don't think I have ever tasted any Loire wine from this vintage. If I have tasted a Vouvray 1954 it would have been during the 1990s when the producers celebrated the launch of the new vintage with a press tasting and dinner covering past vintages. So for the launch of 1994, for example, they would have shown a selection of past vintages beginning with 4 going back to the first decade of the 20th century. Not all vintages were shown.

I can't now remember if I went to the launch of 1994 and, if I did, what was tasted. I do remember the launch of 1990 was we finished with an 1870. 

There are no 1954 Vouvrays for sale on wine-searcher. I have never seen it on a restaurant list in the Loire, although I have seen and drunk a 1953 Huet Moelleux at La Promenade in Le Petit Pressigny. My guess is that the 1954 vintage was more more than average with mainly sec and sparkling wine made, whereas 1953 was very good and 1955 was also a good year.  

Does anyone have details about the 1954 vintage in the Loire and Vouvray please? More information would be greatly appreciated.  

Vouvray: visite des vignes 23 September

It wasn't just the vines that the storm damaged – 

house still without the roof repaired over 3 months later  

Only a few second or third generation grapes 

on the vines in the worst affected parcels

Jean Michel Pieaux, president of the 

Vouvray producers with François Pinon 

The duo of musicians providing entertainment before the visit

The tradition of visiting the vines of Vouvray was established some 50 years ago by Jacques Puisais. I was invited to the 2013 edition, which carried particular significance this year because of the damage caused by the brief but very severe hailstorm of 17th June. The storm hit Vouvray around 5am having travelled up from the south west crossing the valleys of the Indre Cher, over Tours and La Loire.

Certainly there are parts of the appellation, especially along the première côte of Rochecorbon and Vouvray, where there is no crop left for this year and damage to the wood means that there will be consequences for next year. Equally there are parts of Vouvray, like Vernou and Chancay, which missed the storm and will have a normal crop this year. So there will be Vouvray produced in 2013.

 Second visit: bunch of grapes  

Before the harvest is complete it is difficult to have exact figures of the loss from the storm. However, provisionally, it is thought that damage in 40% of the appellation is between 80% and 100%, in 20% the damage is between 20% and 60%, while 40% wasn’t touched at all.

We visited two vineyards: one at Vouvray where the loss was 100% and where they had had to reprune part of the vineyard because the damage was so severe. Repruning helps the vine to recover more quickly. Virtually the only grapes to be seen were some second and third generation bunches.

As well as seeing the damage and the repruned vines, Etienne Carre (laboratoire de Touraine) and Dominique Gourdon (chef du centre météorologique de Tours), talked about the 2013 weather. After a very cold spring followed by a good summer the 2013 weather stats for temperature, rainfall and sunshine are now around the average for the last 20 years. 

They also explained the history of preventative measures against hail and the present situation. It is impossible to prevent hail but it is now possible to reduce the impact by reducing the size of the hailstones. This is done by firing iodure d'argent into the thunderclouds. This can either be done from above using a plane or by firing rockets from the ground. Rockets are the safest solution as it is dangerous for planes to fly close to storm clouds because of the turbulence.

The second visit was to a producer in Noizay, who will have a normal crop. Here the emphasis was on biodiversity with contributions by Emmanuelle Bollotte and Pascal Mallier (Chambre d' Agriculture). I'm not sure what criteria were used to choose this vineyard to illustrate biodiversity as this was a pretty half-hearted attempt at grassing over a vineyard with just a thin line of grass in the centre of the row. The producer told us that this system reduced his use of weed killer by a third. Furthermore there were vines close by where biodiversity was severely hindered by the use of 100% weed killer.

They also talked about the recent adoption of confusion sexuelles – something the vignerons of Limeray (Touraine-Amboise) were using some 20 years ago.

In one sense it was a brave decision to show a far from ideal example of biodiversity to the press – both local and national journalists, amongst them Michel Bettane and Isabelle Bachelet. They could have chosen to show one of the Domaine Huet parcels – biodynamic for well over 20 years, which would have given a very different impression. From wandering around the appellation my guess is that neither the vines shown nor the Huet vines are really representative of the appellation.    

Limited grassing over: the producer said he was now spending

 a third less on weedkiller than before 

A much better chance of biodiversity 

in the Domaine Huet vineyards (Le Haut Lieu) 

In the vines, including Michel Bettane (brown jacket) and
Isabelle Bachelet

Hail in – video report in La Nouvelle République + Syndicat's press release

François Pinon – one of the Vouvray producers badly affected 

Video report here. 

Jean-Michel Pieaux, president of the Vouvray producers' syndicat

busy organising support for the vignerons affected

Press release 18th June 2013 from Syndicat des Vignerons de Vouvray

'Suite aux violents orages de lundi 17 juin matin dans le vignoble de l’appellation Vouvray, le syndicat des vins de Vouvray a établi un premier état de la situation.

Les 2/3 des vignes de l’appellation qui compte au  total 2200 hectares en A.O.C. sont considérablement touchés, entre 20% et 100%.

L’orage a traversé l’appellation d’Ouest en Est en touchant particulièrement les communes de Parçay -Meslay, Rochecorbon, Vouvray, Vernou sur Brenne, Chançay et Reugny.

Les techniciens de la chambre d’agriculture conseillent et orientent les vignerons. Les membres du bureau du syndicat des vins rencontrent les administrations locales et nationales pour étudier les différentes aides envisageables auprès des organismes. La grêle ne fait pas partie des phénomènes climatiques reconnus « catastrophe naturelle ».

Les vignerons restent solidaires et s’activent pour préserver le reste de la récolte.'