Loire 2014 First Taste: Central Vineyards
There are many reasons why the vineyards of the Centre should be considered apart from the other Loire Valley regions. First, it is a long way from Touraine to Sancerre, and the varieties planted have shifted towards Burgundy in the shape not only of Sauvignon Blanc (which can be found planted over by St Bris, so it is a connection of sorts) but more significantly Pinot Noir. The region looks more towards Burgundy in the parcellation of its vineyards, increasingly so in recent years, and also in some of the methods employed in the cellars. The terroir also provides us with a link to Burgundy and beyond, as the Kimmeridgian limestone is different to the Turonian rock that dominates in Saumur and Vouvray, but is exactly what we find in Chablis (and the Aube region of Champagne, as it happens). There are political differences too; in terms of administration we are in Nièvre here, a département named for the Nièvre river and within the Bourgogne region of France, and from a vinous point of view the growers look to the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins du Centre, their representative body, rather than InterLoire who serve the major wine regions from Touraine down to the Atlantic coast.
In a number of vintages this distance from the rest of the Loire also manifests in the growing season, good weather when others are having bad, and vice versa. The contrast here is often more noticeable compared to those between the other regions – the region’s success can not always be attributed purely to Sauvignon Blanc being an earlier-picked variety. The 2014 growing season was no exception to this rule.
Weather Report
Here the early months of 2014 were really as elsewhere, with a mild but wet February, followed by mild but also drier weather continuing through March and April. Whereas the wine regions downstream struggled a little in May, here in the Centre it was a very unremarkable month, with temperatures, hours of sunshine and rainfall all as close to the 1981-2010 average as could be expected. June was a little warmer, with plenty of sunshine and at 48.1 mm not too much rain. The flowering was trouble-free, and the year was off to a very good start. Once again the wine regions of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (not forgetting all the other appellations too, of course) proved that they have to be considered apart.
