I suspect I might be the only person in the UK to say this, but I was disappointed that this year the Real Wine Fair and RAW, the parallel/similar/rival (delete as appropriate) event arranged by Isabelle Legeron MW are being held months apart. Others might have rued the fact that the two events were held on almost exactly the same dates last year, but for me – travelling to London from afar for the tastings – this only made the trip even more useful, as I had two tastings for the price (or the train fare, at least) of one; day one at RAW, day two at Real.

Not so this year. And so yesterday I trekked down from Edinburgh for the Real Wine Fair. The venue was Tobacco Dock, on Wapping Lane, a rather foreboding venue, its high brick walls perhaps once de rigueur for keeping out the tobacco-interested thieves and vagabonds, but I soon found myself wandering down Wapping Lane wondering where the entrance might be. As it happened a friendly security guard clearly took pity on the country hillbilly sauntering towards him, and he waved to beckon me on with some eagerness – as if I were about to miss a just-departing ferry – while I was still several hundred metres distant. How remarkable; a friendly, mind-reading security guard! Either that, or I look like someone he was expecting; maybe his contact in a cigarette-smuggling gang?

Inside the venue was light and airy; the cellars at Victoria House, the location of last year’s tasting, seem to have come in for some criticism, although I (no doubt in the minority, as usual) thought they were fine. Jim Budd, meanwhile, continually refers to the venue as a ‘Hitlerian bunker’. The Tobacco Dock should come in for no such stick though. It is conveniently located five minutes walk from Shadwell Station on the Docklands Light Railway, which is itself about 20 minutes from King’s Cross Station which is where I arrived in London (only delayed 15 minutes – not bad considering there was some very difficult ‘light drizzle’ for the trains to deal with).

Sadly, however, the turnout from Loire producers – my focus for the day, just for a change, I hear you say – felt much smaller than last year, and so within a couple of hours of arriving I had finished the wines I felt I ‘needed’ to taste. Where last year I met Lise Jousset, Frantz Saumon, Noëlla Morantin, Chahut et Prodiges, Thierry Germain and quite a few others, none of these names were present at this year’s fair. Still, I enjoyed getting to grips with some less familiar names, and the mature wines from Jérôme Lenoir and Domaine de la Chevalerie were attractive, even if they were more indicative of what I would regard as ‘old-school’ Loire Valley. I think they would appeal most to punters who think Loire Cabernet Franc is at its best when it shows that very cliched, herbaceous style, rather than the superbly focused red wines that really lead in the region these days, from the likes of Frédéric Mabileau and Matthieu Baudry. And of course it was a delight to chat (using my Franglais, naturally) with Olivier Cousin (pictured above).

The best wines there on the day, within the Loire at least, were clearly those of Domaine Mosse. Agnès Mosse brought along a selection from the 2011 vintage, including a lovely Savennières, and also the ever-fun Moussamoussettes. Having said that, I also enjoyed the two wines on show from Les Vignes Herbels more than I expected to. Having tasted some wines from Nadège and Laurent Herbel at last year’s event I found the style too marked by oxidation to appeal. Those wines that I tasted this year, however, seemed to strike a better balance between an oxidative character and attractive aromas and flavours directly related to the variety in question, Chenin Blanc, including notes of orange blossom and flowers. This was an impressive feat; I’m looking forward to writing this domaine up, and adding the profile to my ever-growing list of new and updated Loire reports.

Beyond the Loire, whereas there was a smattering from Bordeaux last year, including the excellent Clos Puy Arnaud, this year there were none. I spent the last few hours tasting some less familiar wines, everything from the biodynamic Champagnes of Francis Boulard to prolonged skin-contact and lees-aged Soave. I headed home refreshed, ready to do it all again in May for RAW.

Filed under: Bordeaux, Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on March 19, 2013 at 4:41 pm
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It is Saturday morning, and I have a busy schedule ahead. Taking one son to rugby, whipping the others into shape on the piano before the imminent Grade 2 and Grade 3 examinations arrive, before encouraging a little homework activity. Who knows, maybe I will have time for a little relaxation too….not until I have prepared my forthcoming updates for Winedoctor next week though. Suddenly, however, I have been distracted, by a thread on the excellent Wineberserkers site on the story of Florent Baumard, his 2012 Quarts de Chaume, and cryo-extraction. I felt compelled to comment; piano practice and homework will just have to wait for half an hour.

My comment is on page three of the thread, which begins here. Having written it, it encompasses much of my thoughts on the story which is, in my opinion, still evolving. I thought, therefore, I would reproduce it here. I have left it exactly as written, so please excuse the references to “other comments” and previously made arguments.

My post in full:

This is a really fascinating thread, and having been quoted so frequently I feel compelled to comment, even though deep down I feel no desire to further stoke the fire on this. I find the events as they unfold fascinating, and I consider this a very important story for the Loire, but it is Jim’s work not mine.

First up, to be clear, I know Jim personally, having met him numerous times at tastings, and having spent time with him in the Loire, especially during the Salon des Vins de Loire. I have also met Florent Baumard a number of times, and have spoken with him directly about the 2012 harvest.

I have to say I find having chunks of my Baumard profile cut and pasted a little disconcerting. I have no problem with the text being taken and picked over, but I sense it is used as a defence for the technique of cryo-extraction. I believe (I need to go back to my profile) that further down the page I cast my own personal doubts on the “renaming” of the method as cryo-selection. I would agree with previous posters that you can’t change what you are doing just by changing the name. I don’t feel that this comes across when you cut and paste chunks away, but I see some have gone and read the whole profile, thanks for that, and thanks for the comments on its factual and objective nature. That was my intent, to present what is done, rather than to judge, and let the reader conclude for him/herself. The disadvantage of this, of course, is that readers might conclude according to their pre-existing prejudices.

Having made some indication of my misgiving as per the technique Baumard is using, I would not say I am against cryo-extraction per se. Its use has unwittingly been perfectly acceptable to me as I know I have tasted many wines and enjoyed them, long before I had realised they had been made with a little help from cryo. In particular I am thinking of Doisy-Védrines, the proprietor of which Olivier Castéja is very open about his use of cryo-extraction to improve a little his harvest. My view of how Olivier uses it, however, is that he takes hard-won botrytised fruit, true to what Sauternes is, and removes a little water. How much I don’t know, as I’ve never asked him, but if I see him at the primeurs in a few weeks I will certainly do so. As for what Baumard does, this is a little more difficult to define, as information is not forthcoming. Nevertheless, Florent (pictured below) told me last year that he has, in at least one vintage, removed more than 80% of the volume using cryo-extraction. When I wrote that up I emailed him to clarify as I found the figure so unbelievable. 80%! Yes, I am sure many vintages are less than this, but I do not have the data to say what the figures are for other vintages, not for want of asking I should add. Even accepting data is limited, the technique does not seem here to be fine-tuning, but is the major process by which the wine is made, in at least some vintages.

But here is the rub. Cutting through all the obfuscation (because this debate has been all over Twitter as well as on this forum and the willingness to confuse and obscure the real issue seems full of intent at times), the debate isn’t about the rights and wrongs of cryo-extraction or cryo-selection or whatever you want to call it. It is about how a wine is represented to consumers; the Baumards at present have declared (this is second-hand information from Jim’s blog) a significant volume of Quarts de Chaume in the 2012 vintage, a wine which will be highly priced (for the Loire, for a sweet Layon wine), and in order to do be sold as Quarts de Chaume the wine must meet certain criteria. To my understanding these are:

(a) each tri that is picked must achieve 298 g/l sugar (I believe this is 18.5º alcoholic potential but happy to be corrected by winemakers with proper knowledge!) to qualify as Quarts de Chaume

(b) a tri may be subjected to ‘freezing treatments’ to a temperature of -5ºC but only if they have first registered more than 298 g/l. This is true until the 2020 harvest, when the technique will be outlawed whatever the sugar content at harvest.

My knowledge of the 2012 growing season leads me to conclude that it was not a vintage that favoured the production of a Quarts de Chaume. This is a sweet wine where the concentration comes from botrytis, just like Sauternes. Therefore you need the same conditions, moisture (from mists, here from the Layon) or showers of rain, and drying conditions (romantically, sunny afternoons after misty mornings, but winds and breezes probably more/just as important). Too much rain or humidity and you get grey rot. Bad weather as the grapes succumb to botrytis, in October and November, and you lose the harvest. And October 2012 was very, very, very wet. Claiming that data from a weather station 20 km away is not valid holds no water with me I am afraid; the rain hit all Muscadet, Anjou and Touraine; all weather stations recorded it. And having spoken to owners of vines on the Quarts de Chaume, including Claude Papin (Pierre Bise) and Jo Pithon & Wendy Paillé (Pithon Paillé) the conditions here were dreadful. Pithon Paillé saw the alcoholic potential fall from 13º to 9º during the October rains, something Jo had never seen before, as the vines and grapes sucked up the water. The berries ruptured and grey rot set in.

Later on, if the fruit could survive this, some harvested fruit close to or above the 18.5º potential, but this was much later in the season. Nobody has huge quantities though, except for Florent Baumard who picked in October (I think the accepted dates are 16th and 17th, but I’m not sure where this info comes from) right in the middle of the rains. The implication is that, for his wine to be Quarts de Chaume, the harvested fruit must have been over 18.5º alcoholic potential. It would of course, be illegal to achieve that only after cryo-extraction; just to be clear, I am not for one second alleging that this is what has happened. Nevertheless, it seems fair to ask for some data on the harvested fruit. Jim has done this very publicly and got nowhere it seems, only a wordy response on the ‘attack’ on Florent’s website.

I have asked Florent the same questions, and these are the responses received:

(a) I asked Florent face-to-face at the Salon des Vins de Loire in early February, but he was not able to recall picking dates, or sugar at harvest, or alcoholic potential. He said he did not like to carry such information around in his head. He invited me to ask again at a later date, indicating he would furnish me with the information.

(b) I asked in the midst of a debate on Twitter, prompted by Baumard supporters (and I’m afraid I do sense there are ‘factions’ in this debate), giving Florent a chance to declare the picking dates and concentration/alcoholic potential of his fruit, and therefore put to bed any rumours that the grapes picked from the Quarts de Chaume vineyard, and surely intended for sale as Quarts de Chaume, did not meet the criteria for that to be so. Florent did not respond on Twitter.

(c) About five days later I received an email from Florent, thanking me for my questions, but ultimately not providing any data as he says he finds such numbers “meaningless”.

It seems to me very sad, and also unusual, that Florent should not want to make public the sugar concentration at harvest. This is basic data for a winemaker, not top secret confidential information! It would have quashed any stories, based on pictures prior to harvest, and on data concerning harvest dates and the weather at the time, that the fruit harvested by Baumard had not achieved the sugar concentration required. In the face of continued non-disclosure of this information, I am certain that this debate will rumble on, until definitive information is revealed. That will then put an end to it one way or the other.

This answer doesn’t respond to every post above that deserves merit (“the proof is what’s in the glass” from Jamie Goode deserves a response – really Jamie, in this debate?……and I also don’t think Jim’s credibility as an investigative journalist is up for debate, he has a long track record of uncovering dodgy dealings in wine investment and other wine-related stories), nevertheless I hope it is useful. I would like to think it helps to bring the issue at hand into focus, which is not the rights and wrongs of cryo-extraction and what we call it, but its use in the 2012 Baumard harvest, and whether a wine made with it can *legally* (and the appellation law is quite specific) be called Quarts de Chaume. That, simply, depends on sugar concentration at harvest, information which has been asked for many times, and not given.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on March 9, 2013 at 9:50 am
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During the Salon des Vins de Loire I spent an evening at Bouvet-Ladubay. It was an intimate affair, just me, Jim Budd, Edwina Watson of Lay & Wheeler, Chris Hardy of Majestic, and about 450 other guests. The entertainment was not particularly wine related, but I simply can’t bear the thought of no-one else ever seeing some of these images.

The evening gets underway….Bouvet-Ladubay on ice.

 

This rope artiste seemed half asleep at first.

 

But she soon woke up, with several heart-stopping “she’s falling” moments, and no safety net. She is quite some way up in the cellars. At one point she managed to give the illusion of walking up the rope. Overall, a very impressive act.

 

A ghost in the cellars. I showed this image to my three teenage children; first I had to explain what he was doing (not much). Then I had to explain that the machine on the wall behind was playing a cassette tape, to provide some spooky background music. Then I had to explain what a cassette tape was. Remember this guy, he crops up again later.

 

This acrobatic pair were one of the highlights of the evening. Don’t be fooled by her dystonic appearance.

 

This balancing act doesn’t look too difficult.

 

This was though. Wow!

 

I told you this guy would crop up again. This was more funny than it looks now. Honest.

 

No, please don’t do what I think you’re going to do with those weights.

 

Oh come on, I did ask nicely……

 

Finally, two other pictures, not quite in focus, but hopefully doing something to capture the spirit of the evening. First a crazy but really quite entertaining woman on a rope swing. Again, pretty high up, and no safety net.

 

And one of three ladies swinging above the dining hall as we ate.

All entertainers (and those featured above are just a selection – there were stilt-walkers, more acrobats, and even a strange ensemble who managed to pour a glass of Bouvet-Ladubay while one stood atop a step ladder, and the other was doing a hand-stand on top of another’s shoulders), led by the Compagnie Masdemoiselles are available for hire; I have their contact numbers and email address should you wish to arrange a similar spectacle.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on February 23, 2013 at 12:01 pm
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Last week I returned from the Loire Valley (actually it was nearly two weeks ago now – no wonder I’m feeling withdrawal symptoms) after five very intense days of tasting. I have a lot of reports to write, domaine profiles to update, notes to publish and new names to feature. I kicked off yesterday, however, with my Loire 2012 report, the most detailed vintage review for the Loire I have ever published, and I believe the most detailed source of Loire 2012 information online anywhere. I hope it’s useful!

In the past I have highlighted ten “top wines” from the Salon; I’m not about to do that here, nevertheless I did find a handful of tastings so joyous that it is only right I think to throw the spotlight on them here. Largely it’s the quality of the wines that impressed, because that’s what really matters when you or I pull the cork, but in some cases these people are doing great things beyond the bottle as well, be it rigorous adherence to organics, or significant work invigorating their ‘base’ appellation.

Some are already well known – I make no apology for that – some less so. In no particular order then:

François Chidaine: Chidaine is, I think, to Montlouis and to some extent Vouvray what Didier Dagueneau was to Pouilly-Fumé. When will he hit critical mass and gain wider appreciation beyond Loire-geek wine circles I wonder? His wines have long been super (the 2008 Clos Habert is, I think, the best Montlouis I have ever tasted) but on this tasting it seemed like his wines were head-and-shoulders above every one else’s, with such intense, mineral purity and definition. And this included wines from 2011, not exactly the greatest of vintages.

Pierre Martin (Sancerre): Pierre (pictured above) is unheard of, I imagine, but I will be adding a profile to Winedoctor this year, which might help. Having taken over the family domaine in the last few years, Pierre is making his mark, helped by ownership of vines in some prestigious sites, including Les Monts Damnés. The singing purity of his entry-level Sancerre was just divine, and it only got better from there, with superb translation of the terroir, which I adore in Sancerre; flint cuvées should taste like they come from flint, limestone from limestone, and so on. Pierre’s wines do this. Hopefully, soon to be listed in the UK.

Thierry Germain: OK, put Clos Rougeard to one side for a moment. Whose Saumur-Champigny are you going to drink, now that the Foucault wines are so hard to track down and – in the case of Le Bourg in particular – so expensive? I have tasted Thierry’s portfolio three times over the last 12 months (report coming soon, honest) and this last tasting of the 2012 vintage was truly impressive. The wines showed that haunting floral purity that Cabernet Franc does best, the sort of definition you get in Ausone or Cheval Blanc. Note, please, I’m note trying to draw comparisons or create hyperbole, just that there is a particular feature Cabernet Franc brings to some of the best Bordeaux that can also be found in these wines. Having said that, a few years ago these wines were also made like Bordeaux, with heavy oak influence, but that has been wound back these days, the wines showing more purity as a result. And the estate is biodynamic too, if that matters to you.

Vincent Carême: I have long been an advocate of Vincent and his wines. Well, for a couple of years I have anyway. In 2012, a very difficult vintage, he has managed through grit and determination to pull something really appealing out of the bag. This is not a vintage for truly great wines, but one instead that shows the measure of the man or woman who makes them. Vincent is surprised at the quality he has managed to extract from the vintage, (“I never thought I could manage it in this vintage” he said when we agreed the wine was good) but it is down to his determination, and that of his wife Tania and their team. More importantly, Vincent is fostering new talent within the appellation. Up-and-coming vignerons – Peter Hahn, Sebastien Brunet, Mathieu Cosme, Michel Autran – look to Vincent for guidance. No wonder, as I think he may well have produced the best 2012 in the appellation (OK, I haven’t tasted everything, including Champalou and Foreau, but I will place a small bet all the same). If there is a Vouvray resurgence coming, Carême will be at its heart.

Yves Guégniard: Not familiar with Yves’ wines? He is not the most famous of Loire vignerons, less well known that his Anjou peers such as Nicolas Joly, Claude Papin or Richard Leroy, but that is not his fault, because some of his wines are stunning. Sometimes its the Anjou-Villages Evanescence that blows me away, sometimes it is one of his Savennières cuvées, but on this occasion it was three vintages of Quarts de Chaumes – 2007, 2010 and 2011 – that were the real stars of the show. Three breath-taking, low-yield, botrytised, handpicked wines to challenge even the greatest Sauternes. These are wines which, I can assure you, I will be tracking down for my own cellar…..along with those of Chidaine, Carême, Germain and Martin.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on February 20, 2013 at 12:31 pm
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I spent the final day of the Salon des Vins de Loire in a mad dash, keen to catch up with the work at some well-known and familiar estates, but also wanting to take a slightly more detailed look at the wines of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Well, I suppose “detailed” isn’t quite the right word; but I did manage to get around some old and significant names, such as Vacheron and Henri Bourgeois, as well as making some new discoveries.

First though, there was some catching up to do with Muscadet and Chinon, with visits to Luneau-Papin, who were showing a massive range of wines as always, with vintages right back to the 18th century. OK, perhaps not, but they always have some mature wines up for tasting, most notably L d’Or back into the 1990s (last year we were treated with the 1989 and the 1976, the first ever vintage of L d’Or) and Excelsior (back to 2002). I learnt that this year should see four more Muscadet crus ratified, to join the three already in existence, so I will bring more news on this to Winedoctor as soon as I hear anything.

I also popped in on Rémi Branger at Domaine de la Pépière, where the wines are good although even here they have struggled in 2011, as have some other top names. Look beyond this vintage though to 2012; the wines are super. Low yields, thanks to a huge array of meteorological insults, but high quality. Not just here, but also at Jo Landron, who also had difficulties in 2011. My tasting notes updates will provide more detail.

A quick detour into Chinon was called for before Sancerre, with a tasting at Domaine Bernard Baudry. It is Matthieu, Bernard’s son, who has been in charge here for a few years now, but Bernard is usually not far away at the Salon and I caught this picture of him below. The tasting, which included a mix of wines from 2012 and 2011, showed that neither vintage is particular great for the appellation, mirroring a feeling I had about 2011 after tasting with Philppe Alliet (or rather his son, Matthieu’s counterpart I suppose).

Then onto Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, where I made two great new discoveries. I’ll be writing on both in full profiles as soon as possible; if you have to know, the names are secreted in my list below.

This year’s Salon has to have been, for me personally, one of the busiest ever. I tasted long and hard on Saturday and Sunday, at the Renaissance and Dive Bouteille shin-digs, followed by three long days at the Fair itself. In previous years I have had the feeling that I learnt little on the last day, usually having to leave by midday, but I made the most of it this year, as I was able to hang on until 3pm thanks to TGV putting on a later train back to Charles de Gaulle airport. I haven’t totted up how many new profiles, updates and similar are on the way, but off the top of my head domaines set to be profiled on Winedoctor this year for the first time include Marc Pesnot, Günther-Chéreau (both Nantais), Loïc Mahé, Toby Bainbridge, Domaine du Collier (Anjou & Saumur), Sebastien Brunet, Matthieu Cosme, Michel Autran (Touraine – all Vouvray in fact), Domaine Gilbert, Pierre Martin, Bertrand Minchin and Jonathon Didier Pabiot (Central Vineyards). Plus probably a few others I have overlooked right now. That’s not to mention all the domaine updates, the latest from Huet, Chidaine, Luneau-Papin, Bellivière, Jo Landron, Vacheron, Jacky Blot, Château de L’Aulée, Domaine des Forges, Pierre-Bise, Domaine de la Bergerie, Vincent Ogereau, Noëlla Morantin, Domaine des Aubuisières and plenty of others. There is also my Saumur-Champigny investigation of course, within which I will get to grips with the good, the bad and the ugly;. I even tasted wines from the Auvergne, France’s lost wine region, now part of the Loire it seems by virtue of its presence on the headwaters (or thereabouts – I need to check on a map!). And as an aside, I even caught up with the latest vintages from Gombaude-Guillot, in Pomerol, who were at the Renaissance tasting. And of course there is a detailed report on the 2012 Loire vintage coming, with a region-by-region run-down of the climate and the wines.

Having said that I was busy, however, the Salon was not. The official press release from InterLoire vis their PR agency Claire de Lune was that this year’s Fair had returned to “normal service”, with visitors 15-20% up on last year. The 2012 was blighted by (a) a change in dates and (b) very bad weather.Despite this, however, it felt quieter than usual to me, and I’m surprised the figures are so elevated. In addition, what the release doesn’t mention is that the Fair was considerably smaller this year, with approximately 100 fewer producers present. Notable absentees included Eric Morgat, for instance. This is a decline that needs to be nipped in the bud if this Salon is to continue to thrive and be useful.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on February 8, 2013 at 1:29 pm
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Another busy day of tasting at the Salon yesterday. I kept going until the bitter end, so despite starting, tasting glass in hand, at 9am, I was still going at 6:50pm, at which point I decided I had better head out to catch the 7pm shuttle. I had dinner booked in town at 7:30pm, so I was cutting it fine.

Yesterday I focused on Anjou and Touraine, tasting with the likes of Pithon-Paillé in the former, and François Chidaine in the latter. It was fascinating to hear of the difficulties of the vintage, described by one vigneron as “hell”. This was a vintage that threw everything at the Loire heartland, from frost, hail, rain, more rain, false hope with a dry August, and then more rain. Did I mention the rain? François Chidaine told me that during one weekend in early October there was 110 mm dropped on the vineyards. In addition temperatures were way above the norm, and these warm, humid conditions were perfect for rot. And not the good kind of rot.

As a consequence of this very destructive vintage, organic and biodynamic estates in these Loire regions have turned in very low yelds, typically 12-15 hl/ha. Jacky Blot (pictured above) declared 12 hl/ha, as did Chidaine. The lowest I recall was Pithon-Paillé, with 10 hl/ha. Despite this, quality is good. Not brilliant, there are no truly ‘great’ wines from this vintage so far, but there is freshness and acidity in most, even if there isn’t the greatest concentration. That’s not surprising when you consider that several vignerons saw alcoholic potentials fall during October (they should of course rise as the grapes ripen and sugar levels climb). The decline in potential was due to the rain, soaked up by the vines and transmitted through to the berries which swelled as a result, diluting the juice dramatically, bursting the fruit in some cases.

Domaine Huet declared 15 hl/ha and quality seems to be good, important not just in the context of the difficult vintage but also because this is Benjamin Joliveau’s first vintage in charge here. Another sign of the difficult vintage is the range of wines. This will not, by and large, be a vintage for moelleux. At Huet, there won’t even be a demi-sec this year; the residual sugars just couldn’t permit it. Pithon-Paillé’s fruit in Quarts de Chaume will be declassified into Anjou Blanc, and I suspect this will be the case with other vignerons, such as Claude Papin and Yves Guégniard. The one exception to the rule is Florent Baumard, who seems to have managed to harvest sufficent to declare a Quarts de Chaume, although when we spoke he couldn’t recall the volume he had declared. He has the juice in his cellars, having – in his words – “selected out” the water using his cryo machine. I am quite certain that, should he go ahead with making this wine, this will be the only Quarts de Chaume produced in this vintage.

That’s it for the “difficult” part. The brilliance comes outside these core regions, down in Muscadet, up in parts of Touraine and the central vineyards, where delicious Muscadets and Sauvignons have been made. Muscadet had a difficult vintage, but picking early meant they avoided the catastrophic rain. Sancerre just didn’t get the weather that Vouvray and Montlouis did; add in the earlier picking of Sauvignon Blanc and you have a recipe for success. I think this week is the first time in a long time (ever?) I have heard buyers raving about Touraine Sauvignon. There’s a first time for everything I guess.

I will be tasting more Muscadet and Sauvignons today. Then, this evening, it’s back to the UK.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on February 6, 2013 at 6:54 am
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Yesterday was another long day at the Salon. Or rather it was an evening trip to see the cellars at Bouvet-Ladubay that produced a later finish than anticipated.

Each Salon I try to focus on a particular region or style in a little more detail than is usual, to check I understand the appellation, and that I know who is doing good things but also who isn’t. That way I can get a grip of what the wines are all about, but check I have an appropriate grasp of the hierarchy within the appellation, and hopefully spot any up-and-coming talent. Two years ago it was Savennières, a very instructive set of tastings that really helped me to understand the different styles to be found. Last year I forewent such a program of tastings as I was so short of time, having missed out of the Renaissance and Dive Bouteille tastings.

Yesterday it was the turn of Saumur-Champigny. Saumur-Champigny in particular has a potential for high quality and it is an appellation worth getting to know; Cabernet Franc on tuffeau can produce such elegant purity at times. Sadly I think the Saumur appellations are often skipped over, as they fail to fit neatly into either Anjou or Touraine, and so they sit a little outside the four big regions.

So I tasted from about a dozen top names in the appellation, and it was educational to see who makes good wines, and who doesn’t. Some fairly famous names actually make some fairly dull wines. And there is a strange tendency to over-oak, both white Saumur and red Saumur-Champigny, at other domaines. Up to 30 months in oak is not unknown, the wines tasting more of mint and dark chocolate than the perfumed elegance of Cabernet Franc. Sadly, some of these wines seem to come from the next generation coming through as well as the old guard, so things aren’t likely to change any time soon. In short, there are perhaps four domaines making wines worth your money, while the rest are a disappointment. I will write up all my notes, in new profiles if necessary, in the coming months. There’s none of this shying away from publishing low scores here.

In the afternoon, a more varied bag, with Vouvray and Chinon, and a couple of wines from the Auvergne, which seems to be part of the Loire Valley these days.

Then in the evening I headed over to Saumur (so it was a Saumur-fuelled day all in all) for a visit to Bouvet-Ladubay. I figured this would be a little tour of the cellars, a tasting of vins clairs perhaps, or some finished wines, and a little dinner. But that isn’t how the Monmousseau family like to do things. There was a tour of the cellars, which were filled with rope artistes (I can’t thing quite what else to call them) dangling from the ceiling (the Health and Safety Commission would have had a fit), acrobats (like those above) and so on. I came away knowing nothing new about Bouvet-Ladubay, but the wines we drank (the Mademoiselle Ladubay Crémant de Loire Rosé and the Saumur Trésor in particular) were of high quality. It amazes me that they aren’t more widely appreciated; I guess people like what they know, which these days is Champagne, in all its forms.

Today, it’s back to the Salon, feeling a little jaded although nothing a couple of imminently due croissants won’t fix. I’ll be tasting what I call my ‘staples’ today – Huet, Baudry, Pépière and so on. Hopefully, there will be time for Sancerre and similar as well.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on February 5, 2013 at 6:56 am
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Here’s the first of three daily updates from this year’s Salon des Vins de Loire, starting with a quick run-down of the ‘off’ events – those that tag onto the Salon – that I have attended over the weekend.

Friday evening was fairly leisurely – I ate on the train on the way down to Angers, and as a consequence had an early night. Very rare for me! It did mean I was ready for Saturday though, which was a long day. First, a short trek across Angers from my hotel to the Renaissance tasting, at the Greniers St Jean. I missed this tasting last year, the result of the Salon dates having moved, and it has clearly evolved since I was last here two years ago. No more Thierry Puzelat, for instance, who now has his own tasting with friends (the Pénitentes tasting) elsewhere, so I will have to catch up with Thierry later in the year. And no Clos Roche Blanche either. And some new names here; Huet have joined the throng for the first time, a sign of a new self-image now that Noël Pinguet has left perhaps? And a few others of interest; Michel Autran, one of the new wave of Vouvray producers (who makes wine in his spare time – otherwise he is an ER/A&E doctor – something sounds familiar about that….), Toby Bainbridge, an Englishman in Anjou, and plenty of others.

Saturday evening I headed out to La Table de la Bergerie for a tasting and dinner with Vincent Ogereau, Claude Papin and Yves Guégniard, as I did last year. Once again this tasting proved that no matter how much clamour the ‘natural’ wine crowd can make, there’s no substitute for dedication, commitment and thoughtful winemaking, seeking the highest possible quality in the final product rather than obsessing over the methodology and philosophy. These three make some exceptionally fine wines, which also age well, as some older bottles – back to the 1989 vintage – served during dinner clearly demonstrated.

Saturday was therefore a very long day and I was feeling rather jaded yesterday morning but La Dive Bouteille, held at Chateau de Brézé near Saumur, soon perked me up. I last visited Brézé about 3 or 4 years ago, with my family, when my three children enjoyed exploring the tunnels, cellars and giant moat. I hadn’t ever envisaged the cellars crammed full of producers from all over Europe, but that was the scene yesterday. Here there were plenty of good tasting opportunities, including more from the new wave of producers in Vouvray, such as Sebastien Brunet and Matthieu Cosme, both next-generation growers who have recently taken over from their fathers. There were good wines from both.

Thereafter I headed back to Anjou. All weekend I have been skirting around swollen rivers and flooded fields; on Saturday I saw that the Layon had broken its banks, the Maine has been running very high through Angers (I walk more quickly over the bridges than I usually do – although they have been here for a few hundred years and so probably won’t be swept away any time soon) and on the way to Dive Bouteille I saw the Loire had also broken its banks, flooding nearby fields, an impressive feat for what is already a majestic river. On the way back from Dive Bouteille, however, we (Jim Budd, and Nigel and Tom of the RSJ restaurant) were confronted with the Thouet (pictured above) which had decided to forego its usual route under the bridge from which the photograph was taken and flow over the adjacent road instead. Needless to say we turned around and found a different route.

Yesterday afternoon I returned to the Renaissance tasting for a little more, with wines from Loïc Mahé, Christophe Daviau, and a brief detour into Pomerol (although my focus is the Loire, both Renaissance and Dive Bouteille feature domaines from far-distant regions) for a mini-vertical from Gombaude Guillot.

Today, the Salon proper, day 1. I will report back tomorrow.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on February 4, 2013 at 6:57 am
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It’s February, and so it must be Salon time!

The annual Salon des Vins de Loire is, quite simply, one of the most fascinating tasting events of the year. InterLoire, for all their faults, do an immmense good in bringing together some of the top vignerons of the Loire Valley for this annual tasting bash which fills the Parc Expo exhibition centre on the outskirts of Angers. I am delighted to see that, despite some doubts about its continued existence a few years ago, this event continues on an annual basis. It is without a doubt a hugely valuable opportunity for the trade and the press to get to grips with the wines of the region; wines are written about, deals are done, and sales are made as a result.

This year’s Salon is on the 4th, 5th and 6th of February, and I will be there. Thanks to a shift in train times from Angers to Paris I will be able to spend more time there on the Wednesday (in previous years I have had to leave at midday – this year I will be there until the bitter end), so I expect to return with notebooks brimming with more information, reviews and notes than ever before. That’s if my feet and palate hold up…..

A particular joy of the Salon is the build up of other events around it. I’m just heading for the airport now, so will get there Friday evening. A bit early for a Monday morning start, wouldn’t you say? Well, on Saturday I will be at the Renaissance tasting in Angers; this used to be called Renaissance des Appellations, then when they realised they didn’t like the appellation system it became Reniassance des Terroirs I think. I’m not sure what it’s called now; it could be Renaissance des Renaissances, for all I know. Whichever it is, this is where I get to grips with the latest vintages from Marc Angeli, Richard Leroy, Thierry Puzelat (pictured above) and others.

Saturday evening is time for Pierre-Bise, Bergerie and Ogereau I hope; we have met up like this in past years, but I’m unsure of this year’s arrangements – we shall see. If not, no worries, I will pick them up at the Salon. Then on Sunday I’m off to La Dive Bouteille, another tasting of non-adherents to the InterLoire machine where I hope to pick up a few domaines missing from my Loire profiles. Off the top of my head I’m thinking of André-Michel Brégeon and Marc Pesnot (both Muscadet) but I haven’t had time to do the research – I must check out who will be there!

Then, three days at the Salon; Pépière, Hureau, Huet, Vacheron. And maybe one or two others.

For this reason, I won’t be making any regular updates to the site from Saturday to Wednesday, and my next post (more on Bordeaux 2010, surprise, surprise) will be on Thursday 6th. I will make some blog posts to let you all know what I’m up to. Happy drinking all!

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on February 1, 2013 at 10:21 am
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I’m pleased to bring this report on the wines of the 2012 vintage in the Loire, from courtier Charles Sydney. Although it includes some really positive news on quality, the depressing state of play for the vignerons of Muscadet in recent years is made even clearer. Some of the figures and accounts of declassification in the final paragraph are also well worth noting. Over to you, Charles….

2012… a great vintage, making some of the nicest Muscadets, Sauvignons and Pinot Noirs we’ve ever seen.

2012… tiny yields.

So the name is easy : Le Grand Petit Vintage

Sauvignon & Muscadet : First things first : quality is good to fantastic in Muscadet, Touraine, Sancerre & Pouilly Fumé, with the Muscadets in particular promising to be among the best we’ve ever seen, with wonderful balance and complexity.

Unfortunately, a combination of spring frost, hail, mildew and just about any other evil worked together to push quantities way down in Muscadet where they’re between 13 and 25 hectolitres/hectare, which is less than half what they need. Muscadet’s yields are a problem and are compounded by the appellation going from 13000 hectares to under 8000 since the 2008 frosts. As bulk prices – i.e. prices dictated ‘by the market’ – have been pushed way below production costs, growers have ripped up or abandoned 40% of the vineyards. Luckily the serious single estates have survived so far, but we reckon that over half the region’s growers have gone bust or simply given up.

Hopefully the quality of the 2012s will show just how attractive this appellation can be. It may be heretical to say so, but ever lower prices may not actually be in the consumers’ interest and a couple of years with bulk prices for AC Muscadet at 1.20 euros/litre (around £5.99 in the UK) would give the region a chance of recovering – on the condition that the appellation also permits higher yields to let growers keep production costs down. If we can’t do that, the vineyard area will drop another 50% to 4000 hectares and simple quaffing Muscadet will be a thing of the past. (apologies – Phil tells me to lay off the moralizing!)

The Touraine was similarly hit, averaging 25 hectolitres/hectare across the appellation, though some of the more determined producers have managed to keep yields up – the result of investing in the right kit to spray effectively and in being willing to sacrifice weekends and holidays to spray whenever and wherever needed. Whatever – the wines are lovely.

Up in Sancerre & Pouilly, yields are less of a problem as the flowering was fine – and a little rain arrived end September just in time to help the vines recover from the drought, kick-starting the vegetation and softening skins. The result is a lovely vintage with sensible yields, sensible degrees (generally 12.5° – 13°) and perfectly balanced acidity – a sort of cross between 2002 and 2009.

Our guys in Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and over in St Pourçain are ecstatic about quality, with lovely ripeness – and all the concentration that comes with low yields. As an example, with 35 hectolitres/hectare, winemaker Sylvain Miniot in St Pourçain has made some of his best reds ever – and reckons they lost more through the grapes being roasted by the sun and drought than they did through hail or frost!

I have to say that Alphonse Mellot, Domaine Vincent Pinard and Bertrand Minchin deserve a mention – they’ve made some of the finest reds we’ve ever seen at that end of the Loire.

Starting two weeks later than average (and a month later than last year) was always going to be a gamble, so the rain end September that helped ripen the Sauvignons was less of a blessing here, especially as mid-October saw some 5 inches of rain in just two weeks. Initial expectations of starting picking around the 15th October went through the window, leaving growers – and you – with a choice:

The easy option is to pick early, avoiding any risk of rot and dilution – but with the risk of higher acidity and that green, ‘raspberry leaf’ herbaceous-ness we associate with unripe grapes. That’s cheap and safe – and definitely less exciting.

Alternatively, you hang in there, accepting slightly higher costs, happy that all the work you’ve done through the spring and summer will pay off : not just de-budding, de-leafing, letting the grass grow between the vines…but also being ready and willing to go out and spray effectively whenever necessary with the right spray in the right place at the right time – and with the right pulvérisateur (this is not a great year to show how sustainable organic viticulture is!).

All the red producers we work with had the balls to do just that : to wait and to pick as and when the vines were ready, happy to leave a percentage of the crop on the ground. Their gamble paid off as degrees, while not rising, didn’t drop – but tannins ripened and acidities fell. So, while there may not many great, concentrated wines to lay down, there are some fab, sweet-fruit drinking reds out there that the consumer will just love.

First things first : there won’t be any great moelleux this year – but growers have stocks of the truly great 2010 and 2011 vintages, so that’s not really a problem.

For dry and off-dry Chenins, things are looking surprisingly good, though again, yields are
down.

In Vouvray and Montlouis the wines are fresh, clean and nicely aromatic. They’re certainly less concentrated than 2009 and 2010, but this should make for a pretty, consumer-friendly vintage – and growers like Jacky Blot, who did some serious selective picking at harvest (15 hectolitres/hectare across the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups this year) have made some superb ‘secs‘.

In the Anjou and Savennières, the dry whites are truly awesome. The best have that mix of complexity, gras and salinity that’ll make your mouth water. Everything was right – until they started to pick the first moelleux, and then it rained. ‘A great year to go frog-hunting’ quipped Claude Papin after suffering 180 mm of rain in three weeks – though things did change with wind and sun during the last weekend of October.

Some figures: Stéphane Branchereau produced 20 hectolitres of liquoreux in Chaume this year – from 7 hectares of vines. That’s less than one barrel per hectare. Claude Papin and his sons René and Christophe managed to bring in 3 barrels from Quarts de Chaume with a potential of 25°… but they’re going to declassify that and re-assemble it with their Chaume. And in Bonnezeaux, Gilles Bigot at Chateau de Fesles worked his butt off all year to make a great sticky – and then declassified the wines from his Bonnezeaux vines to ‘simple’ Layon. It’s not just Yquem that takes its reputation seriously!

So there you have it : Le Grand Petit Vintage.

Filed under: Loire
Posted by Chris Kissack on January 7, 2013 at 12:07 pm
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