Côt or Cabernet Franc?

I'm hoping that someone is going to help me out here. Yesterday passing through the vines of Saint-Georges-sur-Cher it was clear that a big majority of the grapes have now been picked. There was a block that still had some unpicked black grapes, so I stopped to take some photos. These are with Côt or Cabernet Franc. Initially I thought they were Côt (Malbec) from the colour of the leaves but then I noticed that some leaves were indented indicating that they might be Cabernet. Now looking again at the photos I'm inclined to go back to my first guess – that these are Côt. Your thoughts please.

The leaves

Then on to the Clos du Porteau in La Vallée Pitrou (part of Saint-Georges-sur-Cher) where I caught up with Aynard de Clermont Tonnerre and Henri Chapon. Aynard has again been busy this year during the harvest with his thermo-vinification system helped in 2011 by Henri as they rush around the Loire vineyards heating up their customers' must with the thermo machine.

Aynard: "We have been very busy, especially as there is quite a lot of rot about, mainly in weed killered vineyards, and one of the advantages of thermo-vinification is that it removes the taste of rot. There is much less rot in grassed over vineyards."

Aynard's 2011 Sauvignon (made by Isabelle, la vigneronne du Clos du Porteau) tasted promising. We tried vats from a number of different parcels. The fruit was picked around 12%-12.5% alc and has some weight and good clean flavours. They are increasing relying on the natural yeasts.

Picking Cabernet Franc@Château de Villeneuve

Update from Cathy Shore (Le Tasting Room) on Villeneuve's vintage plans: start the Chenin this Tuesday and the Cabernet Franc on 19th. Further details see here.

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Also from Saumur the use of micro-barriques (also called wood chips) is to be allowed during the alcoholic fermentation for AC Saumur Rouge. See here. The idea is that the use of micro-barriques masks the astringency of Cabernet Franc. There is, of course, another way of avoiding astringency – pick the fruit when it is ripe. Apparently their use is also permitted in AC Bourgueil.

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2009 vintage – treading the grapes

News from Epeigné-les-Bois 'Grand Cru' – Clos Chossay (Mark Robertson reports):

'Squeaky bum time in the vignoble, Sauvignon harvested Sunday (3rd September) at 13%, after torrential rain on Saturday night (Bourgueil had widespread flooding).

Côt is close, but Cabernet has 3 weeks to go. Hope the grass soaks up the rain....'

2006 Côt (Clos Roche Blanche), 2008 Reuilly Pinot Noir (Denis Jamain) and 2005 Reserve (Château du Petit Thouars) 

Some notes on three recently drunk reds – made from the three different varieties. Let's start first with the 2008 Reuilly, which is 100% Pinot Noir and is made by always reliable Denis Jamain (Domaine de Reuilly). Described very succinctly as 'delicious' by CRM, this easy drinking, vibrantly red fruited Pinot that worked very well with veal kidneys finished in a cream and mushroom sauce. This is Denis straight Reuilly red cuvée designed to be drunk fairly young with an accent on the fruit. He has two other cuvées – Les Chênes and La Comtesse – that benefit from longer aging and are more complex wines. 

Denis' fine Pinots are another reminder that the Loire's Central Vineyards can and does produce Pinot Noirs that are well worth discovering if you are not already into this secret.

Next up the 2005 Reserve Cabernet Franc from Château du Petit Thouars offering remarkable value at 6€ from the château. It has the concentration, richness and power expected from a 2005. I decided to try this 2005 to see how it is developing. I concluded that it ideally needs another couple of years or so to show its best, so a bit a patience is needed. In the meantime drink the deliciously soft, black fruited 2009 Sélection (5€) from Thouars.

Then the 2006 Côt from the Clos Roche Blanche. I can't remember trying their 2006 Côt recently. It certainly has richness – spicy black fruits – but it is less precise and lacks a little of the zip in the finish that these Roche Blanche Côts normally have. It is still an attractive drink but I fancy it reflects the difficult conditions of the 2006 vintage when galloping rot forced vignerons to pick as rapidly as possible. I would certainly make sure it is served cool to preserve freshness.