2016 Salon des Vins de Loire – some echoes

The First Salon des Vins de Loire was in 1987 and to date it hasn't missed a year since not even following the terrible frost of April 1991. Despite some voices saying that it should be called off the 1992 edition went ahead. My first Salon was in January 1990 and I have been to every edition since.

The biggest threat the Salon now faces is Prowein, which has grown enormously over the last decade and a number of significant producers have decided to opt for the Dusseldorf and miss the Loire Salon. Late in the day the organisers of the Salon found a place and a formula for organic La Levée de la Loire last year. This year they have added a Demeter (biodynamic) fair as well. They have also included a section that highlights 'Young Producers', which is good news.  

Monday attracted a good crowd and my impression was that this first  is that this edition is busier than last year. Predictably Tuesday was quieter and Wednesday very calm but good news for those of us who want to taste at the most popular stands but don't want to fight through the crowds. 

Some echoes
Châteaumeillant: up to 25 growersChâteaumeillant, Georges Sand country, has a strong claim to be the most isolated of Loire appellations. Quincy and Reuilly are the two Loire appellations closest to Châteaumeillant – just under 70 kilometres away for Reuilly and just over 70 kms for Quincy. In both cases it's an hour's drive away or more. 

Despite being isolated the appellation, which was promoted from VDQS to AOC in June 2010, has undergone a revolution in the past five years. In 2010 there were just four or five producers with the Cave Coop counting for an important part of the small production of Châteaumeillant. Since then, due to the closure of the Co-op some two years and a number of producers selling up or retiring, the number of producers has jumped to 25, although the area under vine hasn't increased significantly. 

A number of the new producers have come from Quincy, an all white appellation, attracted by the possibility of making red and rosé to augment their portfolios. Quincy producers, who have moved into Châteaumeillant, include Lecomte, Roux, Jacques Rouzé and Domaines Siret. Joseph Mellot also has a small parcel in the AC.  

Ludo and Sophie Ragot have sold their fine Café de la Promenade in Bourgueil with the new owners taking over in March.

Having handed over the Château de Tracy (Pouilly-Fumé) vineyards to his sisters, Comte Henry d'Assay has set up a négociant business – SAS Comte Henry d'Assay.

After some 20 years this is expected to be the last Salon des Vins de Loire that Gérard Pelletier will be welcoming vignerons, importers and press to his excellent restaurant – Le Relais. At the age of 62 Gérard has decided to embark on a second life. Thank you Gérard and we wish you a long and enjoyable retirement.

2012 Salon des Vins de Loire: more portraits

Sébastien David: Bourgueil

Philippe Boucard: Lamé Delisle Boucard, Bourgueil

Alexandre Monmousseau, Château Gaudrelle, Vouvray

Bertrand Minchin, La Tour Saint Martin, Menetou-Salon and Valençay


... et quelle surprise!

Joël Taluau (Taluau et Foltzenlogel), Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil

Thierry Foltzenlogel (Taluau et Foltzenlogel)


Comte Henry d'Assay, Château de Tracy


Charlotte Carsin, Domaine du Clos de l'Elu, Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné

Vignobles & Signatures: Paris 4th October 2011

The importance of quality control: Henri Ramonteau(Domaine Cauhapé, Jurançon)@Café Salle Pleyel

101 Rangs, 2010 Pouilly-Fumé, Château de Tracy (above and below)

The group Vignoble & Signatures (Le Club des Grands Domaines) held a tasting on October 4th with each of the producers allowed to show three wines. Among the wines on show was the 101 Rangs, 2010 Puilly-Fumé from Château de Tracy. This is the first vintage of the companion cuvée to HD (Haute Densité). 101 Rangs comes from the flinty vineyard just adjacent to the château on the south side. HD comes from a vineyard at Bois Guibert planted on limestone.

The 101 has a very intriguing aroma floral and distinctly spicy, gooseberry and grapefruit with good, precise mineral length – a fine addition to the burgeoning Tracy range.

2010 Haute Densité du Château de Tracy

I gathered from Comte Henry d'Assay that the INAO has told him that he can't plant any more Haute Densité because at 17,000 vines per hectare this is way above the norm and the INAO is seeking to standardise planting densities across France. Henry explained that the instruction had come from a Parisian bureaucrat, who had never visited the vineyard or tasted the wine! 

 

2011 Salon des Vins de Loire: some more photos

Abel Osorio (Nau Frères, Bourgueil)

The very fine 2008 Vieilles Vignes, Bourgueil, Nau Frères

Alphonse Mellot, jnr with Génération XIX

Edouard de la Palme with his AC Touraine Blanc (100% Chenin) 

Sebastien du Petit Thouars with the 2008 Reserve AC Touraine (100% Cabernet Franc)

Both the wines pictured from Edouard and Sébastien will be outlawed from AC Touraine if the idiotic reforms of the appellation come into force. Why you might ask. Simple! They are made respectively from 100% Chenin Blanc and 100% Cabernet Franc. The new regulations will not permit Touraine wines to be made from pure Chenin or pure Cabernet Franc. That these wines come from very close to  the birthplace of François Rabelais, the great promoter and lover of wines made from these two varieties, and that they are archetypal Loire varieties doesn't matter a jot to the Ayatollahs of eastern Touraine!

Frédéric Filliatreau (Domaine Filliatreau, Saumur and Saumur-Champigny)

Gérard Cherrier (Château de Sancerre)


Comte Henry d'Assay pouring his Château de Tracy (Pouilly-Fumé)

Henry Marionnet (Domaine de la Charmoise)