#2014Vitiloire – some photos from Saturday 31st May

 The stands of Vitiloire start just in front of Tours station

 Christophe Baudry (Baudry-Dutour and Maire of Cravant) 

with their new sparkling rosé

Pierre Morgeau, Domaine La Tour Beaumont, Haut-Poitou

 Hervé Tijou, Château de Bellevue

Red and white Touraine from Clos de la Divinière, the birthplace of Rabelais

 Lunchtime scenes 

 Gare de Tours in the background

 Representative from the brewery in Cormery

Luc Poulain, Domaine des Echardières, Pouillé – 

AC Touraine and Touraine-Chenonceaux

Laurent Benoist, Domaine de Viel Orme, Saint Julien de Chedon

 Pierre Aguilas: 2011 Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru and 2010 Quarts de Chaume 

Cause for celebration: the first edition of Vitiloire 

where these two new appellations have not been under legal threat

Jean de Saint Venant
Château de Valmer, Vouvray 

 Serge Babary, the new Mayor of Tours

(above and below) 

Jean-Max Manceau, recently retired president 

of the Chinon appellation with Serge Barbary

Philippe Brisebarre: new président du Comité Régional de l’INAO

2nd June 2008: The amazing scene of devastation outside Philippe Brisebarre's domaine following the ferocious storm of 31st May 2008. There is no suggestion that this has anything to do with Philippe acceding to the presidency only that I can't find a picture of him. In any case he can say: "Avant moi le déluge....!"


Vouvray producer, Philippe Brisebarre, has been appointed as the new president of the Loire's regional committee of the INAO. The presidential term is five years.    

Press release:

'Le vigneron de Vouvray Philippe Brisebarre vient d’être nommé pour 5 ans à la présidence du Comité Régional de l’Inao où il succède au vigneron angevin Pierre Aguilas.

Pierre Aguilas

C’est un arrêté du ministre de l’agriculture, daté du 8 février et publié au Journal Officiel du 17 février, qui nomme Philippe Brisebarre à la tête du «comité régional des vins, eaux-de-vie et autres boissons alcoolisées pour la région Val de Loire de l'Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité». 

Jean-François Mabileau (Restigné) et François Billard (Ligré) ont également été nommés parmi les vignerons qui siègeront au CRINAO pour 5 ans.
 

François Billard@Domaine de la Noblaie

Instance consultative régionale de l’INAO, le Comité Régional étudie toutes les questions relatives aux AOC du Val de Loire, de l’Auvergne jusqu’à l’Atlantique, et émet des avis à l’attention du comité national de l’Inao.

Philippe Brisebarre est par ailleurs président du syndicat des vins de Vouvray, vice-président de la Fédération des Associations Viticoles de l’Indre-et-Loire et de la Sarthe.

Il est vice-président du Comité National de l’Inao et siège à l’Inao au sein du Conseil Agréments et Contrôles. A ce titre, il a joué depuis 2008 un rôle important dans la mise en place de la réforme de l’agrément qui a contribué à l’amélioration qualitative des vins d’AOC.'

Baumards seek third annulation

Florent Baumard: "Perhaps I should have ordered a bullet-proof vest!"

Florent Baumard (Baumard) confirmed at the Salon des Vins de Loire this morning that they have lodged a legal challenge with the Conseil d'Etat to the two new appellations: Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru and Chaume Premier Cru du Coteaux du Layon.

Florent Baumard: "I don't like doing this but we had no choice. There are many things wrong with the text – it is full of contradictions and errors. I'm not against the notion of Quarts de Chaume grand cru but the producers wanted to have a grand cru at any price. Many want to sell their domaines and think that if it's is a grand cru it will be easier to sell.

"We have been excluded through the passing of arbitary rules. Two hectares of our vines – les vignes larges – have been declassified from Quarts de Chaume and these are the vines that produce my best fruit!"

Pierre Aguilas: incandescent at the Baumard's legal challenge

Afterwards I spoke to Pierre Aguilas, who is both a producer in the Quarts de Chaume and president de la Confédération nationale des vins AOC, president de la Confédération des vignerons du Val de Loire, president du comité régional de l'INAO and president d'honneur de la Fédération viticole de l'Anjou. He was barely able to contain his fury at what the Baumards have done by seeking to annul once again a new appellation involving Chaume and as well as trying to overturn the new Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru.

"When I heard about this new legal challenge on Friday night – I was astonished. The new rules are very strict, such as reducing the yields and verifying the amount of grapes by what is on the vine rather than calculating by the hectare. I and others in Anjou have worked for the past twenty years to improve the quality of the wines of Anjou. Appellation rules have been successively tightened up.

"Quarts de Chaume is a very great appellation and many have worked very hard to bring it up to a standard that merits a grand cru. Now all this work over the past 20 years here and in the rest of Anjou is threatened to be thrown away by the egotistical actions of one individual!

"True there a few like Laffourcade who want to sell but there are now many new producers in the Quarts de Chaume, who are certainly not intending to sell! I borrowed money from friends and associates just so that I have have some vines in the Quarts de Chaume. I strive to make the best wine I can from what nature gives me with very low yields – 14-15 hl/ha – so as to give maximum value to the appellation. Each year I work with just nature – no machines (Jim: Baumard is a proponent of cryo-selection/cryoextraction, which is banned under the new Q de C regulations) and no additions of sugar.

"Jean Baumard was past president of the Fédération Viticole de l'Anjou. It is ridiculous and shameful that he is making this legal challenge for entirely selfish reasons – thinking only of himself and not for the good of the viticulture of Anjou. In the past I defended Jean Baumard – it is now clear I was wrong to do so. This whole situation is surreal!" 

Pierre Aguilas@2012 Salon des Vins de Loire

Stéphane Branchereau of Domaine des Forges said: "We tried to be conciliatory – for example in the phasing out of cryoextraction extending this to 2020 – but it hasn’t worked."

Although the Quarts de Chaume is only a small appellation of some 50 hectares and Coteaux du Layon Chaume slightly bigger with 70 hectares, there will be more riding on the decision by the Conseil d'Etat. Quarts de Chaume is intended to be the first Loire grand cru but not necessarily the last. Other special sites or terroirs could become grand crus if they adopted similarly strict regulations that the the Quarts de Chaume have accepted. If the Conseil d'Etat upholds Baumard's legal challenge, the possibility of Loire grands crus will be thrown into question. It may also mean that the use of cryo-selection/cryo-extraction will again be permitted for Anjou sweet wines undermining much the progress that has been achieved in the years since the mid to late 1980s.

A suivre. 

See also here on decanter.com

2010 Loire vintage: brief comment from Pierre Aguilas

Pierre Aguilas

“The 2010 vintage is looking fairly good. Although it’s still a bit early to deliver a verdict, we’re somewhere between a quality year and a great year,” reports grower Pierre Aguilas, chairman of the Loire Valley Wine Trade Fair. 

The 2009-2010 campaign has certainly enjoyed quite favourable weather. Volume-wise, according to the forecasts issued on 1 September by FranceAgriMer, “total 2010 output will be 47.26 million hectolitres, slightly more than in 2009 but still lower than the average of previous years.” 

Overall my impression is that 2010 will be more variable than 2009. My reflections on the vintage so far to be posted later today or tomorrow.

Pierre Aguilas: Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Mérite

Pierre Aguilas

At a ceremony at Chaudefonds-sur-Layon on Monday 20th September Pierre Aguilas was invested with the Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Mérite. Pierre and his wife, Janes, run the 30-hectare Domaine Gaudard in Chaudefonds. In addition to running the domaine Pierre is also President de la Confédération nationale des vins AOC, President de la Confédération des vignerons du Val de Loire, President du comité régional de l'INAO, President d'honneur de la Fédération viticole de l'Anjou and Grand maître de la Confrérie des chevaliers du Sacavin d'Anjou. 

I guess I must have known Pierre for the best part of 20 years and have always been impressed by his determination to improve both quality of the wines of Anjou and their reputation.

Pierre Aguilas: new president of CNAOC

On Tuesday 18th Pierre Aguilas, a producer in Chaudefonds-sur-Layon, was elected to the presidency of CNAOC (Confédération nationale des producteurs de vins et eaux-de-vie de vin à appellations d’origine contrôlées).

Pierre has run Domaine Aguilas Gaudard since 1969 making the customary range of Anjou wines. He was president of the Fédération Viticole of Anjou from 1992 to 2004. He has been president of the Confédération des Vignerons du Val de Loire since 1997 and has been secretary-general of CNAOC since 1995. He became president of the Comité Régional of the l’INAO for the Val de Loire in 2000 and is also a member of the national committee of the INAO.