Loire 2013 First Taste: Central Vineyards
In a vintage characterised by a cool growing season, in which the vines have struggled to find enough energy from the sun to ripen their fruit, ending in an unfavourable October which forced earlier rather than later picking, earlier-ripening varieties are probably going to win out. Certainly Muscadet has done alright in 2013 (although even there I think, at some lesser domaines at least, the fruit would have benefited from more time on the vine). Here in the Central Vineyards, where the vineyards are dominated by the earlier-ripening Sauvignon Blanc, things should be a little easier than they were in Anjou, Saumur and Touraine, then. Although we should not forget, of course, that we also have a red variety to consider, the region being planted with many hectares of Pinot Noir.
As with my other Loire regional reports, this examination of the 2013 growing season is based on my visits to the Loire during 2013, in particular my harvest visit in October, as well as words straight from the mouths of the Vacheron family (Denis, Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique), Pierre Martin, François Crochet, Denis Jamain, Benjamin Dagueneau, Michel Redde, Philippe Gilbert and indeed a host of other vignerons. Weather data, where included, come from the weather station at Bourges, which lies to the west of Sancerre.
Weather Report
We are far inland here, so the climate is more continental, and this seemed especially true in 2013. February was colder than average, especially in the last week of the month, as was March, with average or above-average rainfall. This continued in April, when it remained colder than expected during the first two weeks, less so thereafter; overall the day-time temperatures were below average for the month. It also continued to rain, with some heavy downpours between the 8th and 12th, and again towards the end of the month. Cold and wet weather is far from ideal for the vine, and vegetative growth was retarded, as were the subsequent development of the flowers and fruit. Things did not improve in May which saw some very disappointing temperatures. Although the mercury climbed a little during the first week, thereafter it remained low; on some days the highest temperature recorded was 9ºC below the norm, and the average for the entire month was 16.3ºC, more than 3ºC below the thirty-year average. It was also very wet, with 121.9 mm of rain, against a norm of 78.6 mm. In short, this was a miserable spring.
