Sam Harrop MW

A personal view from Project consultant Sam Harrop MW

Last night, in search of inspiration for this piece, I opened a bottle of 2008 Bourgueil (one of those selected as a 2009 Ambassador) and it was mind-blowingly good. What a wine. What a vintage. What a bargain!

I won’t mention the producer for fear of courting claims of bias, but what I will say is: why anyone would want to look beyond the Loire for Cabernet Franc is beyond me. Bottom-line - hand-crafted wines from small estates in the Loire sell for a fraction of the cost of most Cabernet Francs from newer, less interesting (in my opinion) wine producing regions. The best of the vintage 2008s will undoubtedly improve with age for the next two decades but they can also be enjoyed today.

How many wine regions can honestly claim this? The obsession with alcohol, oak and oxygen that prevails in too many wineries around the world today means that while the wines they produce might be soft and sweet in the first couple of years, there’s a good chance they will end up flat and flabby well before their pre-destined use-by date. The Loire is an exception and if its recognition at top international wine competitions over the last few years (and for lesser vintages than 2008, I might add) is anything to go by, the reputation of the region and its noble red variety is finally on the ascent. With a broader selection of 2008s from top producers hitting the show circuit next year it will be intriguing to see how they are received in 2010. If they are anything like the one I quaffed last night, it could be time to buy up large, so watch this space!

Looking to the future, things continue to look rosy for the Loire with favourable reports on the 2009 growing season so far. August was very, very dry - in fact the driest August in the Loire for 48 years! With grapes still on the vine it’s hardly time to start making comparisons with vintages like 1961, but it’s difficult not to get a little excited! Indeed all looks set for a great vintage in 2009, like in other great years such as 1989, 1999 – maybe it’s a nine thing?

Up until the end of August summer temperatures were very closely aligned to the impressive vintages of 1995 and 1999. The first half of September saw some showers, but the second half was dry and settled, and with the better wineries looking to start harvesting in the second week of October things are at a critical stage. At the time this piece went to print, fruit condition throughout the region was looking stunning. The analysis was looking great as well.

Samples were taken on the 1st October from 14 parcels from around Chinon, Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de- Bourgueil and the average sugars recorded were forecasting alcohol levels of 12.2 percent. The better sites in the region will be beyond 13 percent, so ripeness won’t be a problem this year. Overall pH levels seem to be a little higher than last year (but still in check and healthy) and acids a little lower, but this will help the texture of the wines and allow for the wines to be drinking better in their youth. Fingers crossed the rain stays away for the next couple of weeks, for if so we could be in for a cracker!

The temptation for winemakers to intervene is ever-present, even when the fruit is free from disease and with near perfect analysis. Assuming the conditions are right for another great vintage this year, in the case of the Loire, the measure of the Project’s effectiveness will be in producers doing less rather than more. For the Loire, continuity is crucial to winning the confidence of buyers, many of whom hold the view that Loire Cabernet Franc is inconsistent. Such inconsistency is not good for business and it’s understandable that UK buyers have historically seen wines from the sunny south of Europe as a safer bet.

The problem is all too often these warmer and drier regions tend towards over-ripe red wines that lack freshness, definition and personality. With climate change, things are going from bad to worse for many of these warmer regions, and savvy wine buyers are already on the lookout for wines to fill this imminent gap. Assuming the Loire and its Cabernet Franc continue to raise their game (as they have over the last few years), the traditional claims of inconsistency will become a thing of the past, and buyers need look no further than the Loire for a plethora of great value reds with an abundance of personality.

2009 Cabernet Franc in Chinon: 8th October 2009

(From the autumn 2009 issue of the newsletter: Loire – Project Cabernet Franc)

This morning the latest update from the Project Cabernet Franc plopped into my mailbox. It includes an assessment of the 2008 Cabernets from Sam Harrop MW:

April 2009 Sam in Paris for the Ambassadors' tasting

A personal view from Project consultant Sam Harrop MW
(www.loirecabernetfranc.co.uk/ENewsLetter/May2009/Story3.htm)

‘The goal of encouraging producers in the same region to work together might seem fairly rudimentary, but when it comes to the Loire – a region so rich in history, tradition and vignerons with great independence and pride – it is no mean feat! However, the unarguable progress made in guiding vignerons towards a more balanced and, arguably, more export-friendly approach, has been well worth the effort. Having just returned from the 2009 Ambassadors Selection, where I judged with a rigorous panel including Jim Budd, Jane Masters MW, Emily O’Hare, it is clear that the better examples from vintage 2008 are well above average, if not exceptional. In a year when vignerons could have been forgiven for leeching every last tannin molecule out of the seeds and skins, restraint was the rule not the exception! It seems that having freed themselves from the shackles of Bordeaux, the Loire is forging a new identify, championed by a host of fresh, dynamic winemakers.

They say most great years follow a challenging growing season, and 2008 in the Loire is a year that supports such an assertion. After a frosty, wet and cool start to the season and a very late veraison (oh and did I mention there was a hail storm early on as well); in mid September things were looking a tad hairy. Towards late September/ early October however, with the winter weather staying away, things had started to look a little brighter. For the most part the dry conditions allowed growers to leave fruit on vines in an extremely good condition well into October. This hang-time enabled flavours and phenolics to reach adequate maturity, and with the smaller crops and berries - a hallmark of the 2008 Cabernet Franc vintage - concentration was on target to impress. And impress it did!

Of the 86 wines tasted at the Ambassadors Selection (29 were 2007’s, 57 were 2008’s); 24 Ambassadors were selected. The turn-out of 2008 wines was a little disappointing, as was the fact that a number of them had to be rejected due to less than optimum condition (e.g. still in tank). On the upside however, with elevage and polishing before bottling, some of these wines showed the characteristics of real longevity. If resubmitted next year, I’d be willing to gamble that many will be a shoo-in for the 2010 Selection. But let’s wait and see. Of the 24 wines selected, six were 2007 (21 percent of total 2007 wines entered) and 18 were 2008 (32 percent of total 2008 wines entered). It is widely known that 2007 was a lighter vintage, and while there were some stand-out wines set to improve with age, in general terms 2007 wines should be enjoyed in their youth.

In my view, to date, 2008 has been the best vintage of the decade. Only time will tell if it has what it takes to be an all time classic, but the early signs look positive. The better examples (from producers who left fruit on the vine until mid October, and did not over-extract in the winery) have the typical freshness and typicity of the Loire, but without the green, sappy herbaceous notes that so often stain Cabernet Franc’s good name. These wines have the concentration, weight, supple tannic profile and moderate acid levels to not only help balance the wines, but to enable them age with grace. There is a harmony to many of the wines already and while they will unquestionably get better with age, most will be ready for drinking not long after bottling. The enigmatic, perfumed qualities, dark red fruits and wonderful definition that make Cabernet Franc so special, are present in abundance in the 2008 vintage. Be sure to stock up your cellars!’

Early October 2008: Cabernet Franc@Souzay-Champigny

I’m not sure I’m yet prepared to go along with Sam’s assessment that ‘In my view, to date, 2008 has been the best vintage of the decade’. Certainly it is way better than one might have feared during the cool and drab days of August, although the Loire was fairly dry compared to other parts of France like Bordeaux. The 2008 vintage also benefited from cool temperatures during the sunny months of September and October giving long slow flavour maturation, while a blast of autumnal heat might well have raised the sugar levels too quickly and left the grapes not ripe.

But are the 2008 reds really better than 2005 and some 2006s? Still rather too early to say I think but I’m dubious. Although the final few weeks before the harvest are very important, a vintage is also the reflection of the whole of the growing season. I note that Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve) is unlikely to release his Grand Clos Saumur-Champigny in 2008. JP will not release the Grand Clos if it is not up to the high standard he and Florence have set for this cuvée. Certainly the miraculous 2008 will have a lot of charm but as good as 2005? I’d be surprised.

Some of the Ambassadors from the 2008 vintage

Here are the 24 Ambassadors selected at the two day tasting (7th-8th April) in Paris last week. Many congratulations to those selected.

2007
Domaine Les Grandes Vignes, 2007 Anjou Rouge, L'Aubinaie
Lamé Delisle Boucard, 2007 Bourgueil, Vieilles Vignes
Langlois Château, 2007 Saumur Champigny
Domaine de Nerleux, 2007 Saumur Champigny, Clos des Châtains Vieilles Vignes
Domaine de la Noblaie, 2007 Chinon, Domaine de la Noblaie
Château de Targé, 2007 Saumur Champigny

2008
Famille Amirault Grosbois, 2008 St-Nicolas de Bourgueil, Le Clos
Baudry & Dutour, 2008 Chinon, Domaine du Roncée
Couly Dutheil Père et Fils, 2008 Chinon, Domaine René-Louis Couly
SCEA Charles Joguet, 2008 Chinon, Cuvée Terroir
EARL Domaine Charles Pain, 2008, Chinon, Cuvée Domaine
EARL Domaine Charles Pain, 2008, Chinon, Cuvée Prestige
Domaine de la Chevalerie, 2008 Bourgueil, Bretêche
Domaine Les Grandes Vignes, 2008 Anjou Rouge
Frédéric Mabileau, 2008, St-Nicolas de Bourgueil, Les Rouillères
GAEC Lysiane & Guy Mabileau, 2008 St-Nicolas de Bourgueil, Domaine
GAEC Lysiane & Guy Mabileau, 2008 St-Nicolas de Bourgueil, Vieilles Vignes
Nau Frères, 2008 Bourgueil, Les Blottières
Domaine de la Noblaie, 2008 Chinon
Domaine Les Pins, 2008 Bourgueil, Vieilles Vignes
Clos des Quarterons, 2008, St-Nicolas de Bourgueil, Les Quarterons
Wilfrid Rousse, 2008 Chinon, Les Galuches
EARL Taluau Foltzenlogel, 2008 St Nicolas de Bourgueil, L'Expression
Domaine des Vallettes, 2008, Bourgueil, Vieilles Vignes

In all there were 86 samples (29 were 2007s, 57 were 2008s), so the 24 selected represents a 28% success rate. The tasting was very thorough with almost all of the wines tasted at least twice, a number three times and a few even four or five times. The aim was to give the wines every chance to show their best. The tasting team (Sam Harrop MW, Jane Masters MW, Emily O'Hare and myself) tasted all the wines together.

Initially we divided the wines into three categories – Ambassador quality, possibly Ambassador quality, and not of Amabassador quality.

Next we retasted all the 'possibly Ambassador quality' and either rejected them or moved them up to Ambassador quality. Where we had the slightest doubt or we were split the wine was moved up into Ambassador category.

Finally we retasted all the Ambassador quality wines to make our definitive selection.

Very few of the 2008s were finished wines, which made tasting them particularly interesting but challenging. Among those rejected there were some very good wines, which were currently faulty – reduction, for example. Although it is highly likely that the faults will have been resolved by the time the wines are in bottle, we couldn't take the risk of making them Ambassadors this year. It is highly probable if these 2008s are resubmitted next year that they will become Ambassadors for 2010. Once again this underlines the importance of making sure that samples for tasting are carefully prepared.

After the tasting Sam Harrop MW, the consultant to the project, commented: "I think the results look really good and am looking forward to tasting the wines again at the London International Wine Trade Fair."