Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut, Brissac-Quincé)

Christophe (5.9.11): "We started picking our Chardonnay for the Crémant today. Later this week we'll pick the Sauvignon and the Grolleau. The Grolleau is around 11% potential alc. and part will be used for the Rosé de Loire and part for Topette (Christophe's fresh, easy drinking red closed with a screwcap). The Sauvignon is at around 12.4% potential alcohol with 5.2-5.4 acidity. Then early next week we'll pick the Chenin and Cabernet Franc for the Crémant.  

"It has been a really bizarre year with a lot of rain during the early part of the winter until January and then very dry after that until July. Hot and summery in April, May and the early part of June. Cold and unsettled in July and August with the occasional heat spike, especially around 18th-22nd August.

"There's no panic to pick – it is only early September. We'll pick the early varieties and then wait for the Chenin, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon for the still wines. The Chenin and the Cabernet Sauvignon are looking good, while the Cabernet Franc (on limestone for Petra Alba) is more complicated. The flowering was very drawn out and the last Franc berries only changed colour at the end of August. I will wait until the Franc is really ripe – end of September beginning of October. Planted on limestone Franc resists rain weather as the limestone acts as a sponge and the grapes don't take up the rainwater." 

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Christophe's Coteaux de l'Aubance was recently selected by Biocoop – see video here. 

 

Tasting young 2009 Anjou Villages Brissac can have serious, although fortunately temporary effects, on the tongue. In this case it was three pure Cabernet Sauvignons that did the staining.

2009 Anjou, Château la Varière 

This 2009 – 100% Cabernet Franc – is soft and deliciously easy drinking. It has the rich, ripe fruit that is typical of 2009. We took it along with us to the Lahore Kebab House, in London's East End on Friday night. Happily we had booked a table as the restaurant was completely heaving with a large queue out of the door. It was good to try the Varière Anjou with Indian food and find that this 2009 stood up well to the spicy food.

 

2008 Amjou Villages-Brissac 

The 2008 Anjou Villages is more structured than the 2009 Anjou, although it also has attractively rich, supple fruit. It is drinking well at the moment but should also age well over the nest five or more years. The blend is 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon with the Cabernet Sauvignon aged for a year in barriques.  

See previous post on Château la Varière.

 Christophe and Lindsay Oram assessing the reds

Last night Christophe Daviau of Domaine de Bablut in Brissac-Quince opened the RSJ Restaurant's 30th anniversary celebrations with a tasting dinner attended by around 40 people.

The apertif was the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, a Vin de Pays Val du Loire. Not yet bottled it was the first opportunity to most present to taste a 2009 from the Loire. It is softly fruited with some of the richness that will become associated with the 2009 vintage. Due to be bottled at the end of this month. 

Then three Anjou whites from Chenin Blanc:

                2008 Petit Princé, Anjou Blanc
                2005 Ordovicien, Anjou Blanc
                1989 Anjou Blanc (from the same vineyards as Ordovicien)

Petit Princé comes from the Haute-Perche where it is flatter and there is more clay. It is vinified in stainless steel. The 2008 has the wonderful, fresh fruit precision that is typical of this vintage. Ordovicien comes from vines planted on a slope on sandstone and slate. This is vinified in barrique and is a richer style of wine – in part because it is 2005 (a rich vintage) but also because the wines from this vineyarid is richer due to its soil and geology. Christophe says that the acidity level in both wine is roughly the same with the 2008 slightly higher. However, when tasting the two side by side, you certainly have the impression that the 2008 has considerably more acidity. It is the 2005 richness  that masks it.

The golden coloured 1989 was very interesting as initially it had quite a maderised nose but with time in the glass this dissipated leaving a full bodied, powerful and complex wine.     

These wines were served with the first course:

Poached organic salmon and leek tartlet, cuncumber and rocket salad, salmon caviar beurre blanc

The 2008 Petit Princé was clearly the preferred wine without food, while the 2005 Ordovicien became the most popular by a small margin from the Petit Princé with the salmon tartlet.

The reds: 

               2007 Petra Alba, Anjou Villages Brissac
               100% Cabernet Franc from vines on clay and limestone
               2005 Petra Alba, Anjou Villages Brissac
               2005 Rocca Nigra, Anjou Villages Brissac
               100% Cabernet Sauvignon from vines on schist

Christophe explained thr logic behind planting the Cabernet Franc on limestone and the Cabernet Sauvignon on imprevious rocks – schist, slate and sandstone. Franc needs regular water, which the sponge like nature of the limestone, can provide. It suffers in very dry years like 2005 when  the region had been dry through 2003 and 2004. In contrast Cabernet Sauvignon likes dry conditions and reacts badly to wet soils, so is well suited to the imprevious rocky soils that do not retain water. The CS was much more at the ease in the drought conditions of 2005 than the Franc.

Served with:

Roast saddle of English lamb, carrots, broccoli, roast new potatoes, lamb jus

With the delicious lamb I thought the 2005 Petra Alba was probably the best match as the 2005 Rocca Nigra was impressive but tended to dominate. 

The sweets:

Christophe is an acknowledged expert on sweet wines and the stages that Chenin Balnc goes through as botrytis takes a hold. These two wines from 2005 are fine examples of Christophe's skill.

                2005 Aubance Selection Coteaux de l'Aubance 

                2005 Grandpierre Coteaux de l'Aubance

The Selection is the entry level cuvée picked with a lower level of botrytis and so less sweet. This style is more versatile than some of the very rich styles from the L'Aubance or the Layon. It works well as an aperitif or a range of dishes such as rich chicken and pork recipes, patés and blue cheese. Grandpierre is very often my favourite sweet wine from Christophe – he also makes a Vin Noble in very good vintages. Grandpierre has a lovely balance of richness and minerality.

Served with:

               Beenleigh Blue

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               Caramelised apple and hazelnut pudding

2008 Gamay Vieilles Vignes, Touraine, Vignoble du Haut Bagneux (Jean-Christophe Mandard)

On Thursday evening I thought it would be appropriate to open a bottle of Jean-Christophe Mandard's old vine Gamay to mark the return of electric power to the more isolated parts of the commune of Mareuil-sur-Cher. This Gamay from 65 year old vines has the concentration you would expect from old vines, so a Gamay needing food. The spicy black fruit worked well with lamb steaks, slightly less well with a magret de canard.

Jean-Christophe Mandard

I've tasted Jean-Christophe's wines (Vignoble du Haut Bagneux) on several occasion – his UK importers are Richards Walford and also the wines are listed by La Lionnière, Mareuil's ferme auberge, so I took the opportunity of tasting the reds during the Salon des Vins de Loire. (Given the range of Loire wines it is difficult to keep switching colours. I was on reds at the time and didn't have an opportunity to go back and taste the whites).

The Vignoble du Haut Bagneux has 21 hectares of vines with 10 different grape varieties planted including a parcel of 100 year-old Gamay de jus noir – a teinturier. (The vast majority of wine grapes have white flesh and includes all the top quality varieties. In the past teinturier varieties were used to give wines colour. Alicante Bouchet and Dornfelder are probably the best known today.) I must check with Jean-Christophe exactly which Gamay this is as there are apparently three different Gamay teinturiers – le Gamay de Bouze, le Gamay de Chaudenay and le Gamay Fréaux.

I started with the soft, easy drinking 2009 Gamay de Touraine that will be bottled this month made by carbonic maceration it had a hint of banana that can be typical of this fermentation process, especially if a particulr yeast has been used. Then the 2009 Cabernet – 60% Franc and 40% Sauvignon – with concentration, structure and quite marked blackcurrant notes. It will be bottled in April, whereas the soft and ripe Tradition – 50% Côt and 50% Cabernet Franc – will bottled in September.

Another domaine I need to visit. It will be interesting to taste the 2009 reds once they are in bottle.

 Ripening Chenin  Blanc near Pierre-Bise (above and below)

A few photos taken on 10th October 2005 in Anjou during that wonderfully warm, dry autumn.

 

  

Across the Layon: la douceur angevin!

Towards Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay

The Aubance 

Base of La Croix de la Mission, Saint-Jean-de-Mauvets

 

Domaine des Rochelles: La Croix de la Mission – Cabernet Sauvignon

Chenin Blanc developing nicely

Across the Layon

Across the Layon: early autumn colours

Spent the morning sorting out photos including these taken in the Coteaux du Layon in October 2005 plus one further north in the Lebreton's Croix de la Mission at Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets.

Pickers' cars and vans

The weather was magnificent and I had never seen producers so relaxed during the harvest able to take their time and pick the fruit just when they wanted.

Claude Papin pointing out details in a vineyard in the Layon

Cabernet Sauvignon@Domaine Ogereau's Côte de la Houssaye

Cabernet Sauvignon in La Croix de la Mission

31 January 2009

Christophe in serious mood during the harvest@end of September 2008

It is just a short drive from Domaine des Rochelles in Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets across country to Domaine de Bablut (Vignobles Daviau) on the western edge of Brissac-Quincé – the venue for our last visit of the day with Christophe Daviau. The Daviau family have been growing vines here since 1546. They were also millers. Apparently Bablut means two windmills in old French and there still is an old mill on the property, now used a tasting room. At the end of the 19th century the family ceased to be millers and concentrated on vines and wine.

Christophe studied in Bordeaux and then worked for 18 months in Australia. I first met Christophe in September 1989, soon after he had returned to Bablut to take over the reins from his father, Jean-Pierre. Bablut has around 80 hectares, which have been farmed organically since 1996.

Our tasting on 31 January started with the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (VDP) – still in tank and due to be bottled in March, which has attractive grassy and gooseberry flavours.

Then on to the mineral 2008 Petit Princé – one of two Anjou Blancs Christophe makes. This is the junior wine, which comes from the well-ventilated plateau at Haut-Perche. Grandpierre, Christophe’s wonderfully minerally and balanced Coteaux de l’Aubance, also comes from this area. Petit Princé is fermented and aged in stainless steel. It matures on its lees, which are frequently stirred to give the wine additional weight. The 2008 will be bottled in June/July of this year.

Ordovicien is the ‘grand vin’ blanc sec and comes from vineyards on schisteous soils. Vinified and matured in barriques, Ordovicien is bottled after 18 months. The 2008 is still fermenting but has a promisingly rich structure. The long and slightly buttery 2007 is due to be bottled at Easter.

The 2008 Rosé de Loire at 11.5% alcohol was attractively light and fruity. Now made from 100% Grolleau, this used to be a blend with 30% Cabernet. Until recently the Rosé de Loire regulations required a proportion of Cabernet. Fortunately this has now been dropped and there are no minimum or maximum requirements as far as the permitted varieties (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grolleau, Pineau d’Aunis, Gamay and Côt) are concerned. Previously a number of Rosé de Loire producers used to ignore the rules, saving their Cabernet for either their red or Cabernet d’Anjou.

The dense, black-fruited 2007 Anjou-Villages-Brissac (70% Cabernet Franc, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon) is still in tank as is the 2007 Petra Alba (100% Cabernet Franc, grown on limestone), which is remarkably concentrated with soft tannins after 70 days of maceration. Bottling is due in March.

We discussed best drinking times for the recent vintages and Christophe suggested that it would be best to drink the 2007 and then wait for the 2006, which is high in acidity, and the 2005.

Because of difficult flowering conditions, Christophe didn’t make Petra Alba in 2008 with the grapes going into the Bablut Anjou –Villages-Brissac instead. However, he did make Rocca Nigra (100% Cabernet Sauvignon grown on schist and slate) as his Cabernet Sauvignon flowered in better conditions, although the yield was under 20 hl/ha. Both of these wines are looking promising, although it is still very early days, especially for Rocca Nigra which won’t be bottled until Easter 2010.

To finish we tasted 2006 and 2005 Rocca Nigra and Petra Alba. In both cases the Petra Alba showed better at this stage with greater delicacy and balance, although all four are rich, powerful wines. Ideally all of them still need at least another two years in bottle and, in the case of the 2005 Rocca Nigra, a minimum of of three years in Christophe’s opinion.

Domaine des Rochelles

(This report follows on from the report on the visit to Domaine Ogereau)

Jean-Hubert Lebreton

Following a very enjoyable lunch – simply but well cooked (Catherine Ogereau always promises us a simple meal with no starter but cheese and dessert always follows the main course) – it was off to the Lebretons at Domaine des Rochelles in Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets close to the Loire and north of Brissac-Quincé.

Here Tom King (RSJ Wine Company) and I were looked after by Jean-Hubert Lebreton. Jean-Hubert used to be the assistant-wine maker at Hardy’s Banrock Station in Australia, where just one tank held more than the entire production of Domaine des Rochelles. On average the Lebreton’s press 700 tonnes of grapes – at Banrock Station it was 35,000. He also worked in Bordeaux at Pichon-Baron and Lynch-Bages.

As elsewhere the Lebretons had a small crop in 2008 – down overall by 15%-20% due to a combination of frost damage, poor flowering and small grapes with little juice. Normally they make 350-400 hls each of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, making a total of around 800 hls of Anjou Villages. In 2008 they made only 180hls-200hls of each. Jean-Hubert mentioned that they are now selling 240 hls of VIn de pays Sauvignon in bag-in-box.

Both the 2008 and 2007 Anjou Blanc, which is vinified in 400 litre barrels, were attractive. The 2007 showing moiré honey, while the 2008 at this stage a more mineral character. The 2008 L’Ardoise Anjou Rouge (10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 90% Cabernet Franc) has a sooty nose and quite ripe, easy drinking fruit – as an Anjou Rouge should be. (Ardoise means slate – one of the rocks of Anjou.)

Tom King tuning into the French language

The 2006 Anjou-Villages (80% Cabernet Franc/ 20% Cabernet Sauvignon) initially has soft, floral black fruits with quite tarry tannins in the long finish. As you would expect the 2007 AV is less rich. It is also less tannic, so best to drink this while waiting for the 2006 to show its best. “It is difficult to get Cabernet Franc soft and supple – it needs time,” commented Jean-Hubert. “It is easier to sell La Croix de la Mission.”

The 2007 la Croix de la Mission (90% Cabernet Sauvignon/10% Cabernet Franc) has pretty impressive richness and structure for a 2007 with remaining soft.

Jean-Hubert: “2007 wasn’t easy. The Cabernet Sauvignon was picked some 10 days after the Franc – the yield was 45 hl/ha. With Cabernet Sauvignon it is possible to push the maturity further than with Cabernet Franc because Franc’s skin is not as tough and robust. The wine had three weeks maceration.

“In 2008 we picked La Croix de la Mission on 1st and 2nd November with the fruit coming in at 13.5-14% potential for 35 hl/ha.”

The 2008 La Croix is very deep coloured with sweet, richly concentrated fruit with good length. A this stage it is a bit cloying but is still has a long way to go before it will be bottled.

Onto the very rich and powerful 2005 Les Millerits, Anjou Villages, which comes in at 15% with blackcurrant and coffee notes. Still too young, this needs leaving in the cellar for at least another three or four years. Les Millerits is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard planted on friable, yellow schist. In contrast the 10 ha La Croix de la Mission is on quartz-red schist. It is aged for 18 months in barrels – partly new, partly one wine and partly two wines.

Jean-Hubert: “We didn’t make Les Millerits in either 2006 or 2007. The 2008 is not yet in barrel. It went through malo in tank but in future we’d like it to do its malo en barrique once we have enough cellar space available. While I was at Pichon-Baron we did some experiments on this and found that malo en barrique made the wines rounder and richer. ”

La Croix de la Mission close to the vineyard

The infant 2008 Les Millerits is like the 2005 – dark and brooding, with very rich, concentrated fruit and unlikely to be ready to drink before 2015.

Tasting these powerful Anjou-Villages Cabernet Sauvignons is once again a reminder that you can get good results with Cabernet Sauvignon in Anjou but that it is very site-specific. To get ripe fruit you need a warm soil, so that the vines get off to an early start. Planted in cold soils it is very rare to get ripe Cabernet Sauvignon here. The Lebretons are fortunately to have some of the best vineyards for CS in the area.

Finally onto the sweet wines with the quite rich, nicely balanced and citric 2007 Coteaux de l’Aubance the first up. This is fermented and aged in 400 litre barrels. Not super sweet but one to enjoy as an aperitif or with blue cheese. The agreeably citric 2008 is lighter and without the same length as the 2007. It illustrates that 2008 is not a sweet wine vintage in the Loire. Providing you don’t pay very much for them, there are some perfectly pleasant wines to be enjoyed young and drunk as aperitifs or with rich pork and chicken dishes.

We finished by tasting the rich and concentrated 2007 L’Ambre, the Lebreton’s top L’Aubance with its fine peach and apricot flavours. Unsurprisingly L’Ambre was not made in 2008.

We talked about the rumours of some Anjou producers turning in 2008 to osmosis machines to try to make sweet wine without taking risks. Picking at 14%-15% potential and hoping the machine would work its magic. I guess this is an unfortunate illustration that despite the big renaissance of sweet wine in Anjou over the last 15 years that there are still producers who think that osmosis machines or chaptalisation for sweet wine are acceptable. They are not and we agreed that the sooner Anjou bans chaptalisation for sweet wine the better. Apparently the L'Aubance producers are considering banning chaptalisation – bravo I hope they soon take this long overdue step.

Cabernet Franc@Château de Villeneuve October 2005

New research shows that Cabernet Franc is not only one of the parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, it is also a parent of both Merlot and Carmenère. A group of French scientists working on grape DNA, in collaboration with Professor Carole Meredith, who was at UC Davis until she retired, have revealed that Merlot is a natural off-spring of Cabernet Franc and a previously unknown red grape named Magdeleine Noire des Charentes. Cabernet Franc teamed up with Sauvignon Blanc to produce Cabernet Sauvignon.

Further research by the group shows that Carmenère was parented by Cabernet Franc and a variety called Gros Cabernet, while the parents of the Loire’s Côt (known elsewhere as Malbec or Auxerrois, especially in Cahors) are Magdeleine Noire des Charentes again and Prunelard. The Black Magdeline was also a parent of the unknown grape Mourtès this time pairing up with another forgotten variety called Penouille.

Côt@Domaine Joël Delaunay September 2008

The research was published in the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research on 22nd December 2008. The parental link between Carmenère and Merlot suggests a logic to the Chileans confusing Carmenère with Merlot.

Clearly fidelity and monogamy are not the norm in the grape world.


Here is the abstract for the article:

Authors:
J.-M. Boursiquot , T. Lacombe, V. Laucou, S. Julliard, F-X. Perrin, N. Lanier, D. Legrand , C. Meredith and P. This

Background and aims: Based on parentage analysis of a large nuclear simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker database of grapevine genotypes, we propose the pedigree of several cultivars from southwestern France including Merlot, one of the world's major black winegrapes.

Methods and results: The putative mother of Merlot, deduced from inheritance at 55 nuclear and three chloroplast microsatellite loci, is a non-referenced and previously unknown cultivar, first sampled some years ago in northern Brittany where vines were cultivated at the end of the Middle Ages, and then identified in four places in Charentes. Considering both the name used by the growers of this grape and the literature, we have named it Magdeleine Noire des Charentes. The putative father of Merlot is Cabernet Franc, already involved in the parentage of Cabernet-Sauvignon. Further analysis of genetic relationships leads us to propose the kinship group of Merlot composed, among others, of Carmenère (Gros Cabernet × Cabernet Franc), Merlot Blanc (Merlot × Folle Blanche), Cot (Magdeleine Noire des Charentes × Prunelard) and Mourtès (Magdeleine Noire des Charentes × Penouille).

Conclusions: These results shed new light on the origin of Merlot and on the relationships among several cultivars from south western France.

Significance of the study: Our discovery of the key genetic role of a previously unknown cultivar in the origins of some significant cultivars reinforces the importance of deep exploration, before it is too late, to discover original genotypes which have not yet been collected or referenced.

(16th August 2008: Montlouis and the last day of visits with The Wine Detective)

François Chidaine: 16th August 2008

We met at La Cave Insolite, François’ wine shop in Montlouis in the middle of the Quai Albert Baillet that runs along the south side of the Loire. La Cave Insolite stocks the Chidaine wines as well as other like-minded Loire producers. François’ wine making cellar is in the small hamlet of Husseau along with a number of other Montlouis producers like Jacky Blot and Franz Salmon.

In 1989 François Chidaine started working with his father, Yves, on the family vineyards, which then totalled five hectares. Now he has 14 hectares in Montlouis, 10 ha in Vouvray including the historic Clos Baudoin, which he and his partners acquired from Prince Philippe Poniatowski. A long drawn out process that started in 2002 and was finally completed in 2007 with the Prince moving out of his long-time home in early 2008. François also has six hectares in Touraine including 1.5ha in the village of Chissay in the Cher Valley.

The estate has been biodynamic since 1999 and François is now established as one of Montlouis leading producers. In Vouvray he has a big job re-establish the Clos Baudouin as one of the top vineyards in Vouvray after many years of neglect for unfortunately the vines in the Clos are in a very poor state and it is going to take 15 years to put them right. “The Prince was badly advised,” says François. “The wrong clones were planted and the vineyard was not properly looked after. It takes years to rescue a vineyard and put things right. We are not working for us but for the generation to come.” says François.


I remember a visit to Poniatowski a little while before François became involved. It was at the time when Nicolas Renard, who had produced amazing wines in Jasnières, was briefly in charge. It was apparent that the two men had very different views on how to look after vineyards and make wine. Nicolas Renard wanting to reduce yields as he had successfully done previously in Jasnières until Nicolas was forced out through a dispute with the owner of the vineyards he was renting that went to court. It was also apparent that the Prince had huge stock of wines from vintages stretching back at least well into the 1980s. I remember a very substantial stack of 1984, one of the worst vintages of the 1980s.

(See an account by David McDuff on a visit in 2004 to the Poniatowski estate:
http://mcduffwine.blogspot.com/2007/11/last-vouvrays-of-philippe-poniatowski.html)

François looks for purity and minerality in his wines and has a preference for those years like 2002, 2004 and 2007 when his Chenin does not become super-ripe. Like Philippe Alliet in Chinon he is not a great fan of the super rich vintage of 2003. Although he does make some good and delicate sweet wines when climatic conditions insist, François' real interest is in the drier styles of Montlouis and Vouvray. “I prefer difficult vintages that show the Loire’s true personality.” Unlike the majority of the producers in both Vouvray and Montlouis François concentrates on still wines. “90% of my wines are still,” he says, “while between 60%-70% of the overall production of the two appellations is sparkling.”

Vouvray: La Vallée Chartier road destroyed by
the storm of 31st May 2008. Taken on 2nd June.

“2008 has been difficult,” François explained. “Like last year we have had problems with mildew. The big storm in Vouvray on 31st May meant that we couldn’t get into the vineyards for three weeks to treat the vines.”

On the afternoon of the 31st May Vouvray was hit by torrential rain that flooded houses and washed away some of the steep roads that lead down the steep coteaux. The storm got marooned over Vouvray – no rain fell in Husseau just to the east of the town of Montlouis and little in Rochecorbon just to the west of Vouvray.

Vouvray: small van crushed by trees brought downby the torrent of
water on 31st May 2008. The van's owner, who was just
about to get in when it was engulfed had a lucky escape.

Before we start tasting the 2007s François explains the overall differences between Montlouis and Vouvray. The soil at Vouvray is predominantly argile-calcaire (clay and limestone) while Montlouis is mainly argile-silex (clay and flint), which gives Vouvray more power and finesse than Montlouis. The wines are aged in demi-muids (600 litre) barrels of which 10% are new as François is not a fan of new oak.

François in his cellar at Husseau: late January 2008

We start with a couple of 2007 Vouvrays – Les Argiles and Le Clos Baudouin. Les Argiles is very clean and straight, quite ripe with a hint of honey – typically 2007. In contrast Le Clos Baudouin was tight, closed and a little rustic, although the nose was richer. It needs three or four years to come round. Then across the Loire to the powerful 2007 Clos du Breuil, Montlouis – grapefruit flavours and a lot of finesse from 35 year-old vines.

Next up Les Bournais that comes from a 2.5 ha parcel on argile-calcaire in Husseau that was cleared of scrub during the 1990s and planted in 1998-1999 using massale selection. The resulting wine is powerful, pure, long and honeyed. “The vineyard is well ventilated. At the beginning I didn’t know the potential of Les Bournais,” François admits. The rich, powerful and honeyed 2007 Choiselles has four grams of residual. All of the 2007s so far have around 13% alcohol.

The Clos Habert with 15 gms of residual is from the argile-silex plateau comes from 25 year old vines and is all understated finesse and purity as is the Clos du Breuil. The quite rich, softly honeyed but also mineral Les Tuffeaux has 17 gms rs and comes from a second passage through the vines picking over-ripe Chenin. “Liquroice and smoky,” comments François.

Le Bouchet (Vouvray) ended the 2007 Montlouis and Vouvrays. “An extraordinary terroir on the premiers côtes,” enthuses François, “classic Vouvrays – minerals and truffles. You really need to be on the premiers côtes as the vines behind the côtes produce more rustic wines with less finesse.” Le Bouchet is rich and honeyed with passion fruit, a touch orange rind and other citrus flavours. This should have a considerable life ahead of it. Similarly the other 2007s should age well.

Then we tasted a couple of sparkling wines – a Montlouis méthode traditionelle 2005 and a Vouvray Pétillant 2004. Both wines have no additional dosage. The Vouvray was honeyed, yeasty and a little rustic, while the Montlouis was ripe, quite delicate and easy to drink. However on the evidence of this small sample, it is clear that François' still wines are the ones that stand out.


Time before we left to have a quick look at François’ Touraine wines. At Chissay he has Sauvignon Blanc, Côt and Pineau d’Aunis – with Eric Nicolas of Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir as the ‘reference’. First the crisp, grassy and nettley 2007 Sauvignon picked between the 13th and 17th September. “This year we may be picking a week later – around 20th-25th September. The 2007 Rosé de Touraine is two-thirds Grolleau and one-third Pinot Noir has attractive freshness and length. We ended with the rich, spicy and powerful 2006 Pineau d’Aunis (17%)/Côt (83%), which is aged a year in barrel. "Fabulous variety," said François. Obviously too young it will be interesting to taste this gain in a couple of years – unfortunately only 4000 bottles are produced so this may well not happen.

La Cave Insolite – Chidaine, 30 Quai Albert Baillet - 37270 Montlouis-sur-Loire.

Tel: 02 47 45 19 14
Email: francois.chidaine@wanadoo.fr
Web: www.cave-insolite-chidaine.com

I caught up briefly with Vincent and Catherine on the phone this morning for a progress report on 2008.

Vincent: Overall the vintage isn’t too bad. We have been very surprised by how little there is – lack of juice in the grapes and small berries. However, the quality across the board – Rosé de Loire, Cabernet d’Anjou, Anjou Blanc Sec and the reds – is good. We finished the Cabernet Franc last Saturday. As it was completely ready we picked all of it in a day with a big team of 20-25, including university friends of Emmanuel (Catherine and Vincent’s son). The Franc had 13% potential and the acidity had come down to 4.8 gms – 10 days ago the it had been up at 7.5-8 gms. But the yield is only 20 hl/ha!

“On Thursday we finished the Cabernet Sauvignon in the Côte de la Houssaye – potential 13.7%. As far as the sweet wines are concerned we have hardly started – just two small passages through the vines with the grapes around 18% potential. The Chenin is now about ready to pick but it’s damp this morning and unfortunately rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday. The pity is that if we had fine weather there is only about a week’s picking left.”

Vincent and Catherine with 2007 Coteaux du Layon
at the start of its fermentation (early Nov 2007)

A quick call this evening to Christophe Daviau, Domaine de Bablut, to find out how the vintage is progressing. The Daviau family have been at the Bablut in the market town of Brissac since 1546 – an estate agent’s nightmare!

Christophe: “We are still harvesting. We have finished the Cabernet Sauvignon – the last grapes were picked on Friday. The Cabernet Sauvignon was very ripe including the pips and skins and this year is much more evenly ripe than the Cabernet Franc, which is decidedly variable. I expect that there will be a 2008 Rocca Nigra (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) but am less sure about whether we will release a Petra Alba (Cabernet Franc on calcaire – limestone) in 2008. As usual the Cabernet Franc on calcaire is later in ripening.

Cabernet Sauvignon vines@Brissac
overlooking the L'Aubance Valley

“There is still not much juice in the grapes. Yields are about two thirds of what I had anticipated – about 25-30 h/ha for the Cabernet Sauvignon.”

“We didn’t pick this morning as there was a little rain but I expect we will start picking the Cabernet Franc tomorrow morning and finish on Friday. We picked the Chenin for the Anjou Blanc on Thursday and Friday of last week. It was a good thing we did as noble rot really developed over Saturday and Sunday. As for the Coteaux de l’Aubance I expect that we will begin on Friday and we’ll pick Monday and Tuesday – the forecast is good until Wednesday. Noble rot is now developing. I might release a little Grandpierre (Christophe’s single vineyard L’Aubance, which has a wonderfully mineral character, but there will be very little as the parcel was frosted.

It’s is a problem getting some of the grapes fully phonologically ripe as most of the leaves have now fallen off – because the vines started to anticipate winter early due to the cool temperatures in August. Also, of course, the vintage is later than in recent years.”

Christophe Daviau

After a fairly miserable day for much of yesterday in the Pays Nantais, it cleared up a bit when we moved eastwards to Anjou in the late afternoon.

Today started misty over the Coteaux de l’Aubance. Initially it promised to be fine once the mist lifted but blue skies soon gave way to clouds. I spent the morning with Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut) looking at the vineyards that are now run biodynamically.

Cabernet Franc destined for Petra Alba (calcaire soil)

Cabernet Franc destined for Petra Alba
– note grapillons on ground bottom left

Now around 10˚ potential alcohol and 8˚ acidity the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignons are at least a good ten days to a fortnight before they are ready to pick. There are signs of the start of some botrytis developing on the Chenin but it will be a while before they start picking.

Currently the team of vineyard workers going through the Cabernets are stripping off the grapillons (also called verjus) and dropping them on the ground. Grapillons are second generation bunches that ripen later, if they ever do, than the main first generation bunches. At the moment they are green, so easy to spot. Once they change colour they will be much more difficult to identify. If the grapillons are not eliminated, then they will give the wine green, unripe flavours.

A grapillon – unripe second generation grapes
that will make your wine taste green and sharp

In 1989, which had an amazingly fine summer and autumn, Didier Richou of Domaine Richou in Moze-sur-Louet made a small cuvée of Gamay from the grapillons harvested in late November or early December, which I believe had 13% alc.

Grolleau Noir

As rain was forecast Christophe didn’t pick yesterday instead getting the highly reputed mobile bottlers Brault to come. Amongst the cuvées bottled were the Coteaux de l’Aubance Grandpierre 2005 and 2006. Picking started again today with the Sauvignon Blanc (VDP de la Loire) being machine picked.

Sauvignon Blanc: VDP de la Loire

Machine picking Sauvignon Blanc