Touraine producer becomes general secretary of AREV: an interview (part one)

Aynard de Clermont-Tonnerre

the new general-secretary of AREV 

The wine lobbying body Assemblée des Régions Européennes Viticoles (AREV) has a new secretary general: Aynard de Clermont-Tonnerre. Aynard initially took up the post of Deputy General Secretary on 1st April 2020 and on Monday 1st June he became the current Secretary General when his predecessor Alain d'Anselme retired.

Aynard and his wife Isabelle own the Clos du Porteau in the hamlet of La Vallée Pitrou in Saints-Georges-sur-Cher (Loir et Cher). I first visited them in March 2009 when Aynard was still working for a German bank. He was one of the casualties of the 2008 financial crash: informed in the modern manner by email that his job was no more while promoting his wine at the London Wine Trade Fair at London's ExCeL Centre. Aynard then had a period as export manager for Ampelidae in Haut-Poitou before becoming in charge of export for Vignobles Austruy with estates in Provence (Commanderie de Peyrassol), Bordeaux (Château de Malescasse), Tuscany (Tenuta Casenuove) and the Douro (Quinta da Côrte). 

Now Aynard has an exciting new challenge running AREV, which was founded on the 20th June 1988. The organisation represents wine producers and the wine trade across the EU. 

Last Thursday (28th May) I cycled the short distance to the Clos du Porteau to ask Aynard about the AREV and his new role.

What is the role of the AREV?

Aynard: "It was founded 30 years ago and it provides the wine producing regions with a voice to the European Commission and the European Parliament as well as countries outside like the United States, for example. We examine and explain the consequences of proposed political measures and political decisions. There is a danger that wine producers can be forgotten. For example all the CAP subsidies used to go other sectors of agriculture with grain and animal husbandry prioritised.

There was no reason why wine producers should have been excluded. From 2015, through the efforts of AREV, a small proportion of the CAP budget has gone to wine growers, who get a grant of 30% towards investment in equipment – new presses, a new tractor, for example – with the producer finding 70% of the cost. Being able to invest in new equipment is particularly important for small producers, who will never be profitable if they do not invest in new equipment. These grants have made a big difference in countries like Spain and Portugal. 

Each CAP budget runs for six years – the new budget will run from 2021 to 2027.  

One example of a successful AREV campaign was in opposing the liberalisation of vine planting rights. When the current EU trade commissioner, Phil Hogan, was the EU commissioner for agriculture and rural development he wanted to abolish plantation rights and to have no limit on vine plantings and no limit on where they could be planted. This the AREV believed would lead to hyper-capitalism with huge plantings in valley floors leading to low quality wine sold for low prices, which would have had a catastrophic effect on the appellation system and would have destablised the wine trade. 

Using their three analysts, who are based in Brussels, AREV showed the likely consequences, including the social ones, of complete abolition. Hogan was persuaded to pull back, which saved the fate of the European wine business.

The AREV, which has no political colour, makes sure that the European wine industry's views on policies like the Farm to Forks Strategy are put to Brussels both to the EU Commission and to the Parliament. This is done through consultations and contact with the 27 countries in AREV that represent 50 wine producing regions. 

In the Loire, example, the AREV is in contact with the regional governments – Pays de la Loire and Centre Val de Loire – as well as the regions' wine organisations – InterLoire and the BIVC (Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins du Centre).  

It is crucial that the importance of the wine industry is not under-estimated:  economically, socially and environmentally.       

AREV: weakness?

Aynard: There has been a certain loss of momentum over the last ten years due to internal French disagreements, which have now been resolved through retirement. We are now a team of five full timers including three analysts plus a part-time secretary. We will have a new website by the end of June. The current one is outdated and not fit for purchase. It is better to have a site that works properly even if it only has a couple of pages and it has to be easy to navigate.  

••

Clos de Porteau   

Aynard and Isabelle have been joined by their daughter Hermine at the Clos du Porteau. As a winemaker she has worked for Champagne Gosset and the Commanderie de Peyrassol. Given the demands of Aynard's new post she will be taking the leading role at Porteau. The domaine currently has 12 hectares in production, and is looking to increase to 20 hectares through replanting as well as looking for vines to rent or buy in Montlouis.

The domaine is in conversion to organic viticulture. Hermine is keen to make changes so there will be some orange wine, petnat and some wines without sulphur, especially the Gamay. All the reds will be picked into small boxes. Gravity will be used in the winery with pumps banned and the reds will be made in untreated concrete tanks with their slow air transmission in preference to stainless steel tanks. 

•••

Interview Part 2 will include measures needed following COVID-19, harmonisation of organic wine certification across the EU, labeling etc.      

 

     

2012 – a very fine Touraine Sauvignon: Clos du Porteau, Le Courlis

2012 Le Courlis, Touraine Sauvignon, Clos du Porteau

Really enjoyed this excellent 2012 Touraine Sauvignon, Le Courlis from the Clos du Porteau in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher. It has a lovely ripe texture, with a touch of citric fruit – touch of lime but mainly passion fruit and pineapple. Mellow wine, not at all sharp, and vegetal but still with enough acidity. The wine is made by Isabelle de Clermont Tonnerre.

Isabelle de Clermont Tonnerre with her husband Aynard 

A new player in Montlouis

Aynard de Clermont-Tonnerre amongst the vines@Les Boulayes

Aynard de Clermont-Tonnerre: "what a ridiculous angle!"

In January 2012 Aynard and Isabelle Clérmont de Tonnerre concluded a deal with Michel Antier, which gave them access to 22 hectares of Montlouis – some already planted 13.5 ha in two parcels: Les Boulayes and Les Batisses. These parcels used to belong to Olivier Deletang, who for personal and financial reasons, sold up in 2009 to Michel Antier – the largest landowner in Montlouis.  

Aynard de Clermont Tonnerre with Michel Antier 

In turn Antier decided that he now had too much land, so has started to sell off  a few of his parcels. This has allowed Aynard de Clermont-Tonnerre to rent Les Batisses on a long contact and Les Boulayes but with the option to buy the latter in a couple of years. Aynard and Isabelle already have 22 hectares of vines at the Clos du Porteau in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher as Appellation Touraine. Following the Montlouis deal, they have given back some of 12ha of their rented vines in AC Touraine to the their owner, leaving them with 10 hectares mainly planted with Sauvignon Blanc with some Cabernet Franc and Côt in addition. 

 Aynard amongst the old Chenin vines: Les  Boulayes

At Les Batisses, which is just to the north of Jacky Blot's Le Clos Mosny, all 11 hectares are planted, while at Les Boulayes, about a kilometre or so further east, only 2.5 hectares are currently in production with a potential 8.5 hectares to plant. This year the vineyard will be farmed organically and next year will see the start of conversion to biodynamics. 

After the visit we tasted a couple of Olivier Delétang's wines from 2009 – his last vintage. Firstly Les Batisses sec followed by a Moelleux. Although both were perfectly pleasant, well made and would be a good choice for a wine by the glass in a restaurant or wine bar, neither were at the standard I remember Delétang producing in the past. They lack the concentration and character that would lift them to make them memorable. A question of pushing the yields up towards the maximum permitted?  

Some Cabernet Franc vines@Les Boulayes (not part of the deal)

Elderly Chenin vines@Les Boulayes

Vine@Les Boulayes looking south towards the Cher Valley and Saint-Martin-le-Beau (above and below)

Sunlight on the wires and vines@Les Batisses

The chai@Les Boulayes

The parcel at Les Boulayes comes with a winery. Although the functional building will not win any beauty prizes, Aynard is very pleased to have this facility as apparently it is more difficult to find a winery/chai in Montlouis than vines.   

Clos du Porteau (AC Touraine): a couple of new photos

Aynard de Clermont Tonnerre: a global vision from his new office!

Posts to come include a tasting of 2009s at Couly-Dutheil on Tuesday afternoon, tasting more 2009s at La Maison des Vins de Tours with Marie Colombe Haudebert and a round up of recently tasted wines.

Les Chaffines, Touraine, Clos du Porteau

Opened a bottle of Aynard and Isabelle Clemont Tonnerre's 2009 Les Chaffines, AC Touraine. This is 100% Sauvignon Blanc and has mouthfilling texture and the typical richness of 2009 – more tropical fruit than grassy and gooseberry. It lacks a little bit of freshness in the finish, so is a better food wine than apéritif.

On our return to London Sunday evening we drank the Clos du Porteau's PetNat – a fun wine made from 80% Gamay and 20% Grolleau with an attractive mid-pink colour and 8% alcohol, so there is some residual sweetness. I should have taken a photo of a glass of his PetNat but the wine had been drunk by the time I remembered my camera!   

Duchesse de Clemont Tonnere

Rools is rools! – Clos du Porteau 0 French wine bureaucracy 3

Aynard and Isabelle Clermont Tonnerre, Clos du Porteau 

News yesterday that the PetNat of the Clos du Porteau (AC Touraine) has fallen foul of France's byzantine wine laws with their Red PetNat, a new product. A blend of Gamay and Grolleau it has a fashionably low level of alcohol – 8.5%. It appears to correspond to a demand in the UK market as Aynard and Isabelle de Clermont Tonnerre, owners of the Clos, have orders for it from Waitrose and Harrods. 

Unfortunately the UK importers needed to check this new product out with the UK wine authorities before it could be imported. The query was referred to the French authorities who spent some time considering whether it was a product that could be sold. Unfortunately Aynard and Isabelle were informed by magnificently bureaucratic fax on Monday (31st May) sent by tperson responsible for le Pôle Concurrence of the Consommation et Répression des Fraudes that their PetNat could not be sold either in France or anywhere else. The family could either drink all the 3000 bottles made (vive la modération!) or it could be turned into wine vinegar or distilled.

Le Clos du Porteau PetNat, which is a VMQTA (vin mousseux de qualité de type aromatique) falls foul of the French rules on several counts: it contains Grolleau; it has 8.4% alc and has 7.3 bar.* Grolleau is not on the list of grape varieties permitted for VMQTA. Unless it is an appellation d'origine protegée, the level of alcohol has to be a minimum of 9.5%. Also for a pétillant the pressure must be between 1 and 2.5 bars.

The fax concluded thus:

'En conséquence, comme <<tout vin élaboré à partir des variéties à raisins de cuve visées dans les classements établis en application de l'article 120 bis, paragraphe 2, premier alinéa, mais n'entrant dans aucune des catégories établies à l'annexe XI ter >>, le produit dénommé <>, ne pourra être <> (art. 113, quinquies, 3 du RCE 1234/2007, modifié par le RCE 491/2009).'

The Clos du Porteau has been promised a visit from agents of the Répression des Fraudes to ensure that this decision is respected.

* 7.3 bar seems to be very high not sure how you would bet a PetNat up to this pressure. 

   

2009 news from the Cher: Clos Roche Blanche/ Clos du Porteau

Heavy rain in parts of the Cher today and some yesterday has brought picking to a halt.

2008 vintage@Clos Roche Blanche

Catherine Roussel, Clos Roche Blanche

Although many vignerons in the Cher are just starting to pick, the new streamlined Clos Roche Blanche is now well on the way to finishing.

Catherine: "We haven't picked today because of the rain – so no more T-shirts, sandals and thongs! But we have finished our Sauvignon, Gamay and the Pineau d'Aunis, so there is just the Côt and the Cabernet that remain.

"The Sauvignon is looking very good – no rot. Most of it is between 13%-13.5% potential alcohol with around 5g acidity. The last parcel was up around 14%. I would have preferred 12.5%-13% but still! Unfortunately, overall, there is only 22-23hl/ha but it has been dry in August and the recent wind has further reduced the crop.

The yield for the Gamay is around 24hl/ha – 13.5% alc and 5.5g acidity. Fortunately we picked this before the rain as Gamay is terrible for sucking up water. We have very little Pineau d'Aunis this year – just 9 hl/ha, so we have only made rosé. At 12.6% and 4.8g it should be well balanced.

"I'm disappointed by the low yields but the fruit looked great, so I can't complain! We will probably wait until Monday to pick the Côt and Cabernet, which is now ripe. It all depends on the weather but we are not in a rush."

Catherine thinks that one of the reasons for many producers picking later than them is that their yields are higher, so the fruit ripens more slowly. "I've heard reports of grapes now at 10.5%-11%. Also those vineyards hit by hail will be later, as the vines are stressed by hail damage and the grapes take longer to ripen."

•

Aynard and Isabelle Clemont-Tonnerre

Isabelle Clermont-Tonnerre (Clos du Porteau, Saint-Georges-sur-Cher)

Isabelle was very enthusiastic when I spoke to her this evening despite it pouring with rain today.
"We started last Friday picking Sauvignon Blanc in a vineyard that overlooks the Cher on the 1er Côte. It's at 12.5% (see the analysis in Aynard's comment below) and the quality is superb with the flavours that we saw last year but with more weght. We expected to restart picking on Monday. Then it will be three weeks non-stop!

"The Sauvignon that we picked on Friday flowered on 11th June – the same day as a lys blanche in Saint-Georges – and we started picking 90 days later!"

Le Clos du Porteau, Saint-Georges-sur-Cher

Visited 25th March 2009

Aynard and Isabelle de Clermont Tonnerre

Pulley once used for operating the old vertical press

Marks cut into the tuffeau by ropes used to operate the old press

Aynard and Isabelle are particularly interested by Côt: a bottle of Vanneau Huppé 2005

(to be continued)

A morning with the Maire of Cravant-les-Coteaux

Monsieur le Maire@Château de la Grille

I was privileged to spend this morning with Christophe Baudry, the Maire of Cravant-les-Coteaux and a partner in Baudry-Dutour. We spent the morning visiting all the recent acquisitions of Baudry-Dutour, who are now the largest independent producers in Chinon. We started with a visit to Château de la Grille, which Baudry-Dutheil acquired right at the beginning of this year.

Baudry-Dutour winery@Panzoult

Château de la Grille, Chinon

(Full report to follow – hopefully tomorrow.)

Aynard de Clermont Tonnerre and Isabelle Bacot: Clos du Porteau

Yesterday afternoon I went to Clos du Porteau in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher owned by Aynard de Clermont Tonnerre and Isabelle Bacot. They are particularly interested in Côt, called Malbec in other parts of the world. (Again full report to follow).