Jim's Loire

Anjou to the Vendée, via the Pays Nantais

2013-09-19T15:48:00Z

In my fourth and final article on Loire wines I cover the western end of the Loire Valley - Anjou, the Pays Nantais and the Vendée. Anjou is frequently linked with Saumur but as Anjou and the Nantais share the same geological structure it makes equal sense to link these two adjacent areas. Both are part of the hard, igneous rock of Brittany - very different from the clay and limestone of the Paris Basin that runs eastward from just beyond the small town of Doué la Fontaine.

Here in Anjou you will find slate, schist, phyllite and various carboniferous rocks. Unlike Saumur and Touraine there are very few underground cellars as the rock is just too hard to quarry out - just the opposite of the limestone of further east where they are commonplace.

Anjou is famous for its gentle climate - la douceur Angevin. Spring often starts early here and is coupled with a frequently dry, sunny autumn. This makes it well suited to Chenin Blanc, which buds relatively early but ripens late in the season, so it’s little surprise that Anjou might have been its birthplace. The earliest recorded mention of Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley is in Anjou in the middle of the 9th century AD at Bouchemaine, where the Maine meets the Loire (parts of the commune are now within the Savennières appellation).

Anjou is also the only place in the valley where Cabernet Sauvignon ripens sufficiently to make consistently successful red wine. And even here, it is only in especially good sites that pure (or nearly so) Cabernet Sauvignon can be made successfully. Cabernet Sauvignon performs best on schist rather than the few limestone vineyards in Anjou. Good examples include Clos de la Mission (Domaine des Rochelles), Clos de la Houssaye (Domaine Ogereau), La Chevalerie (Château Varière) and Rocca Negra (Domaine de Bablut). Unfortunately, there was a period at the end of the 20th Century when some growers planted Cabernet Sauvignon in zones prone to frost, as it buds later than Cabernet Franc. Although they may have avoided the frost, the grapes rarely ripened properly.

Overall, however, it is difficult for the reds of Anjou to have the same easy charm as those from Saumur-Champigny, Chinon and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. Almost invariably the tannins are more present and more angular. It is very important that the grapes are picked when ripe, and extraction is carefully handled, otherwise the resulting wine will be tough and charmless, likely never softening or losing its tannic grip. Some of the most quality-oriented producers will harvest their red grapes selectively in two passes through the vineyard.

Apart from Savennières, Anjou's greatest vinous contribution must be the sweet wines of the Layon. Unlike Vouvray and Montlouis much further east it is possible to make sweet wines in almost every vintage in both the Coteaux du Layon and Coteaux de l’Aubance.

Bonnezeaux, Quarts de Chaume and Savennières

These three appellations have long been the most highly reputed wines of Anjou – certainly by reputation if not always by quality. Of the three, Quarts de Chaume and Savennières are the most dynamic, with both appellations benefitting from an influx of newcomers over the past 15 years, which has re-energized them and raised quality.

The two appellations have witnessed improvements in the raising the quality at individual domaines – existing and newcomers – and through the tightening of regulations. The Quarts de Chaume has led the way here with firmer regulations, including raising the minimum potential alcohol of grapes at the time of harvest, and restrictions on the yield per vine as well as the yield per hectare. The French government approved these stricter rules as well as the elevation of the Quarts de Chaume to the status of the Loire’s first Grand Cru in November 2011. Now that the rules are in place they have to be strictly enforced to be credible. Unfortunately the Grand Cru now faces a dubious legal challenge before France’s Supreme Court from Domaine des Baumard – more on that below.

In Savennières the tightening of regulations has so far been restricted to Savennières La Roche aux Moines (22 hectares) where both the use of weed killers and insecticides are banned as well as a reduction in yields.

It is very difficult to characterize Savennières as having a single style, although the wines do generally need time to show their best and have the ability to age. A tasting of nearly 50 Savennières in April highlighted diversity rather than common factors.

Although there are some fine producers in Bonnezeaux, my impression is that this appellation is less dynamic than Savennières and Quarts de Chaume.

Top recommended Anjou producers

Most Anjou producers will offer a considerable range of wines. A dozen or more is not unusual, with all three colors represented, including whites from dry to very sweet (depending upon the vintage) and sparkling wines - often labeled Crémant de Loire.

Left: Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut); Right: Vincent and Catherine Ogereau (Domaine Ogereau)

Domaine de Bablut, Christophe Daviau (Brissac- Quincé)

The Daviau family has lived in Brissac-Quincé since 1546. For much of the time they have been millers as well as farmers. It is only relatively recently that they have concentrated solely on viticulture. Christophe Daviau, now in his early 50s, is an example of a modern Loire vigneron. After studying at Montreuil-Bellay and Bordeaux University, Christophe spent 18 months working in Australia, so his experience is much wider than that of the previous generation. At the time Christophe was unusually well travelled, but his experience is commonplace now, as many young Loire vignerons gain experience by working in several countries before returning to take over the family domaine.

The estate (now 55 ha) is biodynamic and Christophe’s particular forte is in sweet wines – Coteaux de l’Aubance. Depending upon the quality of the vintage he makes a generic Coteaux de l’Aubance , a single vineyard wine called Grandpierre, and Vin Noble from a high proportion of botrytized grapes. Also notable are his two top Anjou Villages reds – Petra Alba (100% Cabernet Franc planted on limestone) and Rocca Nigra (100% Cabernet Sauvignon planted on schist).

JYH Lebreton, Domaine des Rochelles (Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets)

The Lebreton family is one of the very few producers in Anjou to consistently make high quality Anjou Villages from 100%, or virtually 100%, Cabernet Sauvignon. The estate is now run by Jean-Yves Lebreton and his son Jean-Hubert, with Jean-Hubert increasingly playing the major role. It was Hubert, Jean-Yves' father, who in 1962 had the foresight to plant Cabernet Sauvignon on a parcel of yellow schist called La Croix de la Mission. This warmth of the schist soil brings an early bud break, and Cabernet Sauvignon has an extended possibility of ripening, thus avoiding the greenness and astringency present in Anjou Cabernet from less-favored sites.

Prior to Jean-Hubert's return to the domaine, the whites - both dry and sweet Chenin Blanc - had under-performed. These are now much improved.

Domaine Ogereau (Saint Lambert-du-Lattay)

Vincent and Catherine Ogereau are meticulous in the way they run their 20-hectare estate, which is based around the small town of Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay on the south side of the Layon Valley, facing Beaulieu-sur-Layon.

Their most successful wines include a Rosé de Loire, En Chenin (Anjou Blanc – 100% Chenin), Savennières Clos le Grand Beaupréau, Anjou Villages Côte de la Houssaye (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) and single-vineyard Coteaux du Layon Saint-Lambert from the Clos des Bonnes Blanches. The Côte de la Houssaye and the Clos des Bonnes Blanches are only made in good vintages.

Château Pierre-Bise, Claude, Joëlle, René Papin (Beaulieu-sur-Layon)

Claude Papin is a philosopher of a wine producer, and a great expert on the varied terroir of the Layon Valley. It is not unusual for a producer to strive to continually better their wines but it is the depth of the analysis that singles out Claude. Unlike Nicolas Joly at the Coulée de Serrant, Claude’s thinking is in tandem with his work in the vineyard and his winemaking. The Papins work very closely with Catherine and Vincent Ogereau (Domaine Ogereau) and Yves and Marie-Annick Guégniard (Domaine de la Bergerie). The three share a vineyard (Clos le Grand Beaupréau) in Savennières. They are among the relatively recent influx of new producers into Savennières, who have revitalized this appellation.

The range of single vineyard Coteaux du Layons, including a Chume and a Quarts de Chaume, are probably the most memorable of the Pierre-Bise wines, although a deep-colored and concentrated Gamay shows the potential of this grape when the yields are drastically reduced.

Domaine Richou – Didier and Damien Richou (Moze-sur-Louet)

This is a long-established family domaine now run by brothers Didier and Damien. They produce a very successful range; standouts include Les Rogeries, a barrel-fermented Anjou Blanc from 100% Chenin Blanc, an Anjou Villages Vieilles Vignes, and a Coteaux de l'Aubance Les Trois Demoisselles.

Château Soucherie and Château de Breuil

Both properties are part of what I like to call as the Layon's "Petit Médoc" that runs along the north side of the valley. Not in the sense of topography, as these properties are mostly situated along the top of the ridge overlooking the Layon, quite unlike the flat Médoc. Rather, similarity comes from grandeur of the properties in this short section of the Layon. With the exception of a number of properties in Savennières, there isn’t a similar grouping of imposing domaine buildings anywhere else in Anjou, as vignerons’ properties tend to be more modest.

The two properties share a similar recent history: Roger Beguinot bought Soucherie in 2007 when Pierre-Yves Tijou retired, while Michel Petitbois bought Breuil in May 2006 from Marc Morgat. In both instances Beguinot and Petitbois had made their money from outside the world of wine, although both are keen amateurs. Beguinot’s business is baby food and the food-processing sector, while Petitbois was in the car industry. Both men have brought fresh investment to the area. Tijou and Morgat were well-established producers and ran their properties. All in all there are a number of similarities here.

Both estates have acquired fresh impetus under their new owners. I have recently been impressed by the quality of their sweet wines – the 2010 Chaume from Soucherie and the 2007 Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu from Château du Breuil. Sweet wines from 2007 and 2010 have a marvelous purity and balance, and show what an important role balancing acidity plays here. Château du Breuil makes a wonderfully drinkable Grolleau – a wine to enjoy, to share with friends rather than analyze.

Both estates told me of the difficulties they had experienced in the 2012 vintage, with over 200 mm (approx. 8 in.) of rainfall during the month of October. Soucherie made just 5000 bottles of their basic Coteaux du Layon and none of their prestige cuvées. Neither did they make their Anjou Villages Champ aux Loups because of the conditions, instead opting to make Cabernet d’Anjou with their Cabernet Franc, which is usually destined for this cuvée. Château du Breuil managed to make 6500 bottles of generic Coteaux du Layon with 65 g/l of residual sugar. In a more normal year they would expected to make 13,000 bottles.

Château Soucherie

Domaine Closel/Château des Vaults (Savennières)

This is one of the rare estates in Anjou run by a succession of women. Evelyne de Pontbriand is now in charge, having taken over from her mother, Michelle de Jessey. The estate is now organic and the wines are increasingly impressive, especially Le Clos du Papillon, and in particular the 2006 and 2008 vintages.

Some other recommended producers in Anjou

Domaine Patrick Baudouin (Chaudefonds-sur-Layon)

Patrick made his name, along with Jo Pithon, during the 1990s making some exceptionally concentrated and sweet Layon wines. Patrick still makes fine sweet Coteaux du Layon, but also some interesting, dry Anjou Blanc from 100% Chenin.

Yves, Marie-Annick and Anne Guegniard, Domaine de la Bergerie (Champ-sur-Layon)

The Guegniards make a consistently good range of Anjou wines. Standouts includes Clos de la Beaupréau (Savennières), Quarts de Chaume and Evanescence, an Anjou Villages made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The domaine is one of the very few that has a restaurant on site, La Table de la Bergerie. It is excellent and is run by David Guitton, their son-in-law, whose resumé includes stints with Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon.

Domaine de Juchepie (Faye d'Anjou)

Eddy and Mileine Oosterlinck-Bracke specialise in making wonderful sweet Layon. They have a number of different cuvées of varying sweetness and concentration culminating in Quintessence de Juchepie. They manage to make sweet wines in almost every vintage except 2012 when the heavy rain in October defeated them as it did many other producers in Anjou.

Damien Laureau (Savennières)

Damien is a relative newcomer to Savennières and makes very attractive wines in a modern style: Les Gênets from lighter, sandy soils and the more structured Le Bel Ouvrage from clay and schist, as well as a fine Roche aux Moines.

Richard Leroy (Rablay-sur-Layon) - Vin de France

Given the quality of his dry Chenin, now sold as Vin de France, it is rather a shame that Richard’s domaine is so small, just a tiny handful of hectares. Richard makes two wines: Clos des Rouliers and Les Noëls de Montbenault with Les Noëls as his best wine. He could be making sweet wine but chooses not to as his true interest is in producing fine dry Chenins.

Victor and Vincent Lebreton, Domaine de Montgilet (Juigné-sur-Loire)

Good range of wines, especially Coteaux de L'Aubance.

Pithon-Paille (Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay)

This partnership between Jo Pithon and Joseph Paille is the latest episode in the topsy-turvy career of Jo Pithon. This is a small boutique négociant operation, and includes some of their own vineyards, like Les Treilles on very steep slopes overlooking the Layon from which they make very fine Anjou Blanc. The portfolio includes Savennières and Quarts de Chaume.

A note on Domaine des Baumard, Rochefort-sur-Loire

The Baumard family, in particular Jean and Florent, are certainly controversial figures in Anjou and I have to declare an interest here as I have played a part recently in this controversy, especially in the Quarts de Chaume. In particular I doubt if they have followed the appellation rules in making their 2012 Quarts de Chaume. They are only Quarts de Chaume producer to have declared a substantial quantity in 2012. They picked their grapes during the October when over 200 mm of rain fell – a record amount of precipitation. Jean Baumard has stated that they were able to make Quarts de Chaume in 2012 grace à la cryoselection. It is highly unlikely that the grapes for their 2012 Quarts de Chaume met the minimum requirement of averaging 18% on the vine.

The Baumards - father Jean and his son Florent - have championed methods that are atypical of the region such as the vignes larges and the use of cryoselection or cryoextraction in the production of sweet wine. I'm not necessarily against les vignes larges. However, it is clear that their vines in the Quarts de Chaume and, quite probably in also in Savennières, often carry a very generous crop.

The Baumard wines are well made; however, I find that their Quarts de Chaume has a vibrant, lifted quality that may well reflect the use of cryoextraction.

I prefer not to buy or recommend any Baumard wines until they have mended their viticultural and vinification practices. It is also highly regrettable that the Baumards have mounted a legal challenge to Quarts de Chaume's Grand Cru status, largely because the use of cryoselection will eventually be banned.

Heavily laden Chenin Blanc vines at Domaine des Baumard

The Pays Nantais: Muscadet

Muscadet remains a widely misunderstood wine and one that still suffers from its period of popularity in the 1980s, which came to a sudden halt with the severe frost of April 1991. This disrupted supplies as the crop was only a third of normal and pushed up the price, so buyers looked elsewhere. Unfortunately, in the UK, Muscadet's major export market, this coincided with the breakthrough of Australian wines, giving trade buyers plenty of options to source elsewhere and to select wines that were then new and exciting.

Muscadet is popularly imagined to be just a light, crisp wine to be drunk young with shellfish. Plenty of Muscadet fills this role but now there is a much wider range of styles, and the best wines have a far greater ability to age than is often recognized.

The Sèvre et Maine is overwhelmingly the dominant regional sub-appellation in Muscadet, with 3,500 hectares in comparison to just 300 for the Côtes de Grandlieu and even less for Muscadet Coteaux du Loire.

Although I’m far from sure that I could pick out a Côtes du Grandlieu from a Sèvre-et-Maine in a blind tasting, the wines from Grandlieu tend to be a little more forward and more floral than those of the Sèvre-et-Maine. Certainly the most famous quality producers with the most ageworthy wines come from the Sèvre-et-Maine.

Crus communaux

The crus communaux are the most recently recognised Muscadet appellation. In 2011 the first three communes so recognized were Clisson, Gorges, and Le Pallet. More are expected to follow soon, including Château Thébaud, Goulaine, Monineres-St-Fiacre, and Mouzillon-Tillières.

These wines have undergone long aging on their lees. A minimum of at least two years is required (and in some cases considerably more) yielding wines of greater richness and complexity than one normally associates with Muscadet. These are not wines you would consider pairing with oysters or a plateau fruits de mer. Rather they are wines for fine fish dishes, roast chicken or a poulet à la crème. Due to a mad anomaly these wines cannot include sur lie on the label despite the fact that they are indeed aged on the lees for two years and more. The current Muscadet rules only allow sur lie to be used on the label if the wines have been bottled between 1st March following the vintage and the 30th November. Although I can see good reason why there should be an insistence on a minimum time that the wine remains on its lees, there appears to be very little reason why there should be a maximum time. Instead it ought to be left open. Thus we have the absurd situation where Muscadet's most prestigious wines can't advertise that they are sur lie. Whether this will be rectified some day remains to be seen.

Muscadet from good producers in all its styles and denominations now represents great value for money. However, if this was Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, all Muscadet - or virtually all - would be closed with a screwcap. Unfortunately many producers continue to use cork, and as Muscadet is a delicate white the instance of detectable cork taint can be quite high.

Gros Plant (or Folle Blanche)

This is the second white variety of the Pays Nantais. It often makes quite tart, citric wine, but from good producers like Luneau-Papin the wines have more weight. The amount planted has declined sharply in recent years. Figures. Gros Plant is an ideal match with oysters. It is also used to make sparkling wine, sold as vin mousseux de qualité.

Red Wines of Pays Nantais

There is also a small amount of red made from several grape varieties including Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Merlot and Pinot Noir. The majority of the reds here are thin and of little interest. With the exception of the Coteaux d’Ancenis (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay) these reds are sold as IGP wines.

Top recommended producers in Pays Nantais

Left: Pierre Luneau (Domaine Luneau-Papin); Right: Éric Chevalier

Domaine Luneau-Papin (Le Landreau)

Pierre and Monique Luneau have now been joined by their son, Pierre-Marie, and his wife, Marie. The best parcels are picked by hand and vinified separately by individual terroir. One of my favourite Luneau-Papin wines is their wonderfully vibrant Clos des Allées from vines planted on mica-schist. They also make a very good Gros Plant.

There are also the impressive cuvées with long aging on their lees – Pueri Solis and Excelsior, which is from the Goulaine terroir. Along with other top examples of Muscadet, these have a marvelous ability to age well, while keeping their freshness.

Guy Bossard, Domaine de l’Ecu (Le Landreau)

Guy Bossard has long been a leading organic and biodynamic producer in the Pays Nantais. The 22-hectare domaine was certified as organic back in 1975 and biodynamic in 1988. Nearing retirement Guy has gone into partnership with Fred Niger Van Herck, with Fred starting work with Guy in 2009. The emphasis is on the different soil types with three very pure cuvées – Gneiss, Orthogneiss and Granite – and Taurus, which is aged for 16 months on its lees, and needs time in bottle to show its best.

Bernard Chereau-Carré, Chereau-Carré (Saint-Fiacre-sur-Maine)

Chereau-Carré has 140 hectares of vines split amongst four domaines, with Château de Chassloir and its parcel of over 100-year-old vines as the jewel in the crown – Cuvée des Ceps Centenaire.

Bruno Cormerais (Saint Luminé-de-Clisson)

Bruno is one of the true characters of the Pays Nantais. He has 28 hectares of vines, with 22 planted to Melon de Bourgogne on the granite soils around Clisson. His top Muscadet wines spend a long time on the lees – the Maxime 2003 aged on lees for 40 months. Bruno’s wines age very well – the 1989 I tasted at this year’s Salon des Vins de Loire was superb.

Joseph Landron, Domaines Landron (La Haye Fouassière)

There is no doubt that Joseph Landron would be the clear winner in any moustache competition involving Muscadet producers! He farms organically with (once again) emphasis placed on the different soil types. Top wines are Le Fief du Breil and Haute Tradition, both coming from Domaine de la Louvertrie and both ageworthy.

Domaine Louis Métaireau: Grand Mouton (Saint-Fiacre-sur-Maine)

Although Louis Métaireau, the patriarch of this top-quality Muscadet estate, has long since retired to Corsica, the estate is now under the management of his daughter, Marie-Louise, and her husband, Jean-François, and remains a reference for Muscadet. Louis was a forceful character and was passionately committed to showing that Muscadet sur lie was a serious wine and not just for washing down fruits de mer. The estate's stylish packaging clearly reflects this ambition. Cuvée One and Cuvée LM are the top wines.

Marc Ollivier and Rémi Branger, Domaine de la Pépière

Organic vineyard where everything is harvested by hand. This is one of the top Muscadet estates. The wines include a Clisson, one of the new crus communaux.

Éric Chevalier (Saint Philbert de Grand Lieu)

Eric Chevalier was a winemaker for the Loire négociant Vinval until he returned to the family domaine in Saint Philbert, just to the south of the Lac de Grandlieu. As well as making fine Muscadet, he also has an excellent IGP Fie Gris, the local name for Sauvignon Gris/Sauvignon Rose.

Jérôme Choblet (Bouaye)

The Choblet family, based in the town of Bouaye on the north-west side of the Lac de Grandlieu, is the largest producer in the Muscadet Côtes de Granlieu with some 100 hectares. The domaine is now run by Jérôme Choblet. He has opted to put their wines into screwcap. Top wines are Clos De La Sénaigerie, Clos de la Fine and Château de la Pierre.

Les Fiefs Vendéens

Les Fiefs Vendéens lies to the south of the Pays Nantais between Nantes and La Rochelle, in five quite scattered, non-contiguous zones: Brem, Chatonnay Mareuil, Pissotte and Vix.

Long-time a VDQS, the Fiefs Vendéens were promoted to AOC in February 2011. There is an interesting mix of grape varieties here including Chenin Blanc, Pinot Noir – often remarkably successful – and Negrette, which is a real curiosity. Negrette, the grape variety of Fronton AOC in Southwest France, isn’t planted anywhere else in the Loire (that I know of) and it is quite surprising that it has turned up here in the Fiefs Vendéens, where it is also called Ragoutant.

Recommended producers of Les Fiefs Vendéens

There are two leading estates on the export market.

Domaine Saint-Nicolas – Thierry Michon

Thierry Michon is a tireless ambassador for his domaine and for Les Fiefs Vendéens. He is a familiar figure at all sorts of trade fairs, especially but not exclusively those devoted to natural and biodynamic wines. The estate has 32 hectares of vines at Ile d’Olonne, which is close to the Atlantic coast. There is a range of fascinating and fine wines. Le Haut des Clous (100% Chenin) and La Grande Pièce (100% Pinot Noir) are particularly good. Le Poiré is made from 100% Negrette (see note of grape varieties above). Here in the Vendée is the only place in the Loire where you will find this unusual grape that makes a deep-coloured, soft red.

http://www.domainesaintnicolas.com/

Mourat – Château Marie du Fou

The Mourat family has owned Château Marie du Fou since 1880. The Mourats are very substantial producers with 127 hectares of vines. The estate is now run by the dynamic Jérémie Mourat and makes a wide range of wines. These includes the Château Marie du Fou red (50% Pinot Noir, 25% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Negrette) and the white version made from 70% Chenin Blanc and 30% Chardonnay.

http://www.mourat.com/

Western Touraine and Saumur

2013-02-28T11:29:00Z

Outside France the Loire is often considered almost exclusively a white wine region; not surprising given that the region's best known wines on export markets are probably white Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Muscadet and perhaps Vouvray. Actually, the Loire is a far from a red-free region as the proportion of red and rosé made is around 45%, despite Robert Parker's remarkable assertion in The World’s Greatest Wine Estates (published 2005) that: “Stylistically white wines dominate the region, representing at least 95% of the production!”

My third Loire article covers the section of the Loire where red wines play a very important role. It covers the appellations of Chinon, Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Saumur and Saumur-Champigny. Also covered are some very good dry whites, a fine sweet appellation, some rosé and the Loire's main area for the production of sparkling wine, which is based around Saumur. The Saumur region is customarily linked with Anjou rather than Western Touraine. I have chosen to link them together as the style of the reds from Saumur is much more akin to Chinon, Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil than they are to the more tannic reds of Anjou. They share the same soil and geological features as they are the western extremity of the clay and limestone of the Paris basin.

Although the reds tend to grab the headlines, there are some very fine dry whites made here – the best invariably being 100% Chenin Blanc. Saumur is also the centre of the Loire’s sparkling wine production – second only, but a distant second, to Champagne in volume for French sparkling wine. The annual production is around 21.25 million bottles of sparkling Saumur and Crémant de Loire combined. 10% of this is rosé. Although the 80,000 hls of Crémant de Loire can come from a wide area much of it is produced in and around Saumur. The production of sparkling wine in Champagne, however, at around 330 million bottles, completely dwarfs the entire volume of bubbles made in the whole of the Loire Valley.

But let’s start with the reds. Although the grape's origins are in Bordeaux and the Basque County, this is the kingdom of Cabernet Franc - the world's biggest concentration of fine, fragrant reds based almost exclusively on Cabernet Franc. Here this variety really comes into its own rather than playing a supporting role, as it often does in Bordeaux, although there are a few significant exceptions - Ausone and Cheval Blanc, wherein Cabernet Franc makes up the majority of the blend.

One of the reasons for the popularity of Cabernet Franc here is that it ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon. It is only in Anjou with its slightly longer growing season (due to an early spring) that Cabernet Sauvignon regularly ripens properly, and then only in specially favoured sites.

Too often Loire Cabernet Francs have been portrayed as light, fruity wines that should be drunk young. There are certainly cuvées that are bottled early, ready for immediate drinking, which make ideal summer wines when served lightly chilled. Equally there are more ambitious wines that require ageing to show their best and can last a remarkable length of time. Witness the amazing tasting I was lucky enough to attend in early June 2012 in the remarkable cellars of Lamé Delisle Boucard in Bourgueil. A tasting that covered three centuries going back to the great vintage of 1893 - a wine still on form and far from a fading relic. One reason for their longevity is a shared core of acidity that makes all styles of Loire wines refreshing. Although a good many wine drinkers know about the longevity of the Loire's sweet wines, many fewer are aware of the ability of some Loire reds to age remarkably well.

You might expect Loire Cabernet producers to find affinity in Bordeaux, but this is not the case: most look to Burgundy. While at first sight this might be surprising, it makes sense as the approach in the Loire to terroir is much more Burgundian than Bordelais with the vineyard emphasized rather than the estate. Furthermore with the exception of the négociants, the region still remains very family-orientated as it frequently is in Burgundy.

These are food friendly reds that match a range of dishes, depending upon the weight and age of the wines. The lighter reds work well with ‘meatier’ fish such as salmon and swordfish.

Chinon; Cabernet Franc

Chinon

Unlike Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil, where the vineyards face towards the Loire, those of Chinon centre around the River Vienne which soon joins the Loire at Candes Saint Martin. The majority of the vines are on the north side of the river with some 40% found in the commune of Cravant-les-Coteaux, a little to the east of the town of Chinon. There are, however, some significant producers to the south of the Vienne such as Charles Joguet in Sazilly and Domaine de la Noblaie in Ligré.

There are three main types of soil in Chinon – sand, gravel and clay-limestone – producing different kinds of wine. The lightest style of wine comes from the sandy soils, which are mainly at the western end of the appellation around Savigny-en-Véron. These tend to be wines to be bottled in the spring following the vintage and enjoyed young. The Vienne has laid down gravel terraces on both sides of its course but they are more extensive on the north bank. In general the wines here are medium bodied and can be kept for eight to ten years depending upon the vintage. The slopes are clay and limestone and it is from here that the most structured, concentrated and age worthy wines come. Well-cellared wines from great vintages can easily last 50 years.

Several communes, including Saint Gemme, to the west of the Chinon and on the south bank of the Vienne are in the process of joining the appellation. These are producers of pure Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, that have been made 'orphans' by the absurd reform of the Touraine appellation, which now bans the use of 100% Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. They will join Chinon in 2014 or 2015. The clay limestone soil and conditions are the same as those in the Chinon appellation further east. Notable properties amongst the newcomers include Châteaux de Petit Thouars and Trochoire.

There is a small amount of white made from 100% Chenin. There are about 36 hectares in production from vines that should be planted on the limestone slopes. Around 8% of the total production is white and rosé.

Highly Recommended Producers

Philippe Alliet: Philippe and his wife, Claude, are amongst the appellation’s top (and most expensive) producers. Strong believers in barrique aging, they originally made their reputation with wines from the flat gravel terraces. Later they replanted the steep hillsides of the Coteau de Noire, just to the east of the town of Chinon. Ever since phylloxera this hillside had been abandoned. While powerful the Alliet wines have finesse. Philippe is no fan of over-ripeness – he didn’t like the heat wave vintage of 2003.

Baudry-Dutour: Founded in 2003, this is a partnership between Christophe Baudry and Jean-Martin Dutour. Baudry-Dutour is now the Chinon's largest individual producer with 120 hectares. Their properties include Domaine de la Pierrière, Château de Saint Louans, Château de la Grille and Domaine de la Roncée. They have a modern winery at Panzoult and have recently renovated and built new facilities at Château de la Grille, a property on the northern outskirts of Chinon, which they bought in early in 2009. Their wines are well made and reliable. It will be interesting to see what changes they effect with La Grille, which in the past I have found austere and tannic.

Domaine Bernard Baudry: Bernard Baudry is the younger brother of Jean Baudry, the father of Christophe of Baudry-Dutour. Rather than joining the family estate - Domaine de la Perrière - he opted to set up on his own with just two hectares of vines. Today Bernard is one of the top producers in Chinon. His 30-hectare domaine is now in the safe hands of Matthieu, his son, with Bernard increasingly taking a back seat. Their top wines are Le Clos Guillot and La Croix Boissée – both are from vines on the clay limestone slopes.

Domaine de la Noblaie – Jérôme Billard: Jérôme Billard has rapidly propelled this family estate to become one of the most exciting in the Chinon appellation. Jérôme returned to take over the family domaine in 2003 after working at Pétrus as well as California. His father, François, was a well-known and respected teacher at the Lycée Professionel Agricole of Monteuil-Bellay. Jacqueline and Pierre Manzagol, Jérôme’s grandparents, bought the domaine in 1953 when it had five hectares of vines. It has now expanded to 24 and the estate is in the process of being certified as organic.

Jérôme makes four red Chinons. Firstly is the domaine wine (La Noblaie), which sees no wood. Next is Les Blanc Manteaux, sourced from a parcel of old vines at least 60 years of age, planted on limestone slopes and aged for a year in 500-litre barrels. Les Chiens Chiens comes from old vines on clay. It is aged for 12 months in 400-litre barrels and then spends a further eight months in stainless steel. The final red – Pierre de Tuf – is very unusual as it is fermented in an old limestone vat that has been cut out of the cellar wall. This wine is aged for 12 months in 500-litre barrels and then for a further eight months in stainless steel. Although all of the reds have good concentration and ripe fruit, they are most notable for their finesse and delicacy. In addition to a straight white Chinon, there is also a small production of a very fine prestige version often made from partially botrytised grapes, fermented and aged for 24 months in 500-litre barrels. It has a long aging potential.

Château de Coulaine: Established in 1300, this organic estate is run by Etienne and Pascale Bonnaventure, and today has 12 hectares of vines to the west of the town of Chinon. The often delicious and easy drinking Château de Coulaine is bottled in the spring following the vintage – the Bonnaventures call it a vin de Pacques (an Easter wine). Their top wine, the more structured La Diablesse, comes from vines of between 40 and 80 years of age, planted in clay, flinty clay and limestone. It spends 18 months in barrel and in good vintages will certainly last 15-20 years

Charles Joguet: In 1959 Charles took over the family domaine, returning from Paris where he was a sculptor. He expanded the domaine and started bottling his wine from 1972 – previously it had been sold off in bulk to the négociants. Under Charles' guidance and with advice from Jacques Puisais and others, the estate became Chinon’s leading property during the 1980s and early 1990s. After Charles retired in 1997 standards declined for a time but revived considerably in the latter half of the first decade of the new millennium with the return of winemaker François Xavier Barc, who had worked at the property in the 1990s. FX left in 2009 to set up his own small négociant business. Owner Jacques Genet, his daughter Anne-Charlotte Genet and Kevin Fontaine, the winemaker, are now in charge and standards are being maintained, especially at the top end.

The domaine’s top vineyards are Le Clos du Chêne Vert, a very steep, south-west facing plot on the coteaux in Chinon, and le Clos la Dioterie, just beside the winery at Sazilly. Again these wines age well - the 1988 and 1989 remain deliciously memorable.

Couly-Dutheil: Founded in 1921, Couly-Dutheil used to be the most important producer in Chinon. Unfortunately a bitter family dispute between the two brothers – Pierre and Jacques Couly – has allowed Baudry-Dutour to march on them. Pierre and Bertrand, his son, are no longer part of the family firm and have set up on their own as Pierre and Bertrand Couly, while Jacques and Arnaud, his son, run Couly-Dutheil. Sadly there are still legal battles to sort out which party owns what. The dispute has probably given Baudry-Dutour a freer hand to expand and become the largest domaine in the appellation.

Couly-Dutheil owns the two most historic vineyards: the Clos de l'Echo and Clos de l'Olive. Both are on the clay limestone slopes around the attractive town of Chinon. The Clos de l'Echo used to belong to the family of François Rabelais, the author of Gargantua and Pantagruel. It is large vineyard of some 17 hectares - not all of which is top quality. To get around this problem, the Coulys have chosen to make a top cuvée called Crescendo, which I think is a mistake. Better I think to use Le Clos de L'Echo for the Grand Vin and have a second label for the less good parcels. Les Petites Echoes would be a possibility!

Other Estates to Watch

Domaine Jourdan: A biodynamic estate, once called Domaine de la Chapelle. Owner Philippe Prichard sold it in February 2012 to Annick and Francis Jourdan. Prichard continues to be involved in running the domaine.

Marc Plouzeau: Domaine de la Bonnelière. Organic estate of 20 hectares in La Roche Clermault on the south side of the Vienne with its cellars cut into the rock underneath Chinon’s château.

Jean-Maurice Raffault: A large 50-hectare estate with its base in Savigny-en-Véron and vineyards in the western part of the appellation. Now run by the talented Rodolphe Raffault, the son of the late Jean-Maurice. In 2008 they replanted the small but historic Clos de l’Hospice in the centre of Chinon, which had been abandoned by the vine since phylloxera. Alongside their reds, there is also an impressive Chinon Blanc.

Bourgueil

Bourgueil and the adjoining appellation of Saint-Nicolas de-Bourgueil have the same three broad soil types as Chinon. The sandy soils are again those closest to the Loire, followed by the gravel terrace. As a general rule the wines from Bourgueil tend to be a little more structured than those from Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, especially those from the commune of Benais, where a high proportion of the vines are planted on the limestone slopes. 5% of the production is rosé. In general Chinon tends to be softer, more ‘feminine’ than wines from Bourgueil, where the tannins are more apparent and the wines more ‘masculine’. Comparing the Chinon reds made by Catherine and Pierre Breton or by Pierre-Jacques Druet with their Bourgueil wines emphasizes their differences between the two appellations.

Highly Recommended Producers

Jacky Blot, Domaine de la Butte: Jacky and Joëlle Blot bought this 15ha property in 2022. They took possession just before the harvest, which must have made 2002 a real seat-of-the-pants ride, especially as their previous experience of winemaking was in making white wines in Montlouis and Vouvray. This makes the quality of their wines here all the more impressive.

As the domaine's name suggests the vines are all on the coteaux. La Butte has four different cuvées, which are all very Burgundian in concept. Like the majority of the vineyards of Bourgueil, the vines face south. The fruit for the four cuvees come from a different part of the clay-limestone slope. The top wine Mi-Pente comes from the middle of the slope. The vines here are the best exposed, while being protected from cold north winds. Mi-Pente is the last to be bottled and needs time to show its best. In contrast Le Pied de la Butte, from the bottom of the slope and less well exposed to the sun, is bottled in the spring following the harvest, sees no wood and is intended to be enjoyed young. Le Haut de la Butte comes from the top of the slope, where the vines enjoy less protection than in Mi-Pente. It is between the two in quality. The fourth cuvée is Les Perrières from a small parcel of vines on the eastern side of the domaine. The ground is stony. Initially the Blots thought that Les Perrières had a similar potential to Pied de la Butte. However, they soon realised that after Mi-Pente, Les Perrières is the best section of the domaine, giving wines with a little less structure than Mi-Pente but with delicacy and finesse.

Pierre-Jacques Druet: Many estates follow on from generation to generation; not so for Pierre-Jacques Druet, who started his own domaine here as recently as 1980, yet long ago established his reputation. Les Cent Boisselées is Pierre-Jacques' opening red, which should not be dismissed as a light starter as it has the capacity to age well – the 2003 is currently delicious. Druet’s top cuvée is Vaumoreau from a small plot of very old vines. Along with his Bourgueil, Druet has a Chinon from Le Clos Danzay in Beaumont-en-Véron.

Lamé Delisle Boucard: It was in the magical cellars of Lamé Delisle Boucard that I was privileged to be present at the most amazing tasting of Loire Reds that I have ever experienced. We went through wines from three centuries starting with 2009 and ending with the extraordinary 1893. Although a traditional domaine, Lamé Delisle Boucard has been quick to embrace social media with a blog and using video to bring their work in the vines and in the chai to life.

Other Estates to Watch

Laurent Herlin: Laurent is a newcomer to winemaking. He started here in 2008 and has five hectares of vines. He has a number of cuvées ranging from the easy-drinking, carbonic Tsoin Tsoin to the more serious Vin de Mon Nouveau Pays, an IGP wine.

Château de la Minière: Kathleen Van den Berghe and her husband bought the property in 2010 and have invested heavily in restoring the "château", which is really more of an elegant manor house than a true château, as well as the domaine’s chai and vineyards. They spend part of their time here and part in Belgium. Certainly this is a domaine to follow.

Xavier Courant, Domaine de l'Oubliée: Newcomer Xavier Courant's wines are all named after films by the French filmmaker and screenwriter Bertrand Blier. He has six hectares of vines and his Tenue de soirée has give me particular pleasure.

Nau Frères: Abel Osorio is the most public face of this family estate towards the eastern end of the appellation. Their Vieilles Vignes is a treat!

Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil

The neighbouring (and very similar appellation) to Bourgueil – it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other one starts. One particularity of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil is that there is a higher proportion of vines planted on gravel, creating an overall greater number of lighter wines, which may well explain the popularity of these wines in Parisian restaurants. The differences in from one producer to another are greater than those between the two appellations.

Highly Recommended Producers

Yannick Amirault (also Bourgueil): Yannick, now joined by his son Benoît, is one of the Loire’s top red wine producers making lovely elegant, finely balanced and definitely age worthy wines. As usual there is a range of wines. La Coudraye from Bourgueil comes from lighter, sandier soils and is usually ready to drink a year or so after the vintage. The domaine’s top wines are La Petite Cave and le Grand Clos – both come from the Coteaux and will benefit from several years aging before opening.

Frédéric and Natalie Mabileau: Frédéric is the latest generation from this long established family of producers in St Nicolas. Now in his 40s Frédéric initially set up on his own making a modern style, fruity style of red. When his father, Jean-Paul retired he took over all of the family vineyards, totaling 27ha – mostly in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil but Frédéric also has some vines in Bourgueil, Anjou – adjacent to the western limit of Saint-Nicolas – as well as in Le Puy-Notre Dame, the source of the very good Saumur Blanc (100% Chenin Blanc).

Other Estates to Watch

Gérard Vallée, Domaine de la Cotelleraie: Gérard Vallée has some 26 hectares. His top wines are Le Vau Jaumier and L’Envolée.

Joël Taluau and Thierry Foltzenlogel: Joël Taluau has long been a reference in Saint-Nicolas. With Joël semi-retired, the estate continues to be well run by his daughter Clarisse and her husband, Thierry Foltzenlogel. The Vieilles Vignes is their top wine and the 1976 remains memorable.

Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, Coteaux de Saumur, Puy Notre-Dame

The Saumur appellations cover all colours and most styles as well as encompassing a considerable area - 39 communes across three départements, although the vast majority are in Maine et Loire.

Saumur-Champigny is probably the best known of all the Saumur appellations; it established its reputation in the bistros and brasseries of Paris, where it was viewed as a light, easy drinking red. This is certainly no longer the case, although there are still some lighter cuvees, which are bottled in the late winter and early spring following the vintage. Despite its success Saumur-Champigny is a relatively young appellation: the décret was passed in 1959. There are eight communes in the appellation, which is for red wine only, including the town of Saumur. The bedrock in the region is limestone with varying proportions of clay in the topsoil, as well as sand in some places such as Chaintres. From the Loire there is a steep rise up towards the village of Champigny followed by more gentle slopes as the land dips towards Chacé, Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg and the valley of the Thouet. The high proportion of limestone also makes the Saumur-Champigny zone well suited to growing Chenin Blanc. The commercial success, however, of Saumur-Champigny has meant that in recent years Chenin has lost ground to Cabernet Franc. As it is closer to the Atlantic, the average temperatures in Saumur-Champigny are a little higher than those in western Touraine.

Antoine Cristal is the father - or perhaps more correctly the great-grandfather - of the Saumur-Champigny vineyard. During his life he was a friend of the World War I-era French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. Cristal’s most lasting memorials are the two walled vineyards – Le Clos Cristal (Cabernet Franc) and the Clos d'Entre les Murs (Chenin Blanc), the former of which he bequeathed to the Hospices de Saumur in 1928, shortly before his death.

Mirroring the progress made in Anjou over the past 20 years with the quality of the best sweet wines, Coteaux de Saumur has also seen similar improvement. Again the secret is in the vineyards with low yields, carefully spaced bunches, etc. In general the flavours of Coteaux de Saumur tend towards the citric spectrum rather than the apricot and peach often found in the Layon wines. Think of them as sweet wines rather than ascribing that extraordinarily foolish term, dessert wines. They will rarely match the sweetness of desserts. Rather, they are best enjoyed by themselves or with cheese, rich paté or even with creamy poultry or game dishes such as faisan à la Normande.

Saumur Puy Notre-Dame is a recent appellation for reds only, finally approved in 2009. The small town of Le Puy Notre-Dame is built on a limestone dome, a few miles southwest of Montreuil-Bellay. The base yield at 50hl/ha is 20% less than that for straight Saumur Rouge and there are restrictions on the use of weed killers. The appellation covers 17 communes - not just Le Puy.

Highly Recommended Producers

Foucault Frères Charly and Nady - Clos Rougeard: There was a time in the late 80s and early 90s when the Foucault brothers were considered rather strange, bizarre exceptions with their insistence on low yields and their use of barriques. This was the era when light, easy quaffable Saumur-Champigny was the norm and hugely popular in Parisian brasseries. Nowadays the Foucaults are seen as role models and their wines can be difficult to buy, especially as their domaine remains small. They also make very fine Saumur Blanc as well as small quantities of Coteaux de Saumur from vines on the hill behind the Château de Brézé.

Antoine Foucault, Domaine du Collier: Antoine is the son of Charly and Françoise Foucault, and the Domaine du Collier is his own estate with vines at Brézé. His wines are vinified and aged in a spectacular cellar below his parents' house in Chace. The majority of Antoine's production is white - 100% Chenin Blanc. The whites are all barrel fermented and are notable for their purity and length.

Jean-Pierre Chevallier, Château de Villeneuve: This is an impeccable family estate, which over the past 20 years has been taken to new heights by the perfectionist Jean-Pierre Chevallier. His Saumur-Champigny wines are excellent and the white Saumur can a revelation, especially the barrel fermented Les Cormiers - one of the great whites of the Loire and amazingly reasonably priced. In good years Jean-Pierre makes several different cuvées of Samur-Champigny: the domaine, a Vieilles Vignes and Le Grand Clos. Unlike some producers Jean-Pierre will only release his top cuvées when the vintage and the resulting quality warrants it. In years such as 1998, 2004, and 2007, Jean-Pierre chose to blend all three cuvées together and to release only the domaine wine. In difficult vintages this has been one of the best wines from the appellation. I much admire this stance by Jean-Pierre, ensuring that his ‘prestige’ wines really live up to their name and are not released every year irrespective of the quality possible in that particular vintage. In 2012 Jean-Pierre made just one red and one white, so no Les Cormiers.

Thierry Germain, Domaine des Roches Neuves: Thierry was the first of the Germain family to move into the Loire. In 1991 he bought the domaine from Denis Duveau, who left the Loire for Chile. Thierry is a great enthusiast but he can change his views quite dramatically. Initially his wines were rich and powerful with the dry whites (Insolite -Saumur Blanc) often including some botrytised grapes. More recently Thierry has changed his style completely, looking to make very mineral, crystalline wines, and trying to pick as early as possible. This reversal has been particularly successful with the whites, while on occasion the reds have been picked too early, giving them a lean, greenish character.

Thierry Germain and Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve) are great friends and it is fascinating to see their different approaches. Jean-Pierre's wine style evolves gradually after careful consideration, while Thierry opts for quick, dramatic changes. The domaine is now biodynamic. Although I generally enjoy Thierry's wines, I buy considerably more of Jean-Pierre's Villeneuve.

Antoine Sanzay: Antoine is one of the promising new generation of vignerons. Sadly his father died when he was 12 and the grapes from the family vineyards went to the well run Cave Cooperative de Saint Cyr. Since he took over the running of the domaine in 2002, Antoine has been gradually freeing himself of the obligation to send his grapes to the co-op. This, however, has had the advantage of providing him with a source of income while he built up his sales. I was impressed with Antoine's wines when I first tasted them in 2005. I’m delighted that his Saumur-Champigny and Saumur Blanc continue to get better and better.

Antoine Foucault; Chenin Blanc

Other Estates to Watch

Domaine Filliatreau: Run by Paul and Frédéric Filliatreau, this is the largest individual estate in Saumur-Champigny. They also have Château Fouquet in Brézé (Saumur AOC). Consistent quality here over many years.

Edouard Pisani-Ferry, Château de Targé: Always among the better Saumur- Champigny properties, Targé has been on the up in recent years both for their Saumur-Champignys and the Saumur Blanc.

Domaine de Nerleux (Saumur, Saumur-Champigny, Coteaux de Saumur, Crémant de Loire): A large family estate in Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg making consistently reliable wines.

Romain Guiberteau: A very impressive producer of both Samur red and white.

Domaine Saint-Just: The domaine was established by the late Yves Lambert. It is now run by his son Arnaud. Good Saumur-Champignys in a modern style and very good whites. Now also looking after the vines of Château de Brézé.

Château de Parnay: This estate changed hands in 2006, with new owners now restoring the estate’s reputation and giving the wines the attention they deserve. The property includes Antoine Cristal’s famous Clos d'Entre les Murs, which is planted with Chenin Blanc.

Saumur Mousseux and Crémant de Loire

Although some sparkling wine is made throughout the Loire - from Gros Plant-based fizz in the Pays Nantais to some Gamay-based bubbles in the Côtes de Forez - Saumur is very much the sparkling capital of the Loire. The history of sparkling wine production here starts with Jean-Baptiste Ackerman in 1811.

All of the significant sparkling wine houses are based around Saumur, excepting Blanc Foussy (in Vouvray and Bléré) and Monmousseau (Montrichard), which is now part of Ackerman-Laurance. With the exception of Gratien & Meyer, which is on the eastern outskirts of the town, all the other leading houses are found in Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent, a western suburb of Saumur.

The limestone around Saumur is ideal for sparkling wine cellars: the rock is easy to quarry out and the resulting cellars have a constant all-around cool temperature.

It took a long time for the production quantities of Crémant to approach the numbers of Saumur Brut and Vouvray as, unlike in Alsace and Burgundy, the existing Loire appellations were allowed to continue alongside Crémant. As the rules were less strict, it is hardly surprising that many producers continue to prefer use the more economically attractive appellations of Montlouis, Saumur, Touraine and Vouvray. Also producers tend, when they have the option, to prefer a more specific geographic appellation such as Montlouis compared to the more "amorphous" Crémant de Loire.

The production of Crémant has finally overtaken that of Saumur. It has recently averaged around 100,000 hls (12.5 million bottles), while Saumur has now dipped below 90,000 (11.25 million bottles). In 2011 sales of Crémant de Loire overtook those of Saumur for the first time – 11.4 million bottles sold that year.

Highly Recommended Producers

Langlois-Chateau: Founded in 1885 and owned by Champagne Bollinger since 1973, Langlois-Chateau was the first to opt to just make Crémant de Loire and dispense with the less rigorous Saumur Mousseux appellation. I think, with the exception of Trésor from Bouvet-Ladubay, that Langlois-Chateau is the best of the Saumur sparkling wine houses and that the wines are not overdosed. Too often the sparkling wines from the Saumur houses have too high a level of dosage, especially for the best sellers. Langlois-Chateau also makes a very good Vieilles Vignes Saumur Blanc from Chenin. It usually needs at least five years to start to show its best. They also have vines in Saumur-Champigny and Sancerre.

Bouvet-Ladubay: This is now owned by United Breweries, based in India. The parent company has had financial problems with its Kingfisher Airlines. However, this does not appear to have affected Bouvet-Ladubay, which is run by the charismatic Patrice Monmousseau and is involved in sponsoring and promoting a number of artistic events including the annual Journées du Livres et du Vin. There is also an art gallery attached to the production centre. Their Cuvée Trésor – both white and rosé – are my preferred wines from Bouvet-Ladubay.

Although there are some enjoyable sparkling wines from Saumur, my preference is for a Pétillant coming from an individual producer in Montlouis or Vouvray such as Jacky Blot, Domaine Huet, Philippe Foreau or Laurent Bonnard.

"Pet'Nats": There is currently fashion for Pet'Nats - Petillantes Naturelles. These are produced by the méthode ancestrale; the wines are bottled before the first fermentation has finished. There is often a considerable amount of residual sugar remaining when the wines are disgorged after four or five months. Pet'Nats are frothy fun.

Brief vintage guide for Saumur and Western Touraine reds: 2002-2012

2002: Difficult summer followed by fine autumn with drying east wind. Wines are delicate and beautifully balanced.

2003: Year of the heat wave. Very early vintage with atypical very ripe wines – more southern France than Loire. Despite doubts at the time by some vignerons, wines are holding up well, so they will probably be long lived.

2004: Large crop, wet August, dry September followed by wet latter part of October. Some agreeable surprises but wines can be tough and considerably less attractive than 2003 and 2005.

2005: Fine vintage, dry and hot year with excellent conditions during the vintage. Vignerons able to pick at their leisure. Quite tannic wines but plenty of fruit – high alcohol a problem with a few. Potential to age a long time.

2006: Hot July then hot and wet in September, which provoked rot; in contrast to 2005 this was a real race to get the grapes in. Fortunately they were ripe and these are attractive, soft wines but without the aging potential of 2005.

2007: Difficult year with wet summer and well below average sunshine. Vintage saved once more by better weather from mid-September. Light reds to be drunk young.

2008: Frost in April. Then another vintage saved by fine Indian summer from September through to end of October. Wines are much more structured than 2007. ‘Classic’ Loire reds with good potential to age.

2009: Good growing conditions with fine weather during vintage. Fine vintage with powerful wines and good aging potential.

2010: A late frost for some. Dry summer but with rain in late September causing some problems but fruit often very clean, despite a growing threat of rot in October, which led to a quick harvest. Another fine vintage: it will be very interesting to see how 2009 and 2010 develop over the years. A number of producers, Jacky Blot, for example consider 2010 to be superior to 2009 with a better balance. Long aging potential.

2011: Very early vintage and a complicated year. The season started out hot with flowering beginning in the early part of May, but from June forward the season was considerably cooler and wetter. Rot was a problem due to variable weather in September and October, but there was the added danger of picking too soon, as grapes needed time to ripen properly. Considerable variations in quality but some attractive wines. Probably not a candidate for long aging.

2012: One of the most difficult vintages for many years with production well down. Warm January, very cold February, hot, dry March, severe frost in mid-April, very wet from April to late July. Poor flowering. Dry August and September then record rainfall in October. Treat any prestige red cuvees made with due suspicion. Wines, I suspect, to drink young.

Older fine vintages

1999 (a surprise), 1997 (always soft and approachable), 1996 (lasting well), 1990 (always approachable), 1989 (great hot vintage), 1976 (certainly lasting well in Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil), 1964 (especially Chinon), 1959, 1949, 1947, 1921, 1893 (legendary and very early vintage).

Eastern Touraine: the Loire's Melting Pot

2012-11-12T09:11:00Z

The second of my Loire four-part series concentrates on eastern Touraine, which I have extended westwards to take in Touraine Azay-le-Rideau and northward to the valley of Le Loir.

If your image of the Loire is a series of honey-coloured châteaux, then you will be thinking of this section of the valley, the garden of France. Thinking of châteaux like the lovely Azay-le-Rideau and Chenonceau or the grandiose pile that is Chambord or, equally, the royal residences of Amboise and the recently restored Chinon. These are just the most famous of the many châteaux found throughout this part of the Loire. Almost every commune has its château, evidence that Touraine has been both the home and the playground of the French kings and aristocracy.

Climate

Eastern Touraine is the transition stage between the moderate climate of Anjou-Saumur – the famous douceur Angevine – and the more extreme climate of the Central Vineyards, in particular that of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire. Temperatures in winter tend to be lower than they are in Anjou-Saumur and even in Western Touraine, with hotter temperatures in the summer.

Comparing the Tours weather station with the one at Angers shows that Tours averages (1981-2010) 1883 hours of sunshine, with an average maximum temperature of 16.1˚C and average temperature of 7.5˚C. Rainfall here is 695 mm. Average maximum February and July temperatures are 8.5˚C and 25.5° C. In Angers the annual rainfall is almost identical at 693.3 mm, with an average temperature of 7.9˚C and maximum temperature of 15.9˚C. Average hours of sunshine are 1798.

Although the average maximum July temperatures are almost identical with Tours, the average maximum February temperature in Angers is 9.4˚C compared to 8.5˚C in Tours. It is not unusual to have snow east of Tours in late January/early February, but when travelling westwards to Chinon one finds that the temperature is several degrees higher with no sign of snow.

Despite the small statistical differences between Angers and Tours bud-break in Eastern Touraine is around seven days later than in Chinon. This is crucial in setting the eastern limits for both Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. (See grape varieties.)

Geography

Eastern Touraine is a gentle plateau running from east to west and very gradually declining in height as it goes. The plateau is intersected by a series of rivers that tend to shadow the Loire before eventually joining the main river, which neatly illustrates how gentle is the gradient towards where the Loire eventually joins the Atlantic. All the significant rivers flow into the Loire from the south.

The region is part of the Paris basin, so the soil is predominantly clay and limestone in varying proportions with some flint. Here the limestone is called tuffeau. It is easy to quarry and is the favoured building material, not just for the famous honey-coloured châteaux but for the vast majority of the buildings. In a number of places along the valleys there are troglodyte dwellings, where the houses are wholly or partially cut into the limestone.

Many wineries here are based in limestone cellars – often old, disused quarries, although some are purposefully ‘built’. The limestone cellars provide a constant temperature around 10-12˚ C with only small variations between summer and winter. Many of the cellars are quite damp and while providing fine conditions for long-term wine storage, wines have to be labeled up once they leave the underground as the humidity quickly spoils labels.

Tours is the centre of the region and is the pivotal point in the Loire. This is the place where roads and rail running north-south from Paris to Bordeaux meets those running west-east from Nantes across to Bourges and Sancerre.

Melting pot of grape varieties

With the exception of Melon de Bourgogne and the Tressalier grape, unique to Saint-Pourçain, all of the grape varieties grown in the Loire are found in eastern Touraine. Here the varieties of the western part of the region mix with those of the east. Typically, producers outside of appellations like Vouvray and Montlouis will have a range of varieties for red and rosé wines, including Cabernet Franc (and occasionally Cabernet Sauvignon), Côt (the local name for Malbec), Gamay, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, Grolleau Noir and Grolleau Gris. Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris make up the majority of the palette for whites. There is also a small amount of Pinot Gris grown mainly for Touraine Noble Joué When used for a semi-sweet/sweet wine it is customarily labeled as Malvoisie. The quantities of Malvoisie made here are tiny and tend to be made for the producer’s own pleasure and rarely sold commercially.

There are also a number of rarities, such as the white grape Romorantin, found mainly in Cour-Cheverny. Henry Marionnet (Domaine de la Charmoise) also has a small parcel of pre-phylloxera Romorantin, which was planted in 1850 and now produces his “Provignage” cuvée. Among the whites there are also the Arbois (Menu Pineau), which is a relation of Chenin Blanc and Meslier Saint-François that was popular in the middle of the 20th Century. Potentially a high-yielding variety, it was often sold to Germany for the making of Sekt. Only a few hectares of Meslier Saint-François remain, but at low yields it can make interesting wine – see Lionel Gosseaume’s Climat No2.

The simple reason for this relative cornucopia of varieties is that eastern Touraine around Tours is the meeting point of the eastern and western Loire. The place where due to climate the chief varieties of the west – Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc – give way to those from the east – principally Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Gamay and the ‘local’ favourite, Côt.

Amboise is really the eastern limit for Chenin Blanc but its wines are overshadowed by those of Vouvray and Montlouis. Over recent years much of the Chenin Blanc and other white varieties planted in eastern Touraine have been replaced by Sauvignon Blanc. Similarly, while Cabernet Franc will ripen in eastern Touraine it is rarely as successful as in Bourgueil, Chinon and Saint Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, and it really needs a hot summer and autumn. Gamay and Côt, particularly, are often better options.

Unfortunately in the recent reform of Appellation Touraine this diversity of varieties has been ignored – it is deemed untidy by the bureaucrats and too complicated by the modern marketers. Under the new rules Touraine white will be made from Sauvignon Blanc with up to a maximum of 20% Sauvignon Gris. Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Arbois will not be permitted from 2016 when the new rules come fully into force. This reform never made any real sense and it grows more foolish as it is clear that Sauvignon Blanc in Touraine is particularly susceptible to the vine disease esca, which is becoming an ever-increasing problem. Furthermore the reform is betting on Sauvignon Blanc continuing to be a highly fashionable grape. New Zealand’s Marlborough producers have already found, to their loss, that there are limits.

Rosés will have to be made from a blend of two varieties, chosen from a list of ten. This ignores the frequent practice of making a Touraine rosé from one variety, such as Pineau d’Aunis.

Reds can be either varietal Gamay or a blend of Cabernet and Côt.

The Appellations

Touraine

This is a large, catch-all appellation running from Richelieu and Candes-Saint-Martin in the west through Soings-en-Sologne and Meusnes in the east – between 110 and 120 kilometres from one end to the other.

Inevitably with such a large appellation quality is extremely variable. This is not helped by the often very low prices offered by the négociants to producers for buying in bulk or for contract grapes. Sadly, completely blitzing vineyards with weed killer is an all too common practice here. Although it is easy to blame the producers, the problem is much wider than that, and it includes the consumer’s desire to buy cheap wine without considering the consequences. Thus, weed control through weed killer is the only economically viable option.

There are, however, a number of very good producers in Touraine whose wines sell for above the basic price but still provide extremely good value for money – many of these are either organic or in the process of conversion. The best Touraine Sauvignon can easily be the equal of many a Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé.

Producer: Le Clos Roche Blanche, Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet, Marueil-sur-Cher

I have been buying wine from Le Clos Roche Blanche since 1990 and for me they are a model estate. They started out farming conventionally but then moved to organic and were biodynamic for a while. They have evolved their own system of vineyard management using plants to encourage insects etc. to populate their vines. During the summer their vineyards will be full of colourful flowers, particularly yellow ones that are especially effective in attracting insects.

Didier Barrouillet has experimented with planting a wild leek close to a vine that is suffering from esca and has had some success in reversing the disease and saving the plant. It appears that the leek reinforces the microbiological organisms around the vine’s roots.

Catherine and Didier are now preparing for retirement and have sold off a lot of their vineyards, which at one time reached some 40 hectares. They have still retained their few rows of very old Côt, which produce a pure varietal cuvée, one of the star wines from the domaine. The Côt, like a number of their wines, ages well. In 2010 we organised a tasting of the wines at the domaine that went back to 1993, which included a Touraine Gamay from 1996, still in good condition because it was made from moderate yields.

The Clos Roche Blanche wines have long been imported into the USA by Louis Dressner.

Vineyards at Le Clos Roche Blanche

Other recommended Touraine producers: Vincent Ricard, Vincent Roussely (Clos Roussely), Jean-François Mériau (Domaine des Bois Vaudons), Domaine Sauvète, Joël Delaunay, Château du Petit Thouars, Lionel Gosseaume, Henry Marionnet and François Plouzeau (Domaine de la Garrelière).

The Touraine sub-zones

Touraine-Amboise

I fail to see the logic and justification behind having separate appellations for Amboise and Mesland. Although there are some good producers in Amboise, there are none whose wines are consistently better than the best producers of Touraine and too many produce poor, disappointing bottles. Perhaps this is not surprising given the popularity of Amboise as a tourist destination.

The most distinctively named red is “Cuvée François 1er”, which is a light entry level wine made from a blend of Gamay, Cabernet and Côt. Frequently dilute, I suspect that le Roi François would have opted for something more distinguished. As in other parts of Touraine the most interesting red is either 100% Côt or a blend of Cabernet and Côt.

Some recommended producers: Xavier Frissant, Xavier Weiss, La Grange Tiphaine (Coralie and Damien Delecheneau, François Pequin (Domaine des Bessons) , Closerie de Chanteloup.

Touraine Azay-le-Rideau

Having a separate zonal name for Azay-le-Rideau (white and rosé only) makes more sense than for Amboise and Mesland. The whites are Chenin Blanc and the rosé is made mainly from Grolleau. Reds are mainly Cabernet Franc and have to use the straight Touraine appellation.

Producer: Château de l’Aulée

This is a slight cheat on my part including this under Azay-le-Rideau as their speciality is Crémant de Loire. However, the property is within the commune of Azay, so it makes sense. Château de l’Aulée has recently had a chequered history: it was owned by Champagne Deutz before being sold on to someone who didn’t have enough capital to support their ambitions and went bust. When it was bought by Mariella and Arnaud Henrion from Champagne the property required considerable attention to get it back into shape.

Given the Henrions’ background it is not surprising that Aulée should concentrate on sparkling wines. Their range of Crémant de Loire, which has to be harvested by hand, is of very good value and delicious. There are four wines in the range: a brut Zéro, a brut classic and a special cuvee called “1856” – the date the château was built. All three whites are made from Chenin Blanc. A rosé from Cabernet Franc is also made. Retail prices at the château range from 7-9 €. There is also a slightly cheaper range of Touraine sparkling wines made from machine harvested fruit, but I think it is well worth paying just a little more for the Crémant.

Château de l'Aulée

Other recommended producers: Pascal Pibaleau and Louis-Jean Sylvos (Château de la Roche).

Touraine Mesland

Small Touraine zone to the west of Blois.

Recommended producer: Vincent Girault (Clos de la Briderie and Château Gaillard)

Touraine Noble-Joué

This unusual and attractive rosé is a small historical curiosity. Its name comes from one of suburbs of Tours, which was originally the village of Joué (until it was swallowed up by Tours to become Joué-les-Tours); most of its vineyards have been replaced by dwellings. Now most of the 28 hectares of vines are used to make Noble Joué are in the commune of Evres-sur-Indre to the south of the conurbation of Tours.

Noble Joué is always a rosé and is a blend of three Pinots – Gris, Meunier and Noir. It is a distinctive dry rosé that is well worth seeking out; it is an attractive apéritif and works with light first courses or fish.

Recommended producers: Michel Rousseau (Rousseau Frères – only producer listed as available in US) and Rémi Cosson.

Touraine-Chenonceaux and Touraine-Oisly

Since 2011 these four sub-zones have been joined by Touraine-Chenonceaux and Touraine-Oisly with the first wines released this May. Both sub-zones are in the Cher Valley. The new Oisly appellation covers 10 communes in the Loir-et-Cher to the north of the Cher Valley and to the south of the Cheverny AC, while the larger and more extended Chenonceaux runs along both sides of the Cher and includes 27 communes from the départments Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher. The Oisly appellation is for white wines produced with Sauvignon Blanc. It is geographically compact, logical and is a zone where Sauvignon Blanc is already the dominant variety.

This is not the case with the elongated Touraine-Chenonceaux, whose 27 communes stretch some 50 kilometres from Athée-sur-Cher in the west to Chatillon-sur-Cher in the east. Clearly the name of the Loire’s most famous château – Chenonceau – has been appropriated to lend cachet to the wines. Except that the plan didn’t quite work out as intended. Château de Chenonceau refused to allow this over-large zone to use its name. Instead it is named after the village, hence Touraine-Chenonceaux with an “x”.

It seems all too likely that the Touraine producers had to accept the foolish narrowing in the choice of permitted for the straight Touraine appellation in order to be able to get the Chenonceaux and Oisly sub-zones accepted by the INAO. All to little effect as for the first vintage (2011) producers put forward only 16 hectares for the Touraine Oisly appellation.

For Touraine-Chenonceaux is it 16 ha for the white and 19 ha for the red. Only 51 hectares in total.

Unfortunately, far too much time was spent on the minutiae of grape varieties allowed and not enough on the broader question of the environment. Sadly the architects of the new régime have not followed the lead given by Saumur-Le-Puy Notre Dame and Savennières Roche-aux-Moines in either severely restricting or banning outright the use of weed killers in the vineyard. The only restriction on the use of weedkillers in the new regulations is to ban producers from spraying their ditches close to their vines. And where pray does the water from such treated vineyards drain to if it doesn’t go into the ditches?

Vouvray

Chenin Blanc in Vouvray has the capacity to make some of the world’s greatest and most profound white wines. Wines capable of living a fully active life – not just existing – for an extraordinary long time, often for much longer than the life span a human being can expect. Sadly the number of Vouvray producers who really seek to explore the full potential of the appellation is limited to around a dozen. The lure of a quick buck along with the reduction of risk (by opting to concentrate on sparkling wine) is too great.

60% of Vouvray is sparkling and much of this is sold at cheap prices in supermarkets. For many producers, bubbles make up 80-90% of their production. There are now only a few producers who continue to concentrate on the still wines that are the real glory of Vouvray. As the permitted yield for sparkling wines is 65 ha/hl against 52 hl/ha for still wines it makes economic sense to opt for sparkling, which in any case carries less risk than choosing to make still wines, especially if you are looking to make demi-sec and moelleux (weather permitting). Menu Pineau is also allowed in the wines but is probably little used.

Producer: Domaine Huet

There are few world class Loire estates but Domaine Huet is undoubtedly one of them. Those lucky enough to drink some of the old mature vintages will have tasted some of the greatest white wines in the world.

It was Gaston Huet, who first established the estate's reputation. His first vintage was 1928 and, apart from his time as a prisoner of war in Germany during the Second World War, he continued to make the wine until 1976, when he handed over winemaking responsibilities to Noël Pinguet, his son-in-law. Gaston continued to be involved in the estate and in the Vouvray appellation until his death at the age of 92 in 2002.

Noël Pinguet studied mathematics and worked in an insurance company in Paris before he started working at the estate in 1971. His father was a non-wine drinking butcher in Vouvray. Although the estate never used weed killers, Noël moved to biodynamics in 1989. Unlike Nicolas Joly, Noël has always taken a pragmatic approach to biodynamics: he finds it works.

Following the death of Gaston, Domaine Huet changed hands in 2003. The estate was bought by Anthony Hwang, a Chinese-American businessman who also owns a vineyard in Tokaj. As part of the deal Noël acquired a minority shareholding.

In February 2012 the Huet connection came to a sad end when Noël confirmed his resignation due to irreconcilable differences with Hugo and Sarah Hwang, the son and daughter of Anthony Hwang. Noël's relationship with Anthony was always good, and Noël had been due to retire in 2015 (at 70 years of age). Jean-Bernard Berthomé, the estate's long time chef de culture, remains on board along with Benjamin Joliveau, who was in line to take over from Noël. The Hwangs have a big challenge and responsibility to maintain the standards that Gaston Huet and Noël Pinguet set over more than 80 years. Unfortunately in 2012 nature has dealt them a very tough hand, so it will be unfair to judge them solely by how this vintage pans out.

Domaine Huet's Clos de Bourg

Producer: Philippe Foreau

Similar quality over a long period to Huet but this domaine is less well known. This is partly because Philippe Foreau is rarely present at professional wine shows. For instance, he has never been at the annual Salon des Vins de Loire in Angers. However, the quality is very high - I have never been disappointed with a Foreau wine -The 1947 Goutte d'Or is legendary.

Other recommended producers: Domaine des Aubuisières (Bernard Fouquet), Vincent Carême, Didier, Véronique and Catherine Champalou, Francis Piñon, Sébastien Brunet and Laurent Bonneau – two coming younger producers, Vigneau-Chevreau and Peter Hahn (Le Clos de la Meslerie).

Montlouis

Just across the Loire from Vouvray and much smaller than its northern neighbour, Montlouis has nevertheless become one of the Loire’s most dynamic appellations attracting a series of committed newcomers. The majority of the vineyard faces towards the south and the Cher Valley rather than northwards to the Loire. Moving from north to south the clay gives way to much more sandy soils as you approach the River Cher around Saint-Martin-le-Beau. Unlike Vouvray only Chenin Blanc is permitted: no Arbois allowed.

Producer: Jacky Blot – Domaine de la Taille aux Loups

Jacky and Joëlle Blot acquired the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in Husseau, a small wine-making village just to the east of the town of Montlouis. It then had some eight hectares of vines. 23 years later the Blots are one of the biggest players in Montlouis with over 60 hectares including a virtual monopole – Le Clos Mosny (12ha) – and the neighbouring single vineyard of Clos Michet. They also have vines in Vouvray: the 3.5 ha Clos de la Bretonnière and the one-hectare Clos de Venise. Furthermore since 2002 they have also owned the 15-hectare Domaine de la Butte in Bourgueil – making from a standing start some of the best reds in the appellation.

The Blots’ success is down to passion, attention to detail, and consistent quality allied with business acumen. Jacky was a courtier en vin in Tours before becoming a vigneron. All of the whites are vinified in barriques, including the base wines for “Triple Zéro”, a highly successful Montlouis pétillant which has no sugar added at any point in its making.

The Domaine de la Taille aux Loups is one of the few leading Loire estates which is open to visitors, seven days a week. It is not surprising that a significant proportion of the Blots’ wines are now sold direct from the domaine.

Producer: François Chidaine

François is the dynamic and outspoken president of the Montlouis appellation. The domaine, which also includes the Vouvray vineyards of Prince Poniatowski, and some in the Touraine appellation at Chissay in the Cher Valley, is biodynamic. The Poniatowski estate includes the Clos Baudouin, one of the most famous sites in Vouvray. Sadly, by the time the Clos was bought by Chidaine it was in a sad state – it is one of Chidaine’s long-term projects to restore the Clos to its former glory. The oldest Vouvray I have ever been privileged to taste was an 1870 Clos Baudouin served at a dinner at Jean Bardet restaurant in Tours some 15 years ago or so. I believe three bottles were served – I was lucky I got a portion from the one bottle that was still good!

Other Recommended Producers: Coralie et Damien Delecheneau (La Grange Tiphaine), Ludovic Chanson, Franz Saumon, Xavier Weisskopf (Le Rocher des Violettes), Lisle and Bertrand Jousset and Valérye Mordelet et Jean-Daniel Kloeckle (Les Loges de la Folie).

Cheverny and Cour-Cheverny

These two appellations lie to the south of Blois. Only Romorantin is permitted for Cour-Cheverny, which can often be austere when young but has fine potential to develop and age.

Recommended producers: Michel Gendrier (Domaine des Huards), Laura Semaria, Château de Montcy, Philippe Tessier. Jean-Marie and Thierry Puzelat (Domaine de la Tué-Boeuf).

Appellations of Le Loir

The vineyards of the pastoral valley of le Loir are the most northerly of the Loire, although they not are the most northerly of Western France – that distinction goes to Les Arpents du Soleil to the south east of Caen.

Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir

After nearly disappearing in the 1950s, Jasnières (along with its associated appellation, Coteaux du Loir) is now among the most dynamic of the Loire Valley. Here is a happy combination of a few long established producers who fought to keep the appellation going – most notably the Gigou family – and a number of incomers such as Eric Nicolas (Domaine de la Bellivière), Christian Chaussard (sadly killed in a tractor accident last month), Jean-Pierre Robinot (Vignes de L'angevin) and Les Maisons Rouges.

Recommended producers: Eric Nicolas, Joël and Ludovic Gigou (Domaine de la Charrière), Christian Chaussard and Nathalie Gaubicher (Domaine le Briseau), Jean-Pierre Robinot (Vignes de L'angevin), Elisabeth et Benoît Jardin (Les Maisons Rouges), Régis Breton, Pascal Janvier and Raynald and Francine Lelais (Domaine de la Gauletteries).

Coteaux du Vendômois

Small appellation between Vendôme and Montoire in valley of Le Loir.

Recommended producers: Emile Hérédia (Domaine de Montrieux) and Patrice Colin.

2012 in Eastern Touraine

This year the weather conditions this year have been diabolical, with everything arriving at just the wrong time. January was mild, so the sap started to rise only for extreme cold to follow in February with temperatures down to -18° C. Mid March to early April was unseasonably hot with temperatures up to 25° C provoking bud break and rapid leaf growth. Inevitably, there was a severe frost on 16th-17th April causing widespread damage across much of Eastern Touraine. The dry conditions of the early part of the year were replaced around April 10th with well above average rainfall through mid-July, so the flowering was very extended with significant losses through coulure and millerandage. The prolonged wet conditions also provoked widespread mildew, especially difficult for organic producers. Then from late July until 20th September it was very dry which blocked the maturity of some of the grapes, making the grapes very small with little juice.

More recently it has turned very wet with 126 mm recorded by the weather station in Tours to 20th October. The monthly average is 70 mm and 126 mm is heading towards the record downpour of 1966 when 152 mm was recorded for October. This heavy rain will have made picking in Vouvray and Montlouis very difficult as grey rot was beginning to appear around 5th October.

Anti-frost machine in Touraine Noble-Joué

About the author:

The Loire and its wines has long been a passion – sparked by a memorable visit in August 1979 to Domaine Huet where we met Gaston Huet. In 1987 a group of 11 of us bought a house in the Cher Valley in a small village not far from Chenonceaux. It has been a great base for following the Loire vineyards and its wines through all the seasons.

In August 2008 I started the Jim’s Loire blog. One of the blog posts won the best investigative story in this year’s Born Digital Awards. I am also one of the five members of www.les5duvin com. I contribute to Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book – Loire section – and have been the regional chair for the Loire for the Decanter World Wine Awards since their inception in 2004.

As well as having a fondness for non-drab shirts and cycling, I’m a keen photographer. Many of my shirts (around 70) come from charity shops and are rarely more than £5. I have long been interested in cycling and cycle racing. In the late 70s and early 1980s I did several seasons riding amateur time trials. I rode all distances from 10 miles to 24 hours – riding 412 miles with hardly a break. My times were respectable but I never broke the hour for 25 miles. I have also ridden a number of the famous Tour mountain climbs including the Ventoux (a number of times), Tourmalet and the l’Alpe d’Huez.

all photos courtesy of the author.

The Central Loire Vineyards

2012-09-03T14:47:00Z

This is the first of an in-depth examination of the Loire's four main regions.

The Central Loire Vineyards: An Overview

The 5394 hectares that make up the Central Loire vineyards are not only in the centre of the Loire Valley but also are in the heart of France. The bridge over the river at Pouilly-sur-Loire marks the halfway point of the river’s long journey to the sea – 1000 kilometres (600 miles), while the small village of Bruère-Allichamps is the dead centre of France (http://goo.gl/maps/bTHV3). With the exception of the Coteaux du Giennois, all of the Central Vineyard appellations are within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of this central point.

Climate

Sancerre and Pouilly are around 260 miles from where the Loire reaches the Atlantic Ocean, so although broadly part of the overall Loire climate there are marked differences between here and the Pays Nantais. The winters are markedly cold. During a winter cold spell it is fascinating to drive from Sancerre to Quincy and then into eastern Touraine; one sees that there can easily be a difference of 7/8˚C or more between Sancerre and Tours.

The arrival of spring is around two weeks later than in Anjou and the Pays Nantais, so the growing season is considerably shorter.

One would imagine that being well inland, this would be the driest part of the Loire Valley, but curiously this is not the case. The average annual rainfall at the Bourges weather station (747.9 mm) is higher than those at both Tours (695 mm) and Angers (693 mm), although not as high as the station at Nantes (820 mm). Nevers, some 25 miles south of Pouilly-sur-Loire, records 804 mm--nearly as high as Nantes, yet so much further from the Atlantic Ocean.

It is interesting to compare average annual temperatures and the hours of sunlight between Angers and Nevers. Angers has 1798 hours of sunshine a year and an average temperature range of 7.9˚C-16.6˚C, while Nevers has 1774 hours and a temperature range of 5.8˚C-16.0˚C. It is clear that it is the lower average annual temperature in Nevers that determines that grape varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc, which ripen successfully further west in the Loire Valley, just will not ripen in the Central Vineyards.

Soils

Pouilly and Sancerre are on the southern section of the crescent of marne Kimmeridgian soil and rock that stretches down from Champagne through the Aube and Chablis. The crescent finally comes to an end around Quincy, although here the marnes are under the sand and gravel beds typical of vineyards by the River Cher.

There are three main types of soil in the two appellations: limestone (known locally as caillottes), marne Kimmeridgean terres blanches (clay limestone) and silex (flint). In Sancerre, the caillottes and terres blanches account for 40% each and silex accounts for 20% of vineyard soils.

Generally lower vineyards are on the caillottes, where the soil is thin – and in places non-existent – with the vines literally planted into the white rock. Sauvignon Blanc from the caillottes are aromatic, expressive when young and are usually bottled early.

In AC Sancerre the silex is centred around the town and at Ménétreol-sous-Sancerre. Les Romains from Domaine Vacheron is a well-known example of a white Sancerre from vines planted on flint. In Pouilly there are parcels of flint around Saint-Andelain and in the neighbouring commune of Tracy. They have a good potential to age.

On the hillsides are the terres blanches, which produce the most structured wines. These are part of the marne kimmeridgean crescent, and it is quite common to find shellfish fossils in the terres blanches. For example, there are plenty around the Henri Bourgeois winery where the soil and rock was excavated during its construction. Wines from the terres blanches need a longer maturation period before they are ready to drink, and they age well. Many of Sancerre’s most famous and often steepest vineyards, such as La Côte des Monts Damnés (Chavignol), Cul de Beaujeu (Chavignol), La Grande Côte (Amigny), Clos de la Poussie (Bué) and the Côte de Champtin (Champtin) are planted on terres blanches.

Pouilly has the same three types of soil as Sancerre plus two others: Portlandian limestone and sand. At the southern extremity of Pouilly’s vineyards there are some very sandy vineyards. Jonathan Pabiot has recently acquired a vineyard there, which is called Les Mattrays.

The Burgundian Influence

Although the dominant Loire grape varieties tend to be Bordelais, with Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc being the most obvious examples, many Loire producers have a far greater affinity with Burgundy than they do with Bordeaux. In part this is because the family still plays a big part in the both wine regions, whereas at the top end Bordeaux is increasingly corporate.

Equally important is that in Bordeaux the emphasis is property – typified by the classifications of 1855 and those for Saint-Émilion and the Cru Bourgeois, whereas in Burgundy the classification is by terroir with single vineyards at the pinnacle. While there are certain longstanding, important single vineyards in the Loire Valley – some of the most famous examples are in the Central Vineyards, like Les Monts Damnés, Cul de Beaujeu, and La Grand Côte – it is noticeable that single vineyard wines are increasingly important in the Loire. The Vacherons in Sancerre, who have recently extended their single vineyard range beyond Les Romains (white) and La Belle Dame (red), and the terroir range of Pouilly-Fumés from Michel Redde are good examples of this accelerating trend.

Of course, Pouilly is administratively in the region of Burgundy, and all of the Central Loire appellations are much closer to Chablis and the Côte d’Or than they are to Bordeaux.

The Red Renaissance

Arguably the most important change here over the past 15 to 20 years has been the gradual and accelerating revaluation of Pinot Noir. Until the early 1990s, red Sancerre, with rare exceptions, was light and dilute – hardly surprising as yields were around 60 hl/ha and more.

In the early 1990s a new generation started to take Pinot Noir seriously: they started reducing the yields to around 40 hl/ha and lower, picking by hand, using sorting tables, and in general being much more selective over the quality of the grapes. A 1996 from Pascal and Nicolas Reverdy was the first of this new generation of Sancerre reds I tasted and it was a revelation: things were changing, and there was a vast, previously unexploited potential for Pinot Noir here. Amusingly the potential of Pinot Noir was also unknown to the producers. When Alphonse Mellot Jr. returned to Sancerre to work on the family estate, he told his father that he wanted to make high quality Sancerre red, but his father told him that this was simply not possible. Alphonse Sr. was soon proved wrong!

The acclaim and commercial success of the red revolutionaries has produced a virtuous spiral and encouraged an increasing number of producers to treat their Pinot Noir with greater ambition and respect.

Some suspect that red Sancerre is a recent invention. This is a fallacy: prior to the arrival of phylloxera, toward the end of the 19th century, red wine – made from Pinot Noir, Gamay, and, I suspect, other varieties that have since disappeared – dominated. It was not until the early part of the 20th century that Sauvignon became established as the region's major grape variety. It succeeded to such an extent that, while white Sancerre earned the status of appellation contrôlée in 1937, the red and rosé wines did not achieve this status until 1959.

Of course, high quality Pinot Noir reds are not confined to Sancerre, as fine examples can be found in Menetou-Salon and Reuilly, from Henry Pellé and Denis Jamain (Domaine de Reuilly), respectively. Unfortunately, the potential of wines made from 100% Pinot Noir in the Coteaux du Giennois and Châteaumeillant has been hobbled by the bizarre insistence by the INAO that one of the conditions of being promoted to appellation contrôlée status was that pure Pinot Noir would not be allowed. Instead, Pinot Noir must be blended with Gamay. This doctrinaire insistence ignored the fact that the best reds from both the Coteaux de Giennois and Châteaumeillant (as VDQS zones) tended to be those made from 100% Pinot Noir. No matter, either, that combining Gamay and Pinot Noir hardly produces world-beating wines. I have certainly never tasted a Gamay-Pinot Noir that I thought was remarkable.

It is a pity that, while the reds have improved, rosés from Sancerre and Menetou-Salon very rarely justify their high price.

Vineyard management and vinification

Over the past ten years there has been a noticeable move away by the leading producers from conventional chemical vineyard practices. At the end of the 1990s and early 2000s it was common for heavy storms to wash large quantities of soil down the steep slopes. I remember one early August storm, in 2000 I think, when there was a small landslide and the road between Chavignol and Saint-Satur was blocked. A number of wine cellars were flooded.

Since then there has been a reduction in the amount of weed killer used and more vineyards have been grassed over or harrowed, although neither approach is without its problems. In vineyards planted on very thin soils, grass can provide too much competition, especially in drought years, and harrowing can encourage erosion if there is heavy rain.

The steepest vineyards in Sancerre and Pouilly require careful management in order to avoid erosion or to keep it to a minimum. The catastrophic state of the Clos de la Poussie, owned by Baron Patrick Ladoucette, is an objective lesson in what can go wrong. Deep ravines have been gouged into the steep slopes, exposing vine roots. There is now some remedial work underway, doubtless at a considerable cost.

There has also been a move to organic and biodynamic viticulture. Leading biodynamic estates include Alphonse Mellot, Domaines Fouassier and Vacheron in Sancerre, Alexandre Bain and Jonathan Pabiot (part) in Pouilly, and Domaine Philippe Gilbert in Menetou-Salon. In Reuilly, Denis Jamain is in his first year of conversion.

The vast majority of the whites and rosés are vinified in stainless steel and it is customary for many to be bottled early in the year following the vintage. There are a few producers like Alphonse Mellot, Benjamin Dagueneau and the Vacherons, for whom all or the majority of their wines are vinfied and aged in wood. The size of barrels varies considerably from 225/228 litre barriques through 350, 400, 500 and 600 litre barrels. There are also producers, like the Vacherons, who are using small foudres (around 12 hl) from Franz Stockinger, an Austrian cooperage.

Rather confusingly it is becoming increasingly common for producers to call all small barrels from 225-600 litres "barriques", which then makes it necessary to ask them to clarify which size they are actually using. Overall in the Loire true barriques have frequently been replaced with larger sizes, which many vignerons feel reduces the wood influence on the wines and allows them to keep their delicate Loire character.

The Central Loire Vineyards: The Appellations

Sancerre
2926 total hectares (631 ha Pinot Noir, 2295 ha Sauvignon Blanc)

Sancerre is not only the largest of the Central Loire appellations, but it is also the engine of the region. Over the past 60 years Sancerre has been transformed from a poor backwater to the wealthiest and most successful of the Loire appellations.

In the early 1950s smallholding polyculture was the norm with many of the houses bereft of running water. When Jean-Marie Bourgeois started work on the family smallholding in Chavignol in 1956, they had just 3.5/4 ha. The previous year (1955) they filled 15,000 bottles. “An enormous quantity for those days,” Jean-Marie explained. “In 1957/58 we started making deliveries en vrac (in bulk) in a Peugeot van to Paris. In 1965 my brother built the first cuve (vat)." Domaine Henri Bourgeois now has some 70 hectares of vines – mainly in Sancerre and Pouilly – and buys in an equivalent amount of must from another 70 hectares. This excludes their Clos Henri estate in New Zealand’s Marlborough. Visit most producers in Sancerre today and you will find here the most modern equipment of anywhere in the Loire – the latest in sorting tables, presses, vibrating lifting tables to take grapes direct to the vats, etc.

Sancerre (and, to a lesser extent, parts of Pouilly) offers the most spectacular and attractive vineyard sites in the Loire, with the sole exception of those far up in the Massif Central: Côte Roannaise, Côtes de Forez and the Côtes d’Auvergne. Sancerre has steep rolling hills, which are particularly attractive in the autumn, clad in stunning reds and golds.

Maison des Sancerre (www.maison-des-sancerre.com)

Anyone visiting Sancerre for the first time would do well to start at the Maison des Sancerre, which provides an excellent explanation of the geological forces that made the Sancerre landscape and rock structure, as well as videos on the year of a vigneron and the history of Sancerre – how it changed in some 50 years from being a rural backwater to a wine known around the world. The audiovisual displays are excellent.

Overlooking the town of Sancerre, above Chavignol

Some Recommended Producers

Henri Bourgeois: The leading producer in the Central vineyards, based in Chavignol. Their range covers all of the Central Vineyards plus Le Petit Bourgeois (vin de pays) from Touraine. Very impressive quality for their size. Stronger in white than red.
Domaine Merlin-Cherrier: good producer of white Sancerre in Bué.
François Cotat and Pascal Cotat: now two separate domaines – both very small. Making similar rich and characterful wines. La Grande Côte and Les Monts Damnés from both are recommended, plus Cul de Beaujeu from François.
François Crochet: Excellent producer (both red and white) in Bué making very pure wines.
Lucien Crochet: Fine, elegant wines from another equally meticulous Crochet in Bué. The Cuvée Prestige red and white are particularly good.
Domaine Bernard Fleuriet: Good 20 ha estate at Menetou-Ratel with 3 ha in Menetou-Salon.
Domaine Fouassier: Under the new generation (Paul and Benoît) this large Sancerre estate (56 ha) has improved significantly. Now biodynamic with a strong emphasis on single vineyards.
Alphonse Mellot: Alphonse Senior and Junior are both passionate producers. Now biodynamic and equally strong in red as white. Also Les Pénitents in the Côtes de la Charité – Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Henry Natter: fine producer (red and white) in Montigny at extreme west of the appellation adjoining Menetou-Salon. L’Expression de Cécile is the top wine in both red and white.
Vincent Pinard: undoubtedly one of the leading estates in Sancerre. Now increasingly run by Clément and Florent. All wines are of a high standard, especially Charlouise (red), and Flores and Nuance (white).
Pascal and Nicolas Reverdy: Family estate in Maimbray. One of first to be involved in Red Renaissance, which is probably the family's best suit. Sadly, Nicolas was killed in a tree-felling accident.
Domaine Claude Riffault: On-form domaine in Sury-en-Vaux run by the dynamic Stéphane Riffault, son of Claude.
Jean-Max Roger: quality family estate in Bué making good red as well as white, plus some Menetou-Salon.
Dominique Roger: estate in Bué making impressive reds
Paul Thomas: winner of the 2012 Decanter World Wine Award Regional Trophy for Loire reds.
Domaine Vacheron: well-established, high quality family domaine in the centre of Sancerre. Under the impetus of the younger generation – Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent – the estate has converted to biodynamics
Sébastien Riffault: A challenging producer, making an oxidative style of Sancerre. Part of the ‘natural’ wine movement.

Pouilly-Fumé and Pouilly-sur-Loire
1262 total hectares (30 ha Chasselas, 1232 ha Sauvignon Blanc)

Pouilly and Sancerre are an interesting contrast. Geographically Sancerre is a much more cohesive appellation with a clear central focus – the town of Sancerre – while Pouilly is much more disparate without a clear centre. The butte of Sancerre dominates the appellation of Sancerre even from places where it cannot be seen. Concentric rings. The town centre is vibrant and attracts many visitors, especially in the summer of autumn. In contrast, with its vineyards running from north to south, Pouilly has no real centre. Pouilly, which used to be a staging post on the once famous Route Nationale 7, taking Parisians down to the Côte d’Azur, has long been bypassed and the small town sunk into torpor.

Similarly Sancerre has had leaders, like Alphonse Mellot, Jean-Marie Bourgeois, Denis Vacheron and others, to promote the appellation and develop and inspire younger producers. In Pouilly the most prominent producers, in particular the late Didier Dagueneau and Baron Patrick Ladoucette, have remained apart. Although Didier Dagueneau undoubtedly inspired some young producers, he was by nature a rebel and frequently attacked the lax practices of his fellow producers – often fair comment but an unlikely approach to get them to change their ways. Ladoucette, although the largest producer is Pouilly, is an international businessman based in Paris. Furthermore his husbandry of the wonderful Clos de la Poussie site in Bué (Sancerre) has been scandalous.

Over the past 15 years the overall quality of Pouilly-Fumé has often been disappointing, particularly in comparison to that of Sancerre – too many dilute and uninteresting wines offering poor value. I do, however, sense that the quality of Pouilly-Fumé is on the up with a number of promising younger vignerons such as Alexandre Bain, Jonathan Pabiot and Sébastien Treuillet, along with Benjamin Dagueneau, who has very capably stepped into his late father’s shoes. In recent tastings held at the Bureau du Vins de Centre in Sancerre and at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards wines from Pouilly have been considerably better than in the past.

Even though many producers make a small amount to keep up the tradition, the production of Pouilly-sur-Loire continues to decline. There are now just 30 hectares of Chasselas left. It would be a pity to see it die out entirely as the Chasselas is central to the history of Pouilly-sur-Loire. Until the railways reached the Midi by 1850, Pouilly was a very important supplier of Chasselas (as a table grape) to Paris. Michel Redde is one of the very few producers to take Chasselas seriously with their Gustave Daudin made from yields of 20-25 hl/ha.

Château de Tracy

Some Recommended Producers

Alexandre Bain: small biodynamic estate and part of ‘natural’ wine movement
Alain Cailbourdin: Alain has now been joined by his son at their 16 ha domaine at Maltaverne.
Jean-Claude Chatelain: consistently good producer in Les Berthiers.
Domaine Didier Dagueneau: The greatest Sauvignon Blanc estate in the world? Benjamin Dagueneau successfully took over when his father, Didier, was killed in a micro-light plane crash in September 2008.
Serge Dagueneau et Filles: high quality family domaine in Les Berthiers. Look out for Clos des Chadoux and La Léontine. Also have vines in the Côtes de la Charité
Château de Favray (Quentin David): to the east of the appellation
André and Edmond Figeat: six-generation estate now run by André and based in Pouilly itself.
Domaine Michel Redde: one of the leading estates in Pouilly with the younger generation takng over.
Jean Pabiot – Domaine des Fines Roches: based in Les Loges. Often rich, full style of wines.
Jonathan Pabiot: very promising young producer who has taken over from his father. Estate is partially biodynamic.
Sébastien Treuillet: low profile but high quality; the estate produces Pouilly-Fumé, Coteaux du Giennois and some Vin de Pays Sauvignon.
Château de Tracy: The family of Comte Henry d’Assay has owned Tracy since 1586. Impressive quality but the wines tend to need some time in bottle to show their best.

Benjamin Dagueneau

Coteaux du Giennois

191 ha (94 ha Sauvignon Blanc, 97 ha combined Pinot Noir and Gamay)

This is the most strung out of the central vineyards with the 197 hectares of vines stretched over nearly 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Gien to just south of Cosne-sur-Loire, where they meet the Pouilly appellations. With a few exceptions the vines are close to the Loire and are mostly planted on its eastern bank. Only in the commune of Beaulieu are there a few parcels of vines on the west side of the river. The whites are the most successful here, with the reds tending to be the least impressive of all red wines from the Central Vineyards – a situation not helped by the appellation rules prohibiting pure Pinot Noir.

Some Recommended Producers

Sébastien Treuillet: see Pouilly-Fumé entry.
Domaine Villargeau: leading Coteaux du Giennois 20-hectare domaine established by Thibault family in 1991.

Menetou-Salon
466 ha (294 ha Sauvignon Blanc, 172 ha Pinot Noir)

Like most of the appellations in the region, Menetou-Salon has grown very considerably over the past 15 years, from 250 ha to its current size. The appellation runs in a gentle arc from northeast to southwest with the eastern extremity at Humbligny, abutting the far southwestern corner of AC Sancerre near the village of Montigny, to just north of Vignoux sous les Aix. The landscape is more gently rolling than that of Sancerre, and the vineyards are much more dispersed than those of either Pouilly and Sancerre. The majority of the vineyards are found around the small towns of Morogues, Parassy, and Menetou-Salon, and they are mainly planted on Kimmeridgian marnes.

In 2010 production of white Menetou was 17,046 hls, red 8345 hl and rosé 973hl. 87% of sales are in France with 13% exported.

Some Recommended Producers

Pierre and Isabelle Clément, Domaine du Chatenoy: 15 generations in this domaine in the town of Menetou-Salon.
Domaine Bernard Fleuriet: see Sancerre entry
Domaine Philippe Gilbert: Since Philippe took over from his father quality has improved dramatically. The estate is now biodynamic and Philippe is making some of the best win in the appellation.
Bertrand Minchin, Domaine Tour Saint-Martin: 16 ha here plus Claux Delorme in the Valençay appellation.
Pierre Jacolin – Le Prieurie de Saint-Cérols: 10 ha family estate in eastern part of appellation.
Domaine Henry Pellé: leading Menetou-Salon estate based in Morogues with also vines in Sancerre. In particular Les Blanchais (white) and Les Cris (red).

Anne and Paul-Henry Pellé

Cher and a tributary: Quincy and Reuilly

It is some 55 kilometres (34 miles) from Sancerre to Quincy and a little further to Reuilly (approximately 68 kilometres). Although these two appellations have much in common with those on the Loire – Coteaux du Giennois, Menetou-Salon Pouilly, Sancerre – there are some marked differences. These two appellations are less continental than Sancerre and Pouilly, with both having more of the moderating maritime influence that comes up the Loire and then along the Cher, a tributary.

Both appellations have more than tripled in size over the past 20 years.

Quincy
255 ha (Sauvignon Blanc)

With its vineyards planted on banks of gravel laid down by the River Cher, Quincy is the flattest of the Central Vineyards. Unfortunately it is prone to hail due to storms following the Cher Valley. Recently it has been easier to list those vintages where producers have not suffered hail damage rather than those years which have been affected .

Rather surprisingly Quincy was the first appellation created in the Loire. The only permitted variety is Sauvignon Blanc. Quincy is often attractively citric, taking on weight with a little bottle age, but is rarely as complex as a good Sancerre.

It is quite common for Quincy producers to also have some vines in the neighbouring Reuilly appellation. Production in 2010 was 15,915 hls. 83% of sales are in France with 17% exported.

Some Recommended Producers

Jacques Rouzé: good family estate in Quincy (13 ha) and 2.5 ha in Reuilly.
Philippe Portier: 18 ha domaine in Brinay.
Vincent Siret-Courtaud: very promising young producer who also has vines in Châteaumeillant.
Vignobles Tatin – Domaines Ballandors and Tremblay: reliable source of Quincy, plus some vines in Reuilly.

Reuilly
204 ha (106 ha Sauvignon Blanc, 61 ha Pinot Noir, 37 ha Pinot Gris)

Although close to Quincy, Reuilly is less prone to hail. This may be because it is away from the passage of storms that run along the Cher valley and the River Arnon, which flows through Reuilly and provides greater protection. It is not, however, free of spring frosts.

Quality here tends to be variable but when good it is very good, especially from Denis Jamain’s Domaine de Reuilly. The pale rosé made from Pinot Gris is a particular specialty. It has been declining but hopefully there is now enough interest to ensure that it survives.

In 2010 total production was 11,460 hls – 6248 hls white, 3068 hl red and 2144 hls of rosé. 87% of sales are in France with 13% exported.

Denis Jamain tending his Pinot Noir in Reuilly

Some Recommended Producers

Denis Jamain (Domaine de Reuilly): Very impressive producer of both white and red Reuilly, and just starting conversion to biodynamics. Two of the reds – Les Chênes and La Comtesse – are a real eye opener.
Claude Lafond: largely responsible for the revival of Reuilly. Also has vines in Valençay plus Coteaux du Menoux on the Creuse.

Châteaumeillant

90 ha

Although included in the Central Loire, Châteaumeillant is really apart from the rest as it is in the northern foothills of the Massif Central and its soils are granitic. It is around 95 kilometres (60 miles) from Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire to Châteaumeillant. It was promoted from VDQS status to full appellation in 2010. The appellation is for red and rosé only. The principal grape variety is Gamay with some Pinot Noir planted plus very small amount of Pinot Gris used in making rosé.

In 2010 production totaled 2887 hls – 2118 hls of red and 769 hl rosé (36%). Although only 1.5% of the production is exported, wines from Laporte and Domaine Geoffrenet Morval are available in the United States.

Some Recommended Producers

Domaine Geoffrenet Morval: best producer in Châteaumeillant, especially Cuvé Extreme.
Vincent Siret-Courtaud: see Quincy entry.
Henri Bourgeois/Laporte: Laporte’s Châteaumeillant, from brought-in must, available in USA.

Some Useful Sites

Les Vins du Centre Loire: http://www.vins-centre-loire.com

La Tour de Pouilly: http://www.pouillysurloire.fr/index.php?p=32&lang=fr

Météo France: http://www.meteo.fr

About the author:

all photos courtesy of the author.