Domaine des Herbauges, 2018 Update
I am eager to publish all my new Muscadet reports, as well as my report on the 2017 vintage covering all the regions of the Loire Valley, in a more timely fashion than last year, when publication of my Muscadet updates and new Muscadet profiles meant my Loire 2016 vintage report was held back until after my Bordeaux 2016 report, in May. Adhering to the old maxim that there is no time like the present I kick off today, starting down in Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu. There are a number of interesting domaines down in this corner of the Muscadet kingdom, but there are a couple I call on regularly in order to learn about the most recent vintage, and to see how the ups and downs of the growing season have been translated through into the wines.
The first of this Grandlieu twosome is Domaine des Herbauges, home to Jérôme Choblet (pictured). I most recently met up with Jérôme in January 2018 to find out how he and his domaine faired in the 2017 vintage, and to taste forthcoming and recent releases from his cellars.
The 2017 Vintage
Sadly, as many readers will already be aware, 2017 was the second consecutive vintage in which the Loire Valley suffered a significant frost. Looking back to the first of these two vintages, in April 2016 sub-zero temperatures across four nights destroyed 50% of Jérôme’s crop. Many other parts of the Muscadet region were less severely affected than Jérôme’s vineyards, a fact I think we can attribute to Jérôme having a lot of low-lying (and thus frost-sensitive) vineyards at the western end of his domaine.
