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Loire 2009

Could it really be true? So soon after the glorious successes of 2005, which Bourgueil vigneron Pierre Jacques Druet likened to the legendary 1947 vintage (in response to my question as to how closely it resembled 1989), could it really be that great success had once again been visited upon the vineyards of the Loire Valley?

It would seem so, although 2009 is by no means a perfect vintage. Nevertheless, despite the rumours of rather less-than-incisive wines from the Nantais that fail to deliver the acid cut that true Muscadet fans desire, and similarly blunted profiles in Sancerre and Pouilly where the wines were - in some cases, at least - bolstered by rather prodigious levels of alcohol more familiar to drinkers of turbo-charged St Emilion than Loire Sauvignon Blanc, there are certainly some superb wines in this vintage. But then, there were those that always knew that would be the case. Such as Pierre Jacques Druet, for instance, who has an admirable knowledge of old vintages and will happily tell you of the quality that was to be found in past vintages, not only 1989 but also more distant years such as 1959, 1949 and even 1919. The 2009 had to be a good vintage; otherwise the rule of nines - that all vintages ending in a 9 are excellent - would be void. And we can't have that, can we?

Nevertheless, whether the rule of 9 is true or not (we can place it alongside astrology and much of biodynamics as long overdue for a thorough debunking), one feature of the success of this vintage we must accept is that it is not uniform. As I have indicated above, although the Loire heartland of Anjou, Saumur (where this aged press, pictured below, is located, at Château de Brézé - no doubt this has seen out a few of the old 'rule of 9' vintages) and Touraine faired well, more peripheral vineyards, especially in the Central region, did not cope so well in the warmth of the vintage. All the more reason, of course, for a region-by-region report.

So, without further ado, here follows my guide to the 2009 growing season for the four main regions of the Loire Valley, based on data from Météo stations in Nantes, Beaucouzé (just downstream of Angers, so fairly central to the Anjou appellations), Tours and Bourges (very close to Sancerre and Pouilly), complemented by viticultural information from the Préfet de Maine et Loire and the Conseil Général d'Indre et Loire, and also technical information from the oenology department of the Laboratoire de Touraine. (28/6/11)