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Stars of the Layon at RSJ: Part 1

The double-decker bus pulled up just south of Blackfriars Bridge, and having hopped and skipped down the stairs from the top deck I alighted, and quickly dived for cover under the perspex roof of the bus-stop shelter. The few scars of slashing rain that I had seen appear on the windows of the top deck had heralded a dramatic downpour, and having travelled unencumbered by anything so useful as an umbrella I decided discretion was the better part of valour. Or to put it another way I was content to hide under a London Transport bus shelter, for the moment at least, rather than lose an unnecessary battle with a mean-spirited storm. And it was a wise decision; within a minute or two the grey clouds overhead flexed their muscles and unleashed a deluge of monsoon proportions.

Not to worry; under the roof of the shelter I was at least dry, and this hopefully temporary interruption of my journey gave me a moment to pause and reflect on my day so far, and the reason for me being in London once again. Yet another early start and a journey down the east coast had delivered me from Edinburgh's Waverley to London's King's Cross station, and thanks to a drivers' strike on the London Underground it was the aforementioned bus that had carried me to my present position. Why? In order to reach Nigel Wilkinson's RSJ restaurant on Coin Street, barely five minutes walk from where I now stood, for a tasting and lunch showcasing the wines of three of Anjou's top vignerons. The tasting certainly promised some vinous excitement, and whatever obstacles the weather and the trade unions might be throwing in my way, I felt this was certainly a trip worth making.

Nigel Wilkinson established RSJ back in 1980, and in the thirty years that have passed since he opened the doors of his converted stables he has established himself as a 'go-to' destination not just for hungry punters looking for a high-quality dining venue before catching the latest play at the nearby Royal National Theatre, but also for anybody with more than a passing interest in the wines of the Loire. The wine list here is a sight to behold; reams of top-name bottles from all the Loire's regions, with barely a glance taken at the rest of France, never mind wines from beyond her borders. And why not? The Loire gives us such a myriad of styles, sweet and dry, sparkling and still, all colours, for drinking young and for cellaring, it is perhaps surprising that nobody else is doing this.

I have known Nigel a couple of years now (please take that as disclosure) having judged alongside him in the Loire category of the Decanter World Wine Awards, and I have also spent some time with him in the Loire, visiting and tasting, such as at Château de la Roulerie and Domaine de Montgilet. So perhaps that is why, when Nigel announced his latest winemaker dinner to celebrate 30 years of business, he invited me down for a parallel press event, a tasting and lunch featuring the wines of Claude Papin of Château Pierre-Bise, Yves Guégniard of Domaine de la Bergerie and Vincent Ogereau of Domaine Ogereau. It promised to be an exciting tasting.

Claude Papin (pictured above with wife Joëlle - enjoying the joke of Claude's épaulettes florales) is no stranger to these pages; I have visited him and his wife Joëlle at their domaine not far from Beaulieu-sur-Layon many times, most recently a flying visit in July this year, and the wines are usually of exemplary quality. He is one of the Loire's original terroirists, a visit to the domaine likely to be as instructive in the arena of geology as it is in viticulture, as you get to grips not only with spilite (also known locally as pierre-bise) schist, quartz and pierre carré but also the wines that originate from the respective vineyards. Indeed, the most lasting memory from my first ever visit to the domaine was a lesson in the interplay between the expression of terroir and rapidity of onset of botrytis, illustrated with Claude's own graphs which he drew while we sat together at his kitchen table. On this occasion there were no graphs although there was no shortage of Papin philosophy during the day, with a focus on wine of course, as well as Anjou's role, not just geographically but spiritually, as the beating heart of the Loire. And his wines were to be as wonderful to taste and drink as ever.

As for Vincent Ogereau (pictured above, left), although I am less intimately acquainted with his wines those that I have tasted over the years have been in many cases delicious. The dry whites have usually shown rather nicely, the reds perhaps lagging behind a little as is often the case in Anjou, but it has always been the sweet wines that have impressed me most. This broad-brushstroke approach to the domaine would still seem appropriate after tasting the wines presented here, which were part of an intimate walk-round affair, but my thoughts as to the quality of the red wines were soon to be exposed as poorly conceived over lunch (as described in part two) during which I was to encounter his 1997 Anjou-Villages Cuvée Prestige. What a stunning wine! Yves Guégniard (pictured above, right), meanwhile, is a name almost entirely new to me, and as I wrote in my López de Heredia update a few weeks ago, making new discoveries is one of the joys of wine. His two cuvées of Savennières lined up for the walk-round tasting, and another red wine to be poured alongside that of Vincent Ogereau's Cuvée Prestige over lunch, would prove that this is a domaine that warrants more detailed investigation on my part.

Looking out from under my perspex bus-stop shelter I soon realised that the downpour was abating, and keen to get to RSJ I was the first of a number of rain-driven refugees taking shelter there to break cover. Thankfully there was no relapse and a few minutes later I arrived at RSJ, just a minute behind the three winemakers and their spouses. They had not been so lucky, each one looking more than a little damp and yet I am pleased to report in good spirits nevertheless. And after a quick tour of the restaurant it was time for the tasting to commence.

The tasting notes presented here come from a walk-round tasting of the wines. Later over lunch we had the opportunity to taste a further selection of wines from each of the three domaines; more on those wines in part two. (12/10/10)

Stars of the Layon at RSJ - Tasting Notes

These wines were tasted at the RSJ restaurant in September 2010. Notes on relevant wines can also be found in my Château Pierre-Bise, Domaine Ogereau and Domaine de la Bergerie profiles. Click to locate stockists.

• See part two for my notes from the subsequent lunch-time tasting.