Stars of the Layon at RSJ, 2010: The Lunch
After the walk-round tasting I made my way upstairs, a glass of Vincent Ogereau’s 2009 Rosé de Loire in hand, in time for lunch courtesy of Nigel Wilkinson and RSJ. In a round-table affair, in the company Jim Budd, Sarah Ahmed, Natasha Hughes, Margaret Rand and a few others – and the winemakers of course – we all learnt a little more about their domaines, recent vintages, the Loire….and of course more of the ever-thoughtful Claude Papin’s philosophies.
Claude Papin needs no introduction of course, he has long been profiled on this site and his was one of the first domaines that I revisited during my ‘return to the Loire’ in 2003, travel to the region having been stymied by the birth of my children, among other things. Sitting next to Claude’s wife Joëlle I had the opportunity to explore what was new at Pierre-Bise. In particular I was reminded of their children, René and Christophe; although I have known of their existence for many years I have never met either of them, always having been greeted at the domaine by either Joëlle or Claude. And so perhaps I could be excused for thinking they were younger than they actually are, but they are today fully involved in the running of Pierre-Bise, René in the cellar and Christophe in the vineyard. And it turns out to my surprise they are not so young, but are in fact of a very similar age to me. The ever-youthful Joëlle and the occasionally mischievous Claude simply don’t look old enough to have offspring of such maturity.
Claude made some very interesting points about the Loire Valley, and the role that Anjou and Touraine play contrasted against those of Muscadet and the Central Vineyards. For Claude, the vineyards of Anjou and Touraine are the real Loire, the heart of the region, whereas those appellations to the extreme west and east are – to some extent at least – of lesser concern. I can see his point; Muscadet and Sancerre are without doubt two of the best known names, but they do not represent – in Claude’s opinion, and I do not disagree with him – the apogee of what the Loire can achieve, either in terms of uniqueness, in ability of the varieties planted there to express terroir or in the absolute quality achieved. And yet, to my mind, it seems that many wine drinkers never push their exploration of the Loire beyond these peripheral regions to uncover the treasures, translated by Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc (and occasionally a handful of other varieties too) that lie at its core. I wonder if this is because Muscadet and Sancerre are easy appellations to understand, superficially at least (as in truth there is complexity to be found here, just as there is throughout the Loire), whereas Touraine and then especially Anjou are increasingly multi-faceted (as illustrated by the ever-expanding list of appellations), and might just be enough to put some off exploring further?
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