Rousseau Frères Malvoisie du Comte Odart 2020

This week, another instalment in the long-running saga, Grapes You Forgot Were Eligible for Planting in the Loire Valley.

In this episode, Pinot Gris, which – confusingly – here also goes by the name Malvoisie.

This wine from Rousseau Frères is in fact a Vin de France, and a rather fun one at that, but do not conclude from this fact that Pinot Gris is only planted by insubordinate Ligérian vignerons who choose to eschew varietal norms and instead plant their slopes of limestone and clay with foreign varieties such as Riesling and Syrah (both of which, I should say, you can find planted in the Loire Valley). There are at least four appellations which spring to mind which include Pinot Gris in their list of permissible varieties, the first of which is Reuilly, in the Central Vineyards.

This little piece of Reuilly wine trivia is firmly lodged in my brain as I recall visiting the late Claude Lafond during the harvest more than a decade ago and the first glass he handed me was a fizzing, fermenting, pale rhubarb pink. It was his rosé, 100% Pinot Gris, at that time still sweet with unfermented sugar; I was immediately reminded that Reuilly makes use of Pinot Gris as a true gris variety, those pink skins making for a dainty pink hue, and I have never since forgotten. Of note, some in Reuilly refer to Pinot Gris by yet another alternative name, Pinot Beurot, which is also its moniker in IGP Côtes de la Charité.

This is also how Pinot Gris is used in Touraine Noble Joué, an infrequently encountered rosé appellation, the zone for which sits south of the city of Tours, sandwiched between the Cher (to the north) and the Indre (to the south). A curious but worthwhile rosé, and an interesting alternative to the better known Loire rosés such as Rosé d’Anjou and Cabernet d’Anjou, it demands a blend of three pigmented Pinots, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Gris. Don’t expect to find a bottle in your local corner shop though; there are only half a dozen growers producing this style, from what is one of the Loire Valley’s smallest appellations (other contenders for this crown include Savennières Coulée de Serrant, Savennières Roche-aux-Moines and Pouilly-sur-Loire – and the first of the trio wins convincingly).

Pinot Gris is also permissible in Coteaux d’Ancenis, an even more obscure appellation than the two cited above, and which overlies that of Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire, the only Muscadet appellation on the north bank of the Loire. It allows for a range of styles made using varieties other than Melon de Bourgogne, including Pinot Gris. And lastly (unless you know better), Pinot Gris also crops up in the little-known appellation of Orléans, the vineyards of which are dotted around the city of the same name.

Back in Touraine, as noted at the top of the page Pinot Gris is here sometimes referred to as Malvoisie (as is also the case in Coteaux d’Ancenis), which is surely a candidate for the most confusing varietal synonym as it is also sometimes used in place of Malvasia, which is itself a rather generic term applied to several dozen different varieties, of all colours, black, white and gris. In the Loire Valley, though, when you see Malvoisie on the label, it means Pinot Gris.

The Rousseau family, who are based in Esvres – south (and west a little) of the Montlouis-sur-Loire vineyards – have about 19 hectares planted to a wide range of Loire varieties. They channel some of their Pinot Gris into their Touraine Noble Joué, but use the remainder in several monovarietal wines, dry and sweet, all bottled as Vin de France. One of these is the Malvoisie du Comte Odart (this week’s wine – the full name is printed on the back label) which is named for Alexandre-Pierre Odart de Rilly (1778 – 1866) a famed ampelographer who resided at Château de la Dorée, close to the Rousseau domaine, and who is said to have fostered the planting of Pinot Gris in the region.

The 2020 Malvoisie du Comte Odart from Rousseau Frères is a late-harvest cuvée, picked by hand in several tries, bringing in fruit concentrated by both botrytis and passerillage. It is fermented by indigenous yeasts, and aged in 400-litre barrels. A honey gold hue in the glass, the nose is rich with the aromas of poached pear, dried tropical fruits, orange peel and pineapple, with a fading touch of sweet maple bacon. It all feels very reminiscent of a late-harvest Alsatian Pinot Gris, and if I had tasted this blind I would have certainly headed in that direction. It is finely polished on the palate, with a faintly grained frame of powdery and textural substance, soft acidity but plenty of charged grip. Long and focused in the finish, this is an impressive sweet Pinot Gris by any standards. For an unknown corner of the Loire Valley, however, it is a revelation. It would be great to see how this ages – I suspect it has several decades in it, although I would think most is drunk when very young. The alcohol on the label is 12%. 92/100 (20/5/24)

Read more in:

• My report on the 2020 Loire vintage
• My guide to the Loire Valley wine region

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