2017 César de Vendôme Gris, Coteaux Vendômois

2017 César de Vendôme Gris, Coteaux Vendômois 

This is a pleasant, well-made Rosé from the Cave Coopérative du Vendômois. Made from 100% Pineau d'Aunis, which is somewhat of a speciality of the Valley of Le Loir. I found this 2017 rosé a little bland as it was missing the characteristic peppery character of Pineau d'Aunis, which makes is what makes wines from this variety stand out.    

2012 Loire: Pineau d'Aunis@Clos Roche Blanche (Touraine)

 A relatively plentiful crop of Pineau d'Aunis 

On Friday morning we dropped over to the Clos Roche Blanche in Mareuil-sur-Cher where they were picking the Pineau d'Aunis. Catherine Roussel: "It is our only variety where we have nearly a normal crop this year. Also we usually pick it after our Côt (Malbec) but this year it is ready before the Côt is properly ripe.  

 

Catherine Roussel: la patronne 

 Pineau d'Aunis (above and below)

 

Monsieur Hoddie – grapes are picked into small buckets and then tipped into the hod, which is carried to the trailer. When the trailer is full it will be taken to the chai 

 

 

Messieurs Hoddies 

 Picker

 La pause café

Christian Chaussard killed in tractor accident

Christian Chaussard, Domaine le Briseau in London May 2012

I'm very shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden death of Christian Chaussard of Domaine le Briseau in Marçon making Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir. I gather that Christian was killed in a tractor accident. Apparently he also was in the advanced stage of cancer. 

I first met Christian, who I believe was born in 1954, some 20 years ago when he was making wine in Vouvray and teaching at the Lycée Viticole in Amboise. Christian was already of proponent of what we now call 'natural' wine. I lost touch with him when he left the Loire but met up with Christian again when he returned to the Loire with his new partner, Natalie Gaubichet, whom he met on his travels. Rather than returning to La Loire they settled in Le Loir still with Chenin Blanc but now also with Pineau d'Aunis. 

I last saw Christian at The Real Wine Fair in London in May. His 2010 Kharakter, (Jasnières) was wonderful with a touch of honey and a marvellously austere finish. Christian seemed happy, on very good form and generously insisted that if we were in Le Loir we should go and stay with them. I had planned to drop in to see Christian in early October to see what progress there was with the 2012 vintage. Very sadly this was not to be.  

I didn't go to see Christian as often as I should have done and would have liked to do but I will remember a visit to his cellar in early August 2008. I will also remember Christian's generosity of spirit, his gentleness but with strong convictions and beliefs as well as his and Natalie's wines. Christian is one of the producers who has made Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir some of the most dynamic appellations the Loire Valley. A very sad day – my thoughts and condolences go to Natalie. 

Chris Kissack on Christian's death 

Profile of Christian by Bertrand Celce.          

The cellar@Le Briseau

Ange Vin: a white and a red

2008 Le charme du loir, vin de France 

Two more wines tasted from the selection of new wines from Les Caves de Pyréne. This time two from Jean-Pierre Robinot's L'Ange Vin in Chahaignes in the Valley of Le Loir. When I have tasted Robinot's wines before I have felt that they have been on the cusp between success and failure – or perhaps the cusp between being enjoyable and just being too weird. For me some of his wines work and some don't.

Fortunately both Le charme du loir and Le regard work, although I had my doubts when I smelled Le regard immediately after I had opened it but the curious aromas soon dissipated. I do wonder, though, about the use of now rather unfashionable heavy bottles.

The 2008 Le charme du loir is 100% Chenin Blanc. Light golden in colour with quite yeasty, mousseron aromas it has quite rich apricot and honeyed fruit and crisp acidity. Its slight oxidative style adds complexity. Should not be served too cold to enjoy this at its best. Could also be kept a number of years.      

2009 le regard, vin de France 

The 2009 Le regard is 100% Pineau d'Aunis and is typical of this variety with its light slightly bricky red colour and peppery fruit along with other spices including cumin, I fancy. Less complex than Le charme but certainly a bottle to enjoy with friends.

2011 Loire vintage: a few more Cher photos

Mid-afternoon break for Noëlla Morantin's pickers – anti-frost device in background

Then back to work for the final row of the afternoon (above and below)

Dappled light in Clos Roche Blanche press house

Catherine Roussel: "We started picking the Gamay on Thursday and through yesterday, which was very hot – over 30˚C. We did have a thunderstorm on Thursday but fortunately we didn't have much rain although what we did have was very heavy. We finished picking the Gamay this morning. This year we expect it to be quite light as it is around 12% potential with 5.5 acidity. We plan to pick the Pineau d'Aunis on Tuesday." Hopefully Catherine and Didier will be making their delicious L'Arpent Rouge again this year.

2011 Gamay

Bertrand Celce has a fine piece here on the 2011 harvest at the Clos Roche Blanche on his Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France. We must have been following each around!

Across onto the north side of Cher in the village of Monthou we had a quick look at Jérôme and Dominique Sauvété's Sauvignon Blanc.

Plenty of life in these vineyards

Dominique told us that they weren't quite ready to start as the acidity levels were still a bit high. She expected that their vintage would be starting this coming Monday.

La Châtelaine@Clos Roche Blanche

Seccotine oversees the tasting

Tasting today of the current vintages available at the Clos Roche Blanche under the watchful eye of Seccotine, La Châtelaine of the estate.

Apparently comfortably perched on the lip of a conical wooden vat

With Seccotine's approval we tasted the floral, clean, fresh and precise 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Cuvée No 2. Although it only has 5 grams of sulphur per litre (the norm is 20-25 grams), there is no trace of oxidation. 

The richly opulent and concentrated Cuvée No 5 from 2009 is a contrast with its echoes of some of the Cotat Sancerres. Tasted blind I'm sure I could mistake it for a restrained Viognier with its light apricot character. The 2010 Pineau d'Aunis Rosé is light with less d'Aunis character than usual. However, the 2010 l'Arpent Rouge is delicious as I have recently posted – great investment for summer drinking! The spicy, soft and concentrated 2010 Gamay is also very good with more complexity than most Touraine Gamays have. Drinking well now it will also last a good three or four years.    

Pif guards the entrance to cellar

The last 2010 was Cuvée Pif (one third Côt and two thirds Cabernet) again lighter in style than the 2009. Catherine and Didier didn't make a pure Côt in 2010. We finished with the lovely 2009 Côt, once again demonstrating how successful this variety can be in the Cher Valley. Deep coloured and richly textured with a long finish, this needs a good three or four years to show its best. Doubtless will still drink well in 10 or 15 years time.  

PS Drought postponed for the moment – heavy but steady rain in Epeigné-les-Bois yesterday evening for a good three hours or more. However, it will take days of rain to bring the water table back to normal. Some gentle rain this morning.

Clos Roche Blanche 2010 L'Arpent Rouge – a great summer wine

Clos Roche Blanche 2010 L'Arpent Rouge

Last evening we enjoyed a bottle of the 2010 L'Arpent Rouge from the Clos Roche Blanche – a fine match with some duck rillettes.

 

Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet only make L'Arpent Rouge, their 100% Pineau d'Aunis red, when they have enough Aunis left over after they have made their rosé.  The 2010 is light and delicious to drink slightly chilled – spicy but this version is more clove than the black pepper you normally expect from Pineau d'Aunis.

 

The 2010 can still be labelled Appellation Touraine but if the mad Ayatollahs busy trying to reform the AC Touraine get their way red and rosé versions of Pineau d'Aunis will be banned. Instead it will have to be labelled Vin de France and I'm sure will sell just as well.         

XNoir – good use and publicity for Pineau d'Aunis

I didn't get a chance to taste many Loire wines at the London Wine Trade Fair this year but I did stop by the Ackerman stand to try their popular rosé fizz, which is made from Pineau d'Aunis sourced in the valley of Le Loir. X Noir has the characteristic spicy, peppery flavour of Pineau d'Aunis. First launched in 2007 X Noir's main customers are young women up to the age of 35. X Noir has its own blog.

A number of very attractive rosés are made from Pineau d'Aunis in the Cher Valley. Usually they are pale coloured as the grapes are pressed immediately without any skin contact. For the moment these are usually sold as Appellation Touraine but under the proposed bizarre reforms of the Touraine appellation pure Pineau d'Aunis rosés will not be allowed. A local variety, Pineau d'Aunis after some years in the wilderness is now inceasing valued. As well as making attractive spicy rosés, it also makes good, light and delicious summery reds.       

 
X Noir's tag

2010 Pineau d'Aunis Rosé, Jean-Marc Villemaine

2010 Pineau d'Aunis Rosé, Jean-Marc Villemaine, Thesée

Delicate. lightly spicy Pineau d'Aunis Rosé is something of a speciality in eastern Touraine. Often the grapes are pressed very soon after they picked with little or no maceration on the skins giving a delicate pale pink colour. This 2010 example from Jean-Marc Villemaine in Thesée in the Cher Valley, where he has some 20 hectares, was sent to me by Charles Hawkins & Partners Ltd. This is certainly an attractive, easy drinking rosé ideal for spring and summer apéros.

Unfortunately pure Pineau d'Aunis will soon not be entitled to the Touraine appellation. Under the proposed vinously illiterate reforms Touraine rosé will have to be a blend. Utterly idiotic when Pineau d'Aunis works here so well as a light, refreshing and distinctive rosé and there is both an established tradition and a market for these wines.

Pizza by the half metre and Gauby's 1999 Muntada

 

Half a metre of pizza

On Monday organised chaos returned to the flat as a cupboard in the kitchen had to be painted, so all the working surfaces in the kitchen were piled high with plates and dishes. No possibility of even boiling an egg, so it had to be a takeaway evening. Normally we go for either Chinese or Indian – often  Gurkhas  in Sydenham. However, felt like a change, so browsed through the possibilities on Just-Eat and came up with Firezza in Herne Hill, which although it is obviously an expanding company is a new name to me. Anyway they sell their pizzas by the half metre and you can choose a different topping every quarter metre.

The pizza wasn't cheap but it was good and arrived within about 35 minutes of ordering it. However, the pizzas from Fabrice in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher on a Thursday night are certainly superior and I'm pretty certain cheaper but you do have to go and collect them.

Fabrice@work at his mobile pizza oven in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher

A wet and pretty miserable November day has to finish with some red wine, although we did have a glass or so of the 2005 Pineau d'Aunis Rosé from the Clos Roche Blanche. I hadn't intended to keep this for so long but it had somehow got hidden and missed. Although still drinkable – a mellow rosé – it had lost some of its zip and freshness but it did demonstrate that a few rosés will last longer than the year following their vintage. It is also a reminder that Catherine and Didier made some Pineau d'Aunis Rouge in 2010 as part of their 'bumper harvest'.

Rather like the Pineau d'Aunis, we turned up a bottle of Gérard Gauby's 1999 Muntada (Carignan, Grenache and Syrah), Côtes du Roussillon Villages. Very ripe powerful black fruits and slightly Porty – the later vintages of Muntada have more finesse, although does have complexity and is a fine bottle. Whether I would want to pay 70€, which is the price for the current vintage, is another matter. I assume that Gérard didn't really have takeaway pizza in mind when he made the 1999 but they did work reasonably well. It may not have been a marriage but it wasn't a divorce either.

 
The close up of the Clos Roche Blanche Pineau d'Aunis demonstrates how sharp the macro is on the new generation of Canon compacts, especially in comparison to some of their earlier compacts where it was often very difficult to get the camera to focus when close up.

A delicious Touraine rosé facing expulsion

 

2009 Pineau d'Aunis, Clos Roche Blanche, AC Touraine
 

If the proposed reforms to the rules for permitted grape varieties in Appellation Touraine are passed, this delicious rosé made with an indigenous Loire grape variety and in a traditional 'vin gris' style will no longer be allowed. All Touraine rosés will have to be a blend in future if the proposals are agreed.  

As Ken Broadhurst (see comment) says some of the most interesting rosés made in the Cher Valley are pure Pinreau d'Aunis. Usually pressed immediately without any maceration or any significant skin contact giving them their delicate pale pink colour – like a vin gris.  This 2009 has very attractive floral notes but without the peppery, spicy character that is often typical of Pineau d'Aunis. It made an ideal glass or so to start the evening off sitting outside on a night that was considerably warmer and mlre enticing than yesterday evening.  

Worth remembering that Pineau d'Aunis is also called Chenin Noir, a reminder of the variety's Loire origins. Fortunately those producers who believe in inherent quality of their Pineau d'Aunis rosé will continue to make it and sell it as a vin de pays or vin de table. The producer will continue to be the crucial name on the label not the appellation.

AC Touraine – continuing madness

Clos Roussely (St Georges-sur-Cher): Pineau d'Aunis planted in 1905

A friend sent me a copy of this press release about the reform of AC Touraine. With respect to the plans to severely limit the permitted grape variety. I've already posted about these stupid reforms which appear to be driven solely by a demand for bureaucratic tidiness, uniformity and not at all based on region's tradition. Take the apparent wish to do away with Pineau d'Aunis, which can make very attractive light, peppery reds and refreshing rosés. Although there is not a lot of Pineau d'Aunis planted in Touraine, its presence adds to the diversity of regions wines as does a variety like Menu Pineau. Why will Touraine rosés have to be a blend in future?  

Before they ratify these daft proposals the Touraine producers would be well advised to look at what is happening in New Zealand with an over-supply of Sauvignon Blanc, falling prices and a number of wineries going bankrupt.   

The release: 

'Deux nouvelles AOC pour les vins de Touraine
Les AOC Touraine regroupent plus de 5000 ha en Indre-et-Loire et Loir-et-Cher, et une grande variété de cépages depuis leur décret de 1939. Sous la présidence d’Alain Godeau (vigneron aux Caves du Père Auguste, Civray), deux réformes sont en cours pour faciliter lÅapproche par les clients des vins de ce vaste ensemble.

D’une part, deux AOC nouvelles, Touraine Chenonceaux (blanc et rouge) et Touraine Oisly (blanc) vont permettre de distinguer les meilleurs terroirs de tout l’ensemble. Tout vigneron intéressé, disposant de parcelles situées sur les terroirs identifiés, pourra déclarer une partie de ses vins de Touraine dans ces deux appellations. Les vins seront ensuite validés qualitativement par une dégustation en plusieurs étapes.

D’autre part, sous l’impulsion de l’INAO, les viticulteurs ont décidé de restreindre l’utilisation des cépages dans les différentes couleurs. En blanc, le Touraine ne pourra plus provenir que de sauvignon, et plus de chenin. En rouge, il y aura deux « profils », un constitué de gamay à 85% minimum, l’autre, plus structuré, de cot à 50% minimum. En rosé, tous les cépages rouges seront acceptés, mais uniquement en assemblage.

Toutes ces réformes devraient être validées en fin 2010.'    

 

MesVignes@Clos Roussely (AC Touraine)

26 September 2009

Some of the morning's harvest arriving – Chardonnay for the Crémant

The start of lunch

Lunch over – time for a coffee before heading back to work

What could be more agreeable than a morning spent picking grapes in the warm Touraine sunshine, lunch in the courtyard and the afternoon spent either filling the press or back into the vineyard to check whether the next parcel is ready to be picked. Yesterday Vincent Roussely (Clos Roussely) had some 45-50 people, who have signed up to MesVignes, spending the day with him at the domaine.

MesVignes is one of a number of schemes that offer the chance to discover what it is like to be a vigneron by buying vines in an established vineyard. The company has 12 domaines in various parts of France including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Languedoc, Loire and Rhône Valley involved. Domaine Fouassier in Sancerre and Clos Roussely are the Loire domaines in MesVignes.

The minimum purchase is 12 vines which gives you 12 bottles of wine (2010 prices). If you signed up for Vincent Roussely's Clos Roussely it would cost 194€ for 12 vines. Clients can then sign up for for a day's harvesting with Vincent. If you choose all the options the cost for 36 vines would be 799€.

Today Vincent has another MesVignes group, who will be picking Pineau d'Aunis from vines planted in 1905.

Is the Gamay ready to pick? – out in the vineyard to find out

Part of the 'is the Gamay ready?' group

Renaud, a local oenologue, explains how to judge a grape's maturity

The other group sorting grapes on the tapis de tri as they head up into the press (above and below)

Pineau d'Aunis – vines planted in 1905 (above and below)

Vincent with a baby frog – will MesVignes have an adopt a frog scheme soon?

There are several other buy vine schemes including 3D Wines and Wineshare.