Loire 2012 First Taste: Touraine
In this, the third of my region-by-region reports for the 2012 vintage in the Loire Valley, I take a look at Touraine, home to some of the Loire Valley’s most famous appellations, including Vouvray, Montlouis, Chinon and Bourgueil. I report on the season here, and present a selection of tasting notes from the region, taking in wines from the likes of Bernard Baudry, François Chidaine, Domaine Huet, Domaine des Aubuisières and Vincent Carême.
Winter was fairly mild to start with; December 2011 was very wet with 135mm of rain, almost double the average, and January was not particularly cold. But in February the temperatures plummeted, with a low of -11.9ºC achieved on February 7th, a little colder than temperatures nearer the coast, unsurprising as the climate this far inland is decidedly continental, favouring warmer summers but also colder winters. For the thermometers to drop so low is remarkable, but happily no damage to the vines seems to have resulted. Otherwise it was a dry month, the snow early on in February the only significant precipitation.
The temperatures in March were low during the first week, sub-zero on two occasions, but then spring arrived in a sudden and unusually warm fashion. The daily maximum temperatures exceeded 20ºC for much of the latter ten days of the month, although cool weather soon returned in April. The overnight temperature dropped to below freezing on April 17th, bringing frost. Matthieu Baudry certainly saw this in his vineyards, citing the frost as the leading cause of his reduced yields this year, which were down by 40% (but this is overall, so is due to more than just the frost). Vincent Carême saw some frost damage, losing 15% of the crop to this problem as estimated by their frost-insurance assessor (and therefore not enough to qualify for compensation, the figure for this being 30%). François Chidaine (pictured) also experienced frost damage, as did other domaines in Montlouis and Vouvray. Jacky Blot of Domaine de la Taille aux Loups described the frost as being worst in the north of the Montlouis appellation, but less notable further south. Other domaines, however, such as Domaine Huet, seem to have escaped without suffering any frost at all. Some areas, particularly Montlouis again, also saw hail, although I found trying to determine who had hail damage and who hadn’t rather like herding cats, and so in the end I just accepted that some did, and some didn’t, which I think says something of the trials of the vintage.
