James Millton (Millton Vineyards, NZ)@Peter Hahn (Vouvray)

 Peter Hahn in his Vouvray vineyards (Clos de la Meslerie)

Peter Hahn and James Millton

Back in June, our last Touraine visit with James Millton was to see Peter Hahn at his Le Clos de la Meslerie in Vouvray. Peter is American but has long lived in France. His background is in finance. He bought the Clos and its three hectares of vines in 2002 with 2008 being his first vintage. Before buying Meslerie, Peter had been searching for a suitable property throughout vinous France.  

Peter has documents about the estate dating back to 1620, while a plaque on the front of the house is dated 1766.  

The vineyards are farmed biodynamically. The wines are natural. I first tasted Peter's Vouvray at the RAW fair in London and was very impressed with his wines. Peter is experimenting with using mechanisation as little as possible.

The wines are imported into the UK by Dynamic Vines. Bottles sell for around £30, which is a very good price for a recently established Vouvray producer. Peter makes just one wine per vintage. He was fortunate in 2013 as the June 17th hailstorm stopped just 50 yards away to the west of the property.   

After visiting the vineyards and the winery, we tasted four vintages from 2012 back to 2009. 

2012 (2 grams of residual sugar)

Lean, witch hazel nose, attractive texture, citric flavour particularly grapefruit, quite lean acidity in the finish. This 2012 is a success given the difficult vintage and is considerably more complex and interesting than some 2012 Vouvrays I have tasted.  

2011 (10 gms residual sugar)

Sweeter nose than the 2012, richly textured, good length with an austere finish, aromas of peach and apricot in the empty glass. 

2010 (40 grams residual sugar) 

This was my favourite wine of the flight with quince flavours, opulent texture and concentration. Lovely balance. Should age for many years. 

2009 (30 grams residual sugar)

Floral aromas – quince again as well as white truffle, good texture with a mineral finish.  

 

  

Le Clos de la Meslerie 

The estate dates back to 1620. 

(above and below)

 

The 1766 plaque

 

James praying for the bees? 

The end of successful flowering – June 2014 

A quince tree beside the vines 

Quince is a frequent tasting note for Chenin Blanc

The chai

The cellar 

 Peter in the winery

2009 Le Clos de la Meslerie 

With James Millton (Millton Vineyards, NZ) in the Loire (20.6.2014) – part 2

 James Millton, Didier Champalou and 

Céline Champalou in the Clos du Portail, Vouvray

A close inspection of the vines

After the morning spent with François Chidaine mainly in the vineyards, then a quick look at his new winery that is now finally nearing completion, a quick tour of the old cellars and then a short tasting at La Cave Insolite (the 2011 Les Choiselles Montlouis on flint was a favourite), it was onto Domaine Champalou in Vouvray where we had been kindly invited to lunch. Céline, Catherine and Didier's daughter, and her partner Kevin Fontaine, who makes the wine at Charles Joguet in Sazilly (AC Chinon) had visited James in New Zealand. 

Catherine had billed the lunch as a simple affair but it still lasted some three very enjoyable hours – eating, chatting and trying some interesting wines. I was impressed by the 2013 Sec Tendre, the harmonious 2012 Les Fondreaux, a delicately sweet 2003 la Moelleuse, despite the heatwave that years. We also tasted a couple of older wines – a 1991 sec that had taken on quite a lot of colour and was decidedly austere in the finish and the fine 1995 Tri de Vendange with white truffle and honey. It was fascinating to taste the 1991 as this was the year of the severe frost on the 21st and 22nd April, which overnight destroyed two thirds of the 1991 crop, so it is rare to taste 1991 now. 

We also tasted the promsing 2011 Clos de la Dioterie, Chinon from Charles Joguet in magnum, which is still young and will benefit from more time than we were prepared to give it. 

In time 2013 Vouvray from those producers hit by the violent hailstorm of 17th June 2013 will be equally rare. The Champalous were fortunate to have something to harvest last year as some Vouvray producers made no wine at all.       

Catherine Champalou and Kevin Fontaine, Céline's partner 

 2014 flowering close to being successfully completed

With James Millton (Millton Vineyards, NZ) in the Loire (20.6.2014)

 

Biodynamic Duo: François Chidaine with James

outside La cave insolite (François wine shop in Montlouis)  

It has been a busy but hugely enjoyable few days showing James Millton (Millton Vineyards in New Zealand) around part of Touraine as well as some of the vineyards of Anjou. It has been fascinating as James naturally looks at vines, soils, etc. with the eye both of a vigneron and as a producer, who needs to make a profit to remain in business, so you become aware of different aspects and different questions arise.

James arrived on Thursday evening around 9pm. The French rail strike had attempted to stop or, at least complicate, his first visit to the Loire for 19 years. Fortunately they failed, though the train he was due to catch was cancelled but he was able to get one that run two hours later. 

 Thursday night we also had Gerry Dawes, writer and Spanish expert, 

and his partner Kay staying  with us. Gerry is wondering 

why his glass is empty as we await James' arrival.

This temporary problem was soon sorted

 

As Millton Vineyards is the only New Zealand producer to make serious Chenin Blanc we concentrated on visiting a range of people in Montlouis and Vouvray. Millton has been biodynamic for 30 years, so we started with François Chidaine concentrating on some of his 110 different parcels of vines. Time constraints meant that we stuck to Montlouis, so missed the Clos Baudouin in Vouvray where James did the 1995 harvest with Prince Poniatowski, the then owner, as well as the AC Touraine vines at Chissay in the Cher Valley.

 

Very much a hands on visit – looking at cover crops, soils - 

their smell and the root system including the elasticity of individual roots.

François was very relieved that he had got safely through two major hurdles – no frost despite early budbreak and the flowering, which was getting close to being finished over quickly and evenly in lovely sunny conditions.    

 More to follow in further posts.

@RAWfair photos – part two

Peter Hahn (Vouvray) demonstrating why people make wine

James Millton of Millton Vineyards, who makes New Zealand's only serious Chenin Blanc as well as other good things (above and below)  

Julian Castagna (Castagna – Beechworth, Australia) – above and below

Michel Augé: Les Maisons Brulées – Touraine

Véronique Joly: Coulée de Serrant

Philippe Gourdon: Château Tour Grise, Le Puy Notre Dame, Saumur

Steve Daniel pouring Alvaro Espinoza's Viña Antiyal

Ryan's new iArms!

 It's a piece of cake! 

News of the 2008 vintage from Millton Vineyards

James in a block of Chenin Blanc

Message today from James Millton:

'2008 was good, not spectacular in that we were not able to make the third selection due to lack of sunshine. IN the end the bees were eating the shriveling botrytised berries faster than they would dry out which made any selection quite hazardous!

So the wines have quite fine purity and poise, good acidity and fruit. First time some of the spike has been softened by spontaneous malo, something we don't encourage unless it comes knocking. It would appear to have been welcome. The most unfortunate thing is that this year I
will bottle the Millton wines under screwcap, something I am not in favour of however in order to stay in business, maintain restaurant listings and allow the younger generation to enjoy the fruits of our labours it would appear the correct thing to do. We did a wine show in the weekend and were the only producer for a country mile using cork (in the earlier vintage on show.....'

James adjusting flags in the vineyard