Eric Morgat, 2011 Update
As I have already written elsewhere (somewhere, I’m not quite sure where) one of my aims at this year’s Salon des Vins de Loire in January was to really get to grips with Savennières, principally by tasting as many different examples as I could manage. I wanted, through a process of revisiting familiar names and perhaps more importantly also getting acquainted with some new ones, to be more certain in my own mind how I perceive and differentiate between the varying styles of Savennières. I have already published a number of profile updates and new tasting notes as a result, looking first largely at those domaines where Savennières forms but one part of their portfolio; these include Château Pierre-Bise, Domaine Ogereau, Domaine de la Bergerie, Pithon-Paillé and of course the recently revisited Domaine des Baumard. But there are of course a number of domaines that specialise purely in Savennières, and these include a fascinating melange of names long-associated with the appellation including Domaine aux Moines, Nicolas Joly and Château d’Epiré, as well as newcomers to the party, such as Damien Laureau. This update concerns one such new kid on the block, Eric Morgat.
Ultimately, once I have all these profiles and notes online, my aim is to update and expand my Anjou wine guide into somewhat finer divisions that those it possesses at present. That means not only new details on Savennières but also on the sweeter appellations of the Coteaux du Layon and of course the myriad styles that can be found labelled as Anjou. And this seems fairly appropriate, because it is from Anjou that Eric Morgat’s most notable new development hails.
Eric, L’Enclos & Litus
As I have already documented in my profile, Eric is the son of a family of Anjou vignerons, but rather than follow directly in his father’s footsteps at Château de Breuil Eric decided to strike out on his own, crossing the Loire to settle at the foot of the Roche-aux-Moines in Savennières. After his landlord there pulled the rug from beneath him he ended up at the Clos de Ferrand, a clos of some repute, sparsely populated by ancient vines. In truth I think it is deserving of replanting and thereby generating its own cuvée – this is the development I would really like to see here – but for the moment Eric takes the fruit of these aged vines and blends it into his better known L’Enclos cuvée, thereby adding some complexity he says.
