Loire 2012 First Taste: Central Vineyards
The final instalment of this report on the four main regions of the Loire concerns the central vineyards of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and associated appellations, such as Valençay, Quincy and Menetou-Salon. As previously, I begin with a review of the growing season, which was more favourable to this region of the Loire than it was in Touraine or Anjou; on a number of occasions I contrast data here against those for Tours, which illustrates the importance of giving individual consideration to the Loire’s major wine regions. I then follow up with my first tasting notes for the vintage, which take in wines from a number of domaines including Vincent Pinard, Henri Bourgeois, Vacheron, Bertrand Minchin and Pierre Martin (pictured), among others.
Looking at winter first, December 2011 was wet, although the weather during January was unremarkable; perhaps the weather gods were trying to lull the locals into a false sense of security, as the cold front that assaulted the appellations downstream during February hit hard here as well. The first two weeks of this month were very cold indeed, hitting a low of -11.5ºC on February 12th, before the mercury finally rose again. March also remained colder than average, before the arrival of some early and unseasonably warm spring weather in the second half of the month. From March 19th onwards, temperatures were consistently above 19ºC, only falling below this level on the very last day of the month.
February and March had been dry, but April was not only much colder again, it was also much wetter. Rainfall during the second half of the month was considerable, the total well above average. As we have seen downstream there was a late spring frost on April 16th when the temperature hit -2.2ºC, although I didn’t here such strident reports of frost damage here as I did for Touraine and Anjou. May remained relatively cool on many days, with just a few warm days pushing the temperatures for the month above average. In contrast to the weather around Tours, however, it was dry here, with only 42mm of rain (Tours saw 78mm). This probably explains why this region enjoyed a more complete and homogenous flowering than was seen downstream; the coulure and millerandage, regular features of the 2012 vintage in Touraine, Anjou and the Nantais, were much less of an issue here. In addition, the generally drier weather that ensued was less favourable to mildew, another bonus for the Sancerrois.
