Loire 2017 First Taste: Touraine
In 2017, moving upstream from Anjou to Touraine brings us to a different kind of vintage. Many of the tender buds in this section of the Loire Valley fell victim to the frost in late April, but the devastation was, for the most part, much less widespread than it was in Anjou. As I have already described in my 2017 Loire Valley weather report, and in my 2017 Nantais and 2017 Anjou regional reports, the worst frost of the vintage resulted from a cold air mass that swept down to Savennières and Rochefort-sur-Loire, before turning and heading down over the vineyards of Muscadet and the Fiefs Vendéens.
Upstream in Touraine, the vineyards escaped this episode of freakish weather, but they did not escape the frost completely. Nevertheless, the temperatures did not tumble off a barometric cliff face in the same manner as they did downstream. April was cooler here to start with (as we should expect, the region having a continental rather than maritime climate) and although the mercury fell far enough to do some damage, on the whole it did not dip as low as it did in Savennières and along the banks of the Sèvre and the Maine Nantaise. Having said that, the frost was still a significant issue for the vignerons of this region, especially in Cheverny, which was hard hit. And the response of the vignerons in Montlouis, more details on which below, indicate how seriously this appellation, which has been dogged by frost in recent years, now regards the threat.
Chinon and Bourgueil
Looking first to Chinon and Bourgueil, there was a mixed picture here. Those vineyards prone to frost, such as Savigny-en-Véron in the Chinon appellation, were obviously hardest hit. Pockets of frost settled here, the temperatures dropping as low as -6ºC, as cold as any other temperature recorded in Anjou or the Nantais. Fortunately, other parts escaped, and thus the appellation was hit in a very ‘patchy’ manner. Some vignerons found they were worse off than they were in 2016, while some were able to breathe a sigh of relief, as they realised they had largely escaped damage.
