Verdier-Logel, 2023 Update
The Côtes du Forez and Côte Roannaise appellations, once part of one of France’s most extensive wine regions, but now isolated drops of viticulture on the slopes of the Massif Central, are surely turning out some of France’s best examples of Gamay.
After wandering in the wilderness for some years these appellations, which sit on the banks of the Loire (but very high upstream of Sancerre, closer to Beaujolais and Cornas than to Bourgueil and Chinon), were embraced by their Ligérian peers, bringing them within my Loire Valley remit. Which pleases me greatly, because the wines are frequently delicious (far superior to most Touraine Gamays, anyway – sorry, Touraine friends).
The styles made in these two appellations range from serious and ageworthy to pop-and-pour vin de soif cuvées. The more serious wines tend to come from around Roanne, but easy- and early-drinking cuvées abound in both appellations. And looking beyond Gamay (or Gamay-Saint-Romain, to be clonally specific) there is an “anything goes” attitude in the region, which means you can also find cuvées of Malbec (or rather Côt, with my Loire hat on), Syrah, Riesling, Chardonnay, Viognier and more here.
Maxime Gillier, who runs Verdier-Logel, is not averse to trying his hand at these alien varieties. Meanwhile his Gamays tend towards the lighter, early-drinking style, the result a portfolio of mostly bright and breezy libations. As an indication of this, many of the cuvées from the 2022 vintage which I tasted with him earlier this year, in February, were at the time of tasting already in bottle, ready for warm spring and summer days to come (and now they’re here – well, they are in Scotland, anyway. So, in as timely a fashion as possible, here are my notes on eight recent releases from Maxime.
