Jacky Blot: Clos Mosny, 2012s en barrel and 2011s

An appropriate and coincidental headline in Libération for Triple Zéro, the domaine's 

very popular Montlouis pétillant non-dosé, although the article 

 The problem – missing vines (above)

Solution – replacements

Very interesting visit yesterday morning to see Jacky Blot (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups) to see progress in the Clos Mosny, taste top 2012s in barrel, the 2011s as well as pick up some 2011 wines we had ordered.  

It is impressive to see the progress made in the Clos Mosny since Jacky and his team took over in late 2010. The Clos that used to be used to produce grapes for Monmousseau's sparkling wine (before Monmousseau's purchase by Ackerman Laurance) is now being transformed. Missing vines replaced, new trellising and identifying parcels by quality within the 12 hectare clos.

"We have replaced 2000 vines here this year – 12,000 throughout our domaine." 

It is only really when there are few missing vines in a vineyard that you can accurately calculate the yield per hectare. The décret cahier des charges attached to the 2011 Montlouis appellation now specifies that there should be no more than 20%:

'Cahier des charges de l’appellation d’origine contrôlée « MONTLOUIS-SUR-LOIRE » homologué par le décret n° 2011-1276 du 11 octobre 2011

e) - Seuil de manquants

Le pourcentage de pieds de vigne morts ou manquants, visé à l’article D. 645-4 du code rural et de la pêche maritime, est fixé à 20 %.'

   

The yield per vine is also limited to two kilos per vine, so if the rules are strictly applied it shouldn't matter in terms of yield if there are many vines missing, although calculating accurate what the permitted yield ought to be taking into account the percentage of vines missing is tricky.    

Replacing the trellising is an expensive business: there are around 25 kilometres of wire needed per hectare – 6.6 kilometres per wire. (Jim: 26.4 kms of wire).  

Jacky has split the Clos up into a number of parcels as inevitably over a 12 hectare plot the quality of the grapes produced varies. One of the best parcels is in the centre of the Clos, while one of the least good is up at the top close to the entrance as well as one right down at the south west end close to the road between Montlouis and Saint Martin le Beau. Interestingly Parcel 7, which was initally thought to lack potential has turned out to produce much higher quality grapes. This somewhat mirrors Les Perrières at La Butte, Bourgueil, which rapidly showed it had a much greater quality potential than initially thought.

2012s Montlouis and Vouvray in barrel

Although 2012 was short in quantity, the quality is good with very clean, precise wines many with considerable salinity in the finish. Jacky compares them to the 2010s. Although the wines are not finished, the potential of the Clos Mosny is becoming clearer along with the differences between the parcels. He is revelling in the ability to downgrade wines from the Clos that aren't up to scratch for the single vineyard cuvée to go into Rémus, Les Dix Arpents, Triple Zéro or even the Brut Tradition. There is a lot of flexibility here. 

2011

Jacky is increasingly persuaded that the best dry Montlouis and Vouvrays come from years of less sunshine – hope still for 2012! – rather than hot years like 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2011. However, since 2009 he has been keen to pick earlier in hot years and this comes through in his 2011 dry wines that have a fine balance of fruit and acidity with a freshness and punch in the finish despite being a sunny year.  It was interesting to taste a rather lumpen 2006 Rémus from a time when Jacky was still equating quality with plenty of sunshine.

My favourite 2011 wines: Montlouis – Rémus+, Clos Mosny; Vouvray – Clos de la Bretonnière and Clos de Venise.   

 

       

   

Jacky Blot's Clos Mosny 2011, Montlouis star of today's Majestic tasting

At today's Majestic Summer Press Tasting Jacky Blot's Clos Mosny, Montlouis Domaine de la Taille aux Loups (£19.25) was my favourite wine showing attractive concentration with a hint of honey, freshness and a touch of oak. This is the first vintage from the Clos Mosny and there won't be another until this 2013 vintage as there were no single vineyard wines made in the very short and difficult 2012 vintage*. The Clos Mosny is sold through Lay & Wheeler, a subsidiary of Majestic.   

*: This is incorrect. I'm not sure whether I got this wrong or Jacky changed his mind and decided to release some but a sample of the 2012 Clos Mosny was shown at the J&B tasting (18.11.2013). Will have check this.  (22.11.2013).

An afternoon with Jacky Blot including tasting 2011s

Jacky Blot in the Clos Michet, Montlouis 

I met up with Jacky yesterday afternoon in the company of a Belgian importer and one from Switzerland. This was mainly an opportunity to taste all the 2011s. A few of these are in bottle but most will be bottled shortly now that the definitive assemblage is complete. 

First, as neither of the importers had visited Jacky's vines, we went for a look at the Clos Michet and the neighbouring Clos Mosny. In introducing the Montlouis appellation, Jacky stressed that rather than facing across northwards over the Loire and towards Vouvray, it actually faces south towards the Cher.      

Jacky explaining the Cordon Royat system of pruning that he prefers to the more traditional Gobelet

After a quick look at Le Clos Michet we moved into the 12-hectare Clos Mosny that Jacky acquired in autumn 2010. He explained that in the first year they hadn't started to replace missing vines, although they did rip out a few rows of unwanted Chardonnay rather had looked to see which part of the Clos produced the best fruit for a single vineyard Montlouis. They have now identified a square in the centre of the Clos as the most promising and will be starting work here on replacing missing vines and raising the trellis from two to three wires. 

Across the Clos Mosny – the central part has been selected for the single vineyard cuvée

Checks on grape maturity will start at the beginning of September. "With a small crop this year I think we could well be surprised by how quickly the grapes ripen at the end," says Jacky, "so we have to be ready." However, no matter how fast the grapes ripen the 2012 Loire harvest will clearly be later than last year when much of the grapes were being picked in September with some of the early varieties picked in late August.      

Part of the small 2012 crop (above and below)

We then repaired to the barrel cellar, at the bottom of the steep rise up into the hamlet of Husseau, before heading back to the offices to taste the 2011s and 2010s.

 In the barrel cellar where all the whites are vinified 

On left one of Jacky's prized Chassin barrels

2011 and 2010 Montlouis/Vouvray and Bourgueil

Our tasting of the 2011 whites began with the two wines that are already in bottle – Les Dix Arpents (Montlouis) and Les Caburoches (Vouvray). My preference was for the Vouvray with its great vivacity and length.Then onto Rémus, Rémus Plus and the single vineyard wines – Clos Michet and Clos Mosny (Montlouis) and Clos de la Bretonnière and Clos de Venise (Vouvray). 

Jacky is understandably pleased that his 2011s are vivid and lively not lacking the acidity of some 2011s. I was particularly impressed by the volume, texture and purity of the Clos Michet. Although sec, it gives the impression of sucrosity. I also thought that the first vintage of the Clos Mosny was a real success given the poor state of the vineyard when Jacky took it over with vines used to producing a generous and an abundant crop. I thought the Clos Mosny was a little more angular, less generous than the Clos Michet. It will be interesting to see how the wines from here develop over the next few years. My favourite, however, was the one hectare Clos de Venise – a lovely blend of opulent fruit and a lifted vivacious finish.

From the range of 2010s I picked out the beautifully balanced 2010 Rémus and again the Clos de Venise. Tasting 2010 and 2011 whites side by side shows that 2010 is a vintage whose purity and balance will please Loire fanatics with greater staying power than the softer 2011s. We concluded the dry whites with the 1996 Rémus – one of the very early editions of this cuvée. Light gold hue, the 1996 has a lovely savoury, complex character with delicate spice and honey. Although evolving, it shows no sign of tiring.  

For the reds of La Butte 2010 is the superior vintage with riper fruit than the more angular 2011 but with more definition and precision than the crowd-pleasing 2009s. Having tasted the full range of La Butte 2011 I picked out Les Perrières and Mi-Pente, while the Pied de la Butte is full of easy drinking red fruits – a wine to drink young and share with friends. The two 2010s we tasted – Haut de la Butte and Mi-Pente – were both very fine with quite a marked floral character. Mi-Pente has great finesse, balance, ripe tannins and length.                  

  

Clos Mosny and 2009s@Couly-Dutheil posts completed

The Clos Mosny looking towards the château

Two previous posts finished off this afternoon: visit on 4th January with Jacky Blot to his newly acquired Clos Mosny and the tasting of 2009s at Couly-Dutheil.  

Jacques Couly

Jacky Blot: visit to Le Clos Mosny + 2010s

Pipette and glass@the cave Domaine de la Taille aux Loups

I spent this afternoon with Jacky Blot (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups) first visiting his new vineyard – Le Clos de Mosny – and then tasting from barrel a number of his 2010 Montlouis and Vouvray.

Jacky looking towards the south western end of the Clos

Jacky and Joëlle Blot took over the historic Clos Mosny from Monmousseau after the 2010 harvest. See the details here. Driving along the D40 from Saint-Martin-Le-Beau to Montlouis you pass the southern end of the Clos, whose walls completely encircle the 12ha vineyard and the Château de Mosny making 1.6 kilometres of wall to look after! Jacky has already hired a stonemason called Antoine to repair and look after the walls. I suspect he will be busy!

Ivy infested gateway

Although I had previously looked through the gate at the Clos I had never been inside, so it was particularly interesting to visit it with Jacky yesterday. It seems very likely that not all of the Clos will produce the same quality of grapes. The soil is a mix of flint and sand. Typically the soil in Montlouis becomes more sandy as you approach the southern part of the AC around Saint-Martin-le-Beau. The Clos slopes gently down from its northern end to the D40 road. It seems likely that the best part of the Clos, which faces south – south-west, will be from the upper and the middle parts. In the lower part the soil may be deeper with more clay. There looks to be a frost prone hollow at the south-western end. Some of the vines are around 50 years old.

The intention is that the best fruit from the Clos will be used for a single vineyard cuvée with the lesser fruit going into either Les Dix Arpents or to the base wine for Triple Zéro.

Pruning in the Clos (above and below)

Vines beyond the wall are part of the Clos Michet

Pruning has already started in the Clos as the cold snap at the end of November has allowed producers to start pruning earlier than normal. It makes particular sense in the clos as all the posts, etc. will be replaced here once pruning has finished. Yields will be drastically reduced – Jacky suggested that yields here in 2010 could have been in the order of 120/130 hl/ha, which was reduced at vintage time around 70hl/ha by discarding rotten bunches.

There is also a winery at the entrance to the Clos with a ground florr and cellar, which has a stock of bottles from the Monmousseau purchase. 

The Blots have a virtual monopoly of the Clos except for a small patch of untended vines (see below) at the northern end which belongs to the Château de Mosny, more an attractive manoir than a true château.

The Château de Mosny

It is a pity that the vineyard and the château have been in separate hands for some years now as there is a potential to make the Clos Mosny a show place for Montlouis.

Barrel tasting of 2010s

After visiting the Clos we headed back to the village of Husseau to taste the 2010s from both Montlouis and Vouvray from barrel – many of them still fermenting. It is always fascinating to taste wine at all of its stages, although it is difficult to fully know how the finished wine will taste, especially if there is still some sugar left to ferment and the blend is yet to be made. However, you can discern the broad outlines. At this early stage in their life they seem reminiscent to the 2007s and 2008s – very precise, clean flavours with quite strong acidity.

Among the many samples we tasted was the Clos Michet. 2009 was the first vintage of this Clos, which is adjacent and just to the west of the Clos Mosny. Michet is also 12 hectares but has a number of owners with Jacky now having some 4 hectares here as the deal with Monmousseau included some parcels in this Clos. My current impression is that Michet has less weight than Rémus, which comes from a number of parcels, but has delicacy, finesse and precision. We also tasted wine from the Château de la Bourdaisière, whose harvest Jacky has been looking after for the past three or four years.

Chassin – Jacky's preferred barrel maker

Jacky Blot (above and below)

**

I gather that sometime over the past year Domaine Deletang (20ha) was sold to Michel Antier, a wine producer (Domaine de Cray) and restaurateur (La Cave à Montlouis).