(This was originally posted on Les 5 du Vin this week. This version includes a few new photos.)
We spent the morning of April 1st at the very enjoyable annual Vinaviva Salon in
Saint-Etienne de Chigny on the north side of the Loire between Tours in the east and Langeais to the west. Vinaviva is organised by Amaviva, a group of
wine lovers based in Touraine.
The association's objectives are:
'L’association a pour buts (article 2 des Statuts) :
L’organisation de manifestations destinées
- à faire découvrir le travail des vignerons et le vignoble,
- à participer à la promotion des vins issus de l’agriculture
respectueuse de l’environnement et de méthodes de vinification et
d’élevage traditionnelles.
La principale activité de l’association est
-
d’organiser VINAVIVA, un salon annuel consacré à la rencontre de
vignerons de diverses régions de France travaillant dans le respect de
la
terre, du raisin et du vin, donc des amateurs,
- de faire circuler des informations auprès des amateurs de vin.'
Amaviva
are certainly a very friendly and welcoming group and they had
organised an interesting range of 27 producers – 12 from the Loire with
the
others coming from all round France including Marcillac and four
from Languedoc-Roussillon.
We
should have planned to spend much of the day at Vinaviva but
unfortunately only had time to spend the morning there, so I
concentrated on the Loire
producers. Here are some of the highlights:
Tessa Laroche, Domaine la Roche aux Moines, Savennières
My
top two wines were from Tessa Laroche – both 2010s: the impressive and
opulent 2010 Roche aux Moines sec Savennières and then the sweet but
beautifully balanced Cuvée d'Abbaye with 60 grams of residual sugar.
Tessa explained that, although she started to be involved in the
domaine in 2003, she fully took over running the estate from
her mother in 2006. Since then she has been working to reduce the
yields to between 20-25 hl/ha. Due to the weather it was only 17/18
hl/ha in 2010, slightly lower than intended but it has
produced a couple of lovely wines. Previously this domaine's wines
were quite tough and austere.
Etienne Dutheil of Domaine Alcofribas, poetic agriculture and a glassy goldfish
You can
tell immediately that Domaine Alcofribas makes natural wine as their
goldfish enjoys swimming in a glass! Alcofribas is a hobby vineyard of
1.1 hectares run by
three friends – Etienne Dutheil, Eric Ployet and Alexander Poutrain –
in
La Roche Clermault within the Chinon appellation. Their
Désalterégo 2011 (5€) is an attractive, full-bodied rosé, which is
fermented in barrel, while the 2010 Naissance Chinon Rouge (10€) has
sweet, ripe fruit. However, the 2010 Coteau de Reufflé (12€), a
white Chinon fermented in 400 litre barrels was their most impressive
wine – still with a touch of wood but with mouthfilling fruit
and good length.
Eric Ployet of the poetic Alcofribas
Vincent Gaudry, Sancerre
Vincent
Gaudry, who is based in Sury-en-Vaux, makes very good austere and
precise Sancerre. His 2010 L'Esprit du Rudolf from flinty vineyards is
particularly
good.
Olivier Lemasson
Olivier
Lemasson is based in Eastern Touraine but prefers the freedom of Vin
de France to either the Cheverny or Touraine appellations. Liked his
2011 Poivre
et Sel – a spicy blend of Pineau d'Aunis and Gamay – best.
Géraldine Pialoux: Domaine Picatier in the zone of Côte Roannaise
Géraldine
and her husband, Christophe, are recent arrivals in the Côte Roannaise.
Like Olivier Masson they prefer to sell their wines under the Vin de
France
designation rather than use the appellation. They have eight
hectares of vines with seven currently in production – 5 Gamay, 1 Pinot
Noir and I Chardonnay. Their 2009 L'Intro (Gamay) has
impressive concentration from 25 hl/ha.
Guillaume Reynouard: Manoir de la Tête Rouge, Saumur
Guillaume
Reynouard has 13 ha of vines at Le Puy Notre Dame, which he bought in
1995. From the four wines I tasted his 2009 Chapitre, Saumur Blanc and
the
2010 Bagatelle juicy, easy drinking red being my preferences.
Next VINAVIVA:
salon des vins de libre expression la prochaine édition aura lieu les samedi 6 et dimanche 7 avril
2013 en Touraine, à Saint-Etienne de Chigny, entre Tours et Langeais.
Additional photos:
Marc Plouzeau, Château de la Bonnelière, Chinon
Jacques Gozard, Domaine Montoray, Montlouis
Pascal Simonutti, Le Pré Noir, Touraine
