Vin de Thierry (Michon, Domaine de Saint Nicolas, Fiefs Vendéens) + brief vintage report

After spending a couple of days in the Pays Nantais looking at the 2017 vintage – report to follow tomorrow – we headed southwards on Wednesday morning to drop in on Thierry Michon, the sage and leading light at Domaine St Nicolas, at Ile d'Olonne. 

Like so many others Thierry was hit by the April 2017 frosts. It didn't help that their motor for their wind turbine broke down on the second night of the successive frosts. Thierry told me that the whites were very seriously affected. However, fortunately the reds escaped unscathed.

The Pinot Noir has now been picked and Thierry is very pleased with their quality. We tasted all the 2017 baby cuvées of his Pinot Noir at various stages into their fermentation. Deep coloured with rich fruit they seem to be very promising. I can well understand Thierry's enthusiasm over the potential of his 2017 Pinot Noirs.

Just as I came to leave Thierry kindly thrust a couple of samples into my hands. One Pinot Noir and this 2016 Vin de Thierry, Vin de France. He did quickly tell me the grape varieties in the blend but I confess I didn't write them down – slapped wrist! I thought I could find the details on the net but no such luck.

Suffice to say that the 2016 Vin de Thierry is delicious to drink now with good concentration of soft apricot and peach fruit and enough freshness in the finish to cleanse the palate in the finish. Definitely a relaxed wine to drink with friends – in no time you will be looking for another bottle to open....     

Off on an adventure: Day 24 – Mark Angeli

Mark Angeli, (Renaissance High Priest), La Ferme de la Sansonnière,  

– Vin de France (Anjou)

As I suspect there will be limited time to post on Jim's Loire while we are away – there are posts prepared in advance that will feature pics of Loire producers and may be from elsewhere plus some recently enjoyed bottles.   

#2015Loire – Vin de France de Jacky Blot dans le terroir de Vouvray

Jacky Blot, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups 

(photo: CRM) 

Is this good enough for Vin de France or 

should it be declassified to appellation? 
(photo: CRM) 

 

Yesterday morning we were across in Noizay to see Jacky Blot (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups) do a selective picking of the Clos de la Bretonnière. The Clos is on the Premières Côtes and classified within the Appellation but because of the insanity of the 2009 Vouvray decrét this will have to be, for the moment, sold as Vin de France since it makes no economic sense for Jacky to build a winery in AC Vouvray.

For details of this absurd and petty situation click here. A continuation of the long-standing conflict between Vouvray and Montlouis! 

About two months ago Jacky sent a letter detailing the background to this dispute to the director of the INAO. I understand that Jacky hasn't even had an acknowledgement. Perhaps the director is stumped for something to say!!

It seems highly likely that this interdiction to vinifying Vouvray in the neighbouring commune of Vouvray will be resolved either way by Jacky Blot and François Chidaine challenging the 2009 decrét before the Conseil d'Etat. Given the law and the unlimited permission the INAO granted to Jacky Blot in 1999 to vinify his Vouvray in the commune of Montlouis it is difficult to imagine how François and Jacky could lose. 

The top 'Vouvray' from Domaine de la Taille aux Loups is 2014 Le Clos de Venise – sorry Venise, Vin de France! It retails from the domaine at 24€ TTC. Looking at wine-searcher there are very few 2014 Vouvrays that sell at this price or above. Echoes of Vino da Tavola Super Tuscans from the 1970s and 1980s!          

 Table de tri for Vin de France 

Not good enough for Vin de France....

Affaire Blot/Chidaine: INAO gave Jacky Blot carte blanche to vinify his Vouvray in Montlouis

François Chidaine and Jacky Blot with their Vouvrays 

2013 Les Argiles (François) and 2013 Clos de Venise (Jacky)

  

One of the most intriguing aspects of the barring of Jacky Blot and François Chidaine from vinifying their Vouvray in Montlouis is that Jacky wrote to the INAO in Tours on 15th July 1999 asking for permission to vinify his Vouvray at Montlouis. On 5th October 1999 he received a letter informing him that the Commission permanente de INAO had given a favourable response to his request to vinify Vouvray in Montlouis. No time limit to this permission was given. 

Letter from Jacky Blot to the INAO in Tours 15th July 1999:

Cher Monsieur   

J'ai l'honneur de porter à votre connaissance mon intention de vinifier dans mon installation de Montlouis sur Loire le raisin récolté sur ma parcelle située sur l'aire d'appellation VOUVRAY et destiné à l'elaboration de VOUVRAY TRANQUILLE.

Si ce projet devait poser un quelconque problème, vous voudrez boen en transmettre les raisons dûments justifiées à Maître ANDREA LINDNER-JAMIN avocat à BORDEAUX, 27, RUE Charles CHAUMET.

Avec mes remerciements, et mes meilleurs salutations.

JACKY BLOT

•

The favourable response (5th October 1999) from Luc Valade, le sous-directeur Direction Générale de la Concurrence et de la Répression des Fraudes.

Monsieur 

J'ai l'honneur de vous notifier la décision favourable de la Commission permanente de l'INAO du 9 septembre 1999 au sujet de votre demande de vinification de l'appellation <<VOUVRAY>> (vin tranquille) hors aire de production, en l'occurence sur la commune de Montlouis sur Loire.

Je vous prie de croire, Monsieur, à l'assurance de ma considération distinguée.

Le Sous-Directeur 

Luc VALADE

•

This letter would appear to set a precedent since it shows that vinifying Vouvray in Montlouis was acceptable to the INAO in 1999. Worth noting that the INAO's permission extended only to still wines as the 1974 Vouvray Décret, signed into law by Jacques Chirac, banned the production of sparkling Vouvray outside the appellation with no exceptions made, not even Nazelles-Négron.  

To follow shortly, in a separate post, interviews with François Chidaine and Jacky Blot along with a phone interview with Philippe Brisbarre, the president of the regional committee of the INAO.  

Vouvray trying to blot Jacky and François out of Vouvray?

Rififi entre vouvray et montlouis

On Saturday during VitiLoire I spoke to a leading Vouvray producer about the brewing storm over Jacky Blot and François Chidaine not being allowed to use the appellation Vouvray if they vinify the grapes harvested within the Vouvray appellation if they continue to vinfiy in the commune of Montlouis. I was told it was a private affair and not at the moment a public one.  

If the hope was that this affair would not hit the media it was a forlorn one. I was hardly not going to blog about this. Now my Saturday blog post and today's one on Les 5 du Vin has been joined by a prominent article in La Nouvelle République today:  

'Du vouvray à 25 euros qui sera vendu en vin de table !
Deux ténors du vignoble ligérien, Jacky Blot et François Chidaine, doivent vendre leur vouvray en “ vin de table ”. Parce qu’ils le vinifient à Montlouis. Voilà une affaire qui pourrait bien secouer le petit monde tranquille et silencieux de la viticulture… L'histoire a pour cadre l'un des plus prestigieux terroirs du Val de Loire : vouvray. Deux éminents vignerons du vignoble ligérien, Jacky Blot et François Chidaine, qui élèvent des vignes à Vouvray mais vinifient leur vin dans leurs chais de Montlouis, se sont vu interdire la commercialisation de leurs vins sous l'appellation vouvray. Seule la mention « Vin de France », habituellement réservée aux vins de table, leur est autorisée. Pour des nectars vendus entre 15 et 25 € le flacon en sortie de cave, ça fait désordre.'

Lire la suite ici 

François and Jacky are reported to have hired lawyers to represent them, so this case will surely run for some time. More to come..... 

 

 

2010 Menu Pineau, Franz Saumon – brilliant!

Un Saumon dans la Loire: 2010 Menu Pineau (Vin de France)

Un Saumon dans la Loire is Franz Saumon's quirky name for the négociant side of his business. I hadn't intended to open this excellent bottle of Franz Saumon's 2010 Menu Pineau yesterday. However, the 2005 Marsanne that we had bought years ago from Green & Blue in East Dulwich before it turned to Toast provided to be corked. So this bottle of Menu Pineau was rushed into the freezer at the last moment.    

Rather unfortunately Menu Pineau, also known as Arbois Blanc, is a declining variety in Touraine. Curiously it is an allowed variety in Vouvray but not permitted in Montlouis, where Franz has his chai. Presumably this is one of the many quirks of the AC system.  

Franz's 2010 was delicious, brilliantly clean and precise – lightly honeyed and quince fruit, a little sweetness with a lovely mineral character and quite austere but ripe acidity in the finish. Without seeing the label I'm sure I couldn't tell it apart from a good Vouvray. The Menu Pineau was a great match with the two superb Dover Soles we had bought from Cranbrook Fishmongers at the Hartley Farm Centre on the western outskirts of Cranbrook.  Fortunately I managed not to overcook the soles, which were the best we have eaten for some long time, which is saying something as they can be very good in Lisbon.   

Laurent Herlin: bizarre agrément procedures + why the Vin de France option can be attractive

Laurent Herlin@the 2012 Bourgueil Foire in Tours 

Good post here from Anne Graindorge on the recent problems that Laurent Herlin, a biodynamic producer, has had with the Bourgueil agrément. Anne's post is in French but she tells of how a sample of Laurent's easy drinking 2011 Tsoin Tsoin was initially refused the agrément because of alleged serious faults. Resubmitted with nothing done to it – no correction – it passed with the comment that it had too much CO2 remaining. Tsoin Tsoin is an easy drinking cuvée made using carbonic maceration and bottled early. Carbonic maceration, the technique used in the Beaujolais, is not commonly used in Bourgueil so this may have confused the agrément tasters. 

I tasted Laurent's 2011 Tsoin Tsoin at the Bourgueil Foire in Tours on 17th March and found it soft and supple. I did, however, prefer his more structured 2010 Illuminations but this is made for a different purpose and should age a decade or more.   

Unfortunately the agrément problems Laurent Herlin has faced are all too common across France, especially for producers who do something different or those whose wines are above the average in terms of quality. No wonder the Vin de France designation can often appear to be an attractive option. See my  post today on Les 5 du Vin where Olivier Lemasson and Géraldine Pialoux have both opted to use Vin de France for all of their wines.           

My most interesting wine of Loire Salon 2012: Climat No 2

Climat No2, Vin de France, Lionel Gosseaume

Lionel Gosseaume (Stand H137) has finally bottled his Meslier Saint-François, an old grape from Touraine which has virtually disappeared. It can be very productive and once used to be exported to Germany to make sparkling wine because of its high acidity. Lionel has blended his Meslier Saint-François, whose yield he limited to 45 hl/ha, with an equal amount of Sauvignon Blanc. It was aged for two years in an old foudre. Climat No2 has rich, very ripe opulent fruit but well balanced with marked acidity and is fascinatingly different. Very limited production – only 2000 bottles.    

 Cathy Henton (The Tasting Room) helping out on Lionel's stand