François Pinon, 2015 Update
Many Vouvrillons have had a hard time of it of late, with two very challenging vintages in 2012 and 2013, and 2011 wasn’t plain sailing either. There is no-one this applies to more than François Pinon.
In particular there was the viticultural wipe-out of the 2013 vintage. The hailstorm that tore through the vineyards on June 17th 2013 cut a neat swathe up the Vallée de Cousse, sparing only a few of the Pinon vineyards, those that lay just to one side or the other of the storm’s path. The entire yield for the domaine was just 6 hl/ha, the fruit combined in a single cuvée, Le 2013.
In this most recent encounter with François Pinon (pictured above) I had the opportunity to revisit this lone cuvée from this vintage, as well as wines from the more successful 2014 vintage, and some older ones too. The tasting took place in February 2015, when I met up with François and his son Julien in Angers.
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