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....'

Gateway@Cos d'Estournel

Yesterday the price of the 2010 Cos d'Estournel was released and is now available en primeur from Farr Vintners@£2180 a case of 12 ex cellars, so duty and vat will be payable on them if you want to remove them from bond to drink once they are delivery in the first part of 2013. By the time vat and duty at the current rates are added the cost is £2642.06 per case.

In contrast I can buy a bottle of Jean-Pierre Chevallier's excellent 2009 Le Grand Clos Saumur Champigny Château de Villeneuve for 18€including taxes from the property in Souzay-Champigny. For the price of 12 bottles of 2010 Cos I can have 164 bottles of JP's Grand Clos. The lunatics continue to run the asylum!

Château de Villeneuve   

To be fair, of course, I could doubtless make similar comparisons between good value, well made wines in the Côtes de Bourg and elsewhere in Bordeaux.

Thierry tasting down in his cellar

Early last Friday morning Nigel and I headed off to Saumur with a first stop with Thierry Germain (Domaine des Roches Neuves) in Varrains. First off we tasted the 2010 whites where Thierry continues to look for freshness and minerality, very different in style from the rich whites he made when he first arrived in Saumur back in the early 1990s. Solitaire 2010 Saumur Blanc, the second wine has minerality and balance. Isolite 2010, which is vinified and aged in a mix of 12 hl foudres and 500/600 litre barrels, has more ripeness and weight than Solitaire, although the finish is quite austere.

Thierry demonstrating how the vines are curled into each other

Before we started tasting we had a quick look at the Cabernet Franc vines by the winery. Thierry explained that they now have a trellis system with five wires to maximise the leaf area, and so maximise photosynthesis. He explained that they no longer trim the tops of the vines as is common practice throughout most of France. Instead the vine shoots are curled into the foliage, which appears to top them growing.

Then onto the reds. Firstly the 2010 Domaine des Roches Neuves, Saumur-Champigny with its vivid, easy drinking primary fruit from a short maceration. This cuvée has been bottled, while the rest of the reds we tasted from barrel. The 2010 Franc de Pied from ungrafted vines has an attractively soft texture and very pure black fruit flavours.

We finished down in the Roches Neuves extensive and warren-like cellars where the still unbottled , richly opulent and complex 2009 Marginale was particularly impressive.

 Further cellar shots

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Château de Villeneuve

From Thierry Germain's Roches Neuves in Varrains we crossed from the south of the Saumur-Champigny appellation to the north that overlooks the Loire. To Jean-Pierre and Florent Chevallier's Château de Villeneuve in Souzay-Champigny. Jean-Pierre is a close friend of Thierry's and his wines continue to be among the top wines from the Loire, although JP's quality tends to get less media coverage than they deserve.

We started with the yet to be bottled rich and lemony 2010 Saumur Blanc with its pure and mineral finish. JP said that due to a hail storm on 2nd May they will only have a very small harvest of Chenin Blanc this year. The 2009 Les Cormiers, which was vinified and aged in 12 hls foudres, needs time with the wood still showing a little but it has a fine mineral tension in the finish.

The new spring cuvée, 2010 Clos de la bienboire, is exactly what it is designed to be – deliciously, fruity. 2010 is the first commercial release, although JP made some in 2008 and 2009 as an experiment. The wine has no added sulphur, so needs careful handling and most of it will be sold locally. The 2009  domaine Saumur-Champigny is quite closed and tight needing time, so enjoy the Clos why this comes round. In contrast the floral and elegant 2009 Vieilles Vignes is more open and accessible. We finished with the finely structured 2009 Le Grand Clos with its silky texture. Presently closed in comparison to the VV, this has greater potential. Now 18€ a bottle from the domaine, it remains a bargain particularly in relation to Bordeaux wines of similar quality.       

Although Villeneuve has been effectively organic for the last nine years, JP is now seeking certification so the domaine is now in its second year of formally converting to organic viticulture. Jean-Pierre talked about the improvements Saumur-Champigny over the past 20 years. How he had been ashamed of them in comparison to Bordeaux back in the early 1990s but that now was certainly not the case anymore. The days of picking unripe and adding sugar have gone for good producers. Jean-Pierre stopped chaptalising in 1993 and hasn't added sugar to any of his cuvées since then. 

He spoke also of the influence on him of Charles Joguet, especially the wines from 1989 and 1990, which had convinced him of what was possible here.     

The church of Souzay-Champigny close to Villeneuve 

Chinon to follow separately tomorrow.

Château de Villeneuve released this new easy-drinking cuvée in time for Easter. Le Clos de Bienboire is a 1.5 ha vineyard, which Jean-Pierre Chevallier vinified separately this year for early release. Over the last few years even the straight Villeneuve domaine wine was being released later every year. The 2009 wasn't released until early 2011, so there was a need to return to a cuvée printemps style – juicy with the accent very much on the fruit. The 2010 Bienboire certainly meets that objective and is deliciously, soft easy drinking. Best served lightly chilled during the summer.

Bienboire is very much in the style of Audace from Les Champs Fleuris, except JP has yet to opt for a screwcap! See post here.

2010 Audace, Saumur-Champigny, Domaine Champs Fleuris

A tanned looking Christophe Surget, export manager for Couly-Dutheil, with 2005 Clos de l'Olive

Tuesday was the annual Thorman Hunt tasting held in the traditional surroundings of the Merchant Taylors Hall in the City of London. Entirely appropriate surroundings for the traditional values Thorman Hunt & Co Ltd, who concentrate chiefly on shipping French wines, although they do bring in some from Italy and a few from New Zealand, California, Australia as well as Massaya in the Lebanon's Bekaa Valley – partly French owned of course. There is nothing flashy about the company but they do have some excellent names in their portfolio such as Alain Brumont (Madiran/ Pacherenc), Charles Hours (Jurançon), Yves Cuilleron (nothern Rhône), Vincent Girardin (Meursault), Vincent Durreuil-Janthial (Rully), Jean Durup, and Christian Moreau from Chablis.

With best part of 450 wines available to taste and arriving later than I hoped, I only had time to concentrate on the Loires starting with Joseph Drouard's Muscadets (Domaine des Hauts Pemions in Monnières). The 2009 seemed quite lean and minerally at the moment, while his 2010 Muscadet La Hallopière was attractively youthful – floral and lemony.  

2005 Clos de l'Olive

Next a short range from Couly-Dutheil, presented by a tanned looking Christophe Surget – a few days recently in Martinique or was it the position of my flash that gave him such a healthy glow? Amongst the wines the 2010 Blanc de Francs (white made from Cabernet Franc) was showing well as was the 2009 La Baronnie-Madeleine (Chinon) with its sweet opulent fruit. The 2008 Clos de l'Echo and the 2005 Clos de l'Olive showed the contrast of the two vintages. The 2005 with rich, sweet, ripe fruit reflecting the sunshine of 2005, while the 2008 Echo, admittedly three years younger, a more classic Loire expression perhaps and quite tight and austere at the moment and, as one would expect, clearly needs more time in the cellar.

2008 Les Cormiers

Jean-Pierre Chevallier's Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc, Château de Villeneuve is always a reference for Loire Chenin. The 2008 is wonderfully clean and precise with weight balanced by its minerality. Can be drunk now but I expect it to take on further complexity with age. J-P's 2009 Saumur-Champigny has only recently been released. It is still quite tight – needing more time, so instead look for his 2008, which is drinking beautifully at the moment.

Other wines to be covered in next post.     

It is some time since I drank a 2000 Saumur-Champigny, so it was good last night to drink a bottle of Jean-Pierre Chevallier's 2000 Château de Villeneuve. Unlike in Bordeaux 2000 wasn't a particularly easy vintage in the Loire as the rain that would virtually continue without pause until March 2001 started in the Loire in mid-October before everyone had finished harvesting their Cabernet Franc. 

From memory J-P decided to make just the domaine wine in 2000, so no Vieilles Vignes or Le Grand Clos. The 2000 is drinking well at the moment mid-weight with attractive mature flavours and soft tannins in the finish. I don't think it is going to get any better but it should continue to give pleasure for another three years or so.

 

Jean-Pierre Chevallier and Yannick Amirault

 We had a wonderful evening with Yannick Amirault (Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil) and Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve – Saumur and Saumur-Champigny) presenting their wines at the RSJ Restaurant (Waterloo, London).  

Wines tasted 

Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve)
2001 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc
2007 Saumur Champigny 
2005 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny
1999 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny  

Yannick Amirault
2008 Coudraye, Bourgueil
2007Le Grand Clos, Bourgueil
2003 La Petite Cave, Bourgueil
2002 La Petite Cave, Bourgueil

Dinner                                                                                    
2008 Saumur Blanc, Château de Villeneuve

2007 La Mine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourguei, Yannick Amirault
2000 Saumur-Champigny, Château de Villeneuve
2006 Vieilles Vignes Saumur Champigny, Château de Villeneuve
2006 Les Quartiers, Bourgueil, Yannick Amirault

 Yannick Amirault

Dinner menu
Pan roasted scallops with wild mushroom risotto

Roast rib-eye of beef, spring vegetables, Jersey royals, red wine jus

Dessert: strawberry buttermilk pudding

Notes on wines to follow

Yannick Amirault in his cellar

There are still a few places left for chance to meet and taste the wines of Yannick Amirault (Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil) and Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve – Saumur and Saumur-Champigny) over a special dinner at the RSJ Restaurant in London's Waterloo.

Yannick and Jean-Pierre are among my favourite Loire producers and both make remarkable wines. This should be a fascinating evening and rare opportunity to meet these two excellent producers.

Jean-Pierre Chevallier during the 2008 harvest

Pre-dinner tasting
Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve)
2005 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc
2008 Saumur Champigny 
2005 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny   
1999 Le Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny  

Yannick Amirault (to be confirmed)
2007 Grand Clos, Bourgueil
2007 Coudraye, Bourgueil
2006 Malgagnes, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
2006 La Mine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil

Dinner                                                                                    
2008 Saumur Blanc
2007 Saumur Champigny                                                  
2006 Vieilles Vignes Saumur-Champigny                               
2007 La Mine, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil 
2006 Les Quartiers, Bourgueil  

Tickets are £45 each and this includes an opportunity to taste a number of wines from JP and Yannick and then a three course dinner.   

Dinner menu:
Pan roasted scallops with wild mushroom risotto

Roast rib-eye of beef, spring vegetables, Jersey royals, red wine jus

Pudding - George, the pastry chef, to decide on Monday!

To reserve your place please phone Nigel Wilkinson@The RSJ Restaurant on 020-7928 4554.

Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Château de Villeneuve)

I'm delighted that two of my favourite Loire producers – Yannick Amirault (Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil) and Jean-Pierre Chevallier (Saumur-Champigny and Saumur) – will be presenting their wines at the RSJ on Tuesday 13th April. Both Yannick and Jean-Pierre are meticulous producers and this is shown by the consistent quality of their wines year in year out.

Yannick Amirault drawing a barrel sample from his cave in the Bourgueil hillside

Some of the details of the format of the evening are yet to be decided but it may well be that there will be a walk around tasting followed by dinner with a few wines selected by Yannick and Jean-Pierre to go with the meal. Cost of the event is £45.

To reserve you place please contact Tom King on 020-7928 4554 or tom.king@rsj.uk.com
RSJ Restaurant, 33 Coin Street, London SE1

The RSJ Restaurant celebrates its 30th birthday this year and this is one of a series of producer events to celebrate the anniversary. I have been a consultant to the RSJ since 1989/1990.

Details of other producer dinners here in 2010.

Two recent wines that I have enjoyed: a 2008 Touraine Sauvignon from Antoine Simoneau in Saint Georges-sur-Cher and the 1999 Vieilles Vignes Saumur-Champigny from Château de Villeneuve.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc Touraine, Domaine de la Rablais

The Simoneau family has made big efforts to sell a considerable part of their production at the cellar door with a well stocked shop, open days and special weekends. This 2008 shows good ripeness – no cats' pee or vegetal flavours in sight – rather gooseberry, grapefuit and a touch of yellow plum, soft mouthfeel and some refreshing acidity. I still need to write up a visit I made there back last June. Sauvignon Blanc is their most successful variety and overall whites are better than the reds. It would be good to see them move away from the use of weedkillers but with 60 hectares it is easy to suggest such a move; much harder to put into practice.

Having decided on Tuesday evening that we deserved a mid-week treat, it was then a matter of choosing what this should be. In the end it was easy – a 2000 Grand Cru Saint-Emilion was easily discarded in favour of the 1999 Saumur-Champigny Vieilles Vignes from Jean-Pierre Chevallier's Château de Villeneuve. This is drinking really well now – around its best probably as I don't think it will get better but equally it is not about to fall off a cliff. It has lovely Cabernet Franc fragrance as well as a touch of animal, soft rich fruit and still a structure of rounded tannins to hold everything together.

Another bottle of Jean-Pierre Chevallier's Château de Villeneuve enjoyed. This time the 2000 Saumur-Champigny. If I remember correctly JP only made the domaine wine in 2000 blending in the wines that would normally go into the Vieilles Vignes and Le Grand Clos because he judged that the quality wasn't good enough. The 2000 is still youthful with no sign of brickiness, attractive mouthfilling black fruits and a hint of sootiness. It doesn't have great complexity – rather it is just a good drink. I can see no reason why it shouldn't last another four or five years.

1999 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc, Château de Villeneuve in the snow

Once again another example of the great cork lottery: two bottles of 1999 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc from Jean-Pierre's Château de Villeneuve on Wednesday night to celebrate a nephew's birthday. The first was deep gold and noticeably oxidative, although this became considerably less marked with a little time in glass. In contrast the second bottle was sublime with all the qualities of the first – the honeyed nose, mouthfilling palate and lovely balance – without the oxidative character and all in all greater precision. A wonderful reminder of the magical quality of Jean-Pierre's 1999 Les Cormiers. This was the first year that JP shaped his grapes in July – matching sure that the bunches were well spread out and that each was as perfectly shaped as possible.

As both bottles of Les Cormiers came from the same case and have been stored together, the only variable is the cork. There are those who maintain that variations between bottles are part of the charm of wine. I cannot go along with this nonsense: a producer works for the whole year in their vineyard to grow the best possible grapes and then in the winery to produce the best possible wine and then all their efforts are subject to the lottery of cork.

Interesting to see that Jamie Goode selected the screwcap as his personality of the last decade on his wine-anorak blog. Certainly the brave move by the 16 Clare Valley Riesling producers back in 2000 to go for screwcaps has had a big impact over the last decade, especially in Australia and New Zealand where screwcaps have become the norm. It has also forced the previously complacent cork producers to raise their game.

As I have already commented in previous posts the Loire has been slow, along with the rest of France, to embrace scewcaps, although their acceptance and use are now gaining ground. However, we are yet to see a major, top quality producer in Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé opt to use screwcaps on their top cuvées. As we are at the start of the teenage decade, I'll predict that by the time 2020 comes around very few Loire whites will be still closed with cork. Instead producers will have moved to screwcaps or possibly another alternative closure but not synthetic corks. I expect to see the most rapid change to occur in Muscadet.

Also on Jamie's blog is a report on the Semillon used in the crucial AWRI closure trial.

9th October 2009

The church at Souzay-Champigny and Château de Villeneuve

Florence Chevallier, Château de Villeneuve, Saumur-Champigny

"We are well advanced now and I expect that we will finish on Tuesday. We started on Wednesday 30th September with the white – the Chenin was magnificent – and the Cabernet Franc on Friday 1st October. The Ban des Vendanges was for Monday 5th October but as our degrees were already high we were able to start early. Both the Cabernet and Chenin are between 13%-13.5%.

As the weather forecast was uncertain at the beginning of this week we decided there was no point in waiting, so we harvested quickly with a big group of 35 pickers. Normally we do two tris (selective pickings) with the Chenin but the grapes were so good that we picked everything in one go. Had we done a tri then the degrees in the second picking would have gone too high."

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Vincent Ogereau, Domaine Ogereau, Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay

Vincent and Catherine Ogereau

I was delighted to learn that Vincent has now made a full recovery from his operation in May.

Vincent: "Our Chenin is really good – golden yellow. Last week we did a tri for the Layon and the grapes came in a 20% potential. The juice has very pure fruit flavours. This week I have been worried by the tropical conditions we have had – warm and humid – bringing the danger of rot developing in the Cabernet Franc. We picked for the Anjou Rouge yesterday – 12.8% potential and 4.4g acidity. it should be quite soft. Then we'll start the Cabernet Franc for the Anjou Villages on Monday. I'm out every midday in the vines tasting the grapes and the ripeness is now starting to change very quickly with the acidity dropping. We need to get on picking now – it is too risky to wait.

We've picked some Cabernet Sauvignon to make rosé, which should be superb, but I'm not sure whether the Cabernet Sauvignon will get ripe enough, so that we can make red with it. At the moment the tannins are not ripe. The very dry weather we have had since the beginning of June has slowed down the ripeness. We have a small yield for the Cabernet this year."

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Christophe Daviau, Domaine de Bablut, Brissac-Quincé
"I think my Cabernet Sauvignon may well be riper than my Cabernet Franc. We've picked for the Anjou Rouge, which will have short time macerating on the skins so that it is soft and easy to drink. The Cabernet Franc on the limestone (AV Petra Alba) could potentially be very good, so I'm going to leave that for a while. For the Chenin we've finished the sec for Petit Prince and Ordovicien. The juice is 'super-beau' and very aromatic. We've also done a tri for the Coteaux de l'Aubance, which was at 19%-20% potential.

I'm a little bit disappointed by the yield but that's due to the dry weather, although the small amount of rain we've had in September and October has plumped the grapes up a bit. "

Although the 2009 Loire vintage has started for some – early ripening varieties like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc in the areas where the grapes ripen first – for many the waiting continues, Fortunately the weather is set fair for the moment – at least until Thursday and Friday of next week when Météo-France is forecasting some rain. I gather that the moon changed recently when the weather was fine, which is apparently a good sign. This is a nail biting time – so near and yet so far if the weather turns against you. This is another time in the vignerons' calendar when, in Sir Alex Ferguson's memorable phrase about the end of the football season – "it's squeaky bum time"!

News from two producers still waiting:

Vincent Roussely of Clos Roussely, AC Touraine
10th September 2009
"I'll be starting next Thursday with the Sauvignon, which is at 11.8% potential alc and 6.7 g of acidity – still a bit high. I think that while the dry weather in August ripened the grapes it also concentrated the acidity. Most of my Sauvignon is at Angé, where some of my vines were hit by hail. I think the hail damage caused stress to the vines and stopped them from developing and ripening for about two weeks, so I'll be starting a little later than people who weren't hit by hail. In parcels damaged by the hail I have probably lost about 40% of the crop. Taking the Sauvignon overall I guess I have lost about 20%.

The Gamay is looking good but I'm in no hurry to pick as I want to let it get properly ripe."

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Jean-Pierre and Florence Chevallier@Salon des Vins de Loire 2009

Florence Chevallier, Château de Villeneuve, Saumur-Champigny/Saumur
11th September 2009
At the moment the vines are looking magnificent – the grapes are very healthy with none of the diseases that we had in 2007 and 2008. About a fortnight ago we had 21mm of gentle rain spread over three days, which was very good for the vines. Being gentle the rain soaked in. As it has been so dry had it been heavy the rain would have run off taking soil with it. We think we will start around the 28th September but much depends on the temperatures over the next two weeks. As always we will have a small harvest – we never look for volume. Generally we have good vintages in years ending in 9 – 1989 and 1999."

It is true that the 9's have often been good – Villeneuve's 1999 Les Cormiers has been magnificent recently. Prior to the great 1989 vintage, 1979 and 1969 were OK, 1959 is another very fine vintage as are 1949, 1929 and the 1919 Le Mont Moelleux Huet was magnificant in April. So fingers crossed!

2 September 2009

Keith Prothero considering the 1989 Clos de la Dioterie, Charles Joguet

Had a very agreeable lunch with Keith Prothero, who is involved in various charity (just giving) and wine projects including the Pebbles Project, Mullineux Wines and is an investor in the award winning The Sampler.

Apero: 1976 Le Mont Vouvray demi-sec, Domaine Huet

This is one of the remaining bottles that we bought during one of several visits to Domaine Huet in the early 1980s. We bought a number of 1976s – mainly moelleux. Many of them have had problematic corks – not corked but not well sealed so several of them have been quite ullaged. One, indeed, that we tried about a year to 18 months ago was only two-thirds full. Nevertheless I pulled the cork, fearing the worse, and was amazed that it was still fine and not oxidised.

This demi-sec was less ullaged – high shoulder – but was probably more affected. A question of being demi-sec rather than moelleux, the higher level of sugar providing greater protection? Mid to deep gold with definite notes of oxidation on the nose; on the palate this still has that wonderful balance of honeyed fruit and acidity that makes Huet's wines so thrilling. Slightly baked fruit – a reminder of how hot and dry 1976 was. (In the UK Denis Howell was famously appointed 'Minister for Drought' whereupon the skies opened a few days later!)

This being a déjeuner de la modération Keith and I kept some of the 1976 to try later on – it worked well with my linguine and crab and, a while later, with the blue cheese. I had put it in a carafe and over the course of a couple of hours or so it opened up and certainly didn't become more oxidised, although I do think that due to the ullaging it wasn't as good as it might have been. Nevertheless memorable.

First course: 1998 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc, Château de Villeneuve

Les Cormiers is Jean-Pierre Chevallier's top cuvée of Saumur Blanc, vinified in 500 litre barrels with a proportion of new oak. JP is always keen to keep Chenin's acidity, so there is no malo here. The 1998 is an interesting contrast to the 1999, one of JP's really great Les Cormiers. The 1999 is much richer, creamier, more flattering than the 1998, which was a difficult year with a wet and cool September. The quite austere 1998 reflects this with precise minerality – still very youthful. Tasted blind it would be difficult to divine that this wine is now nearly 11 years old. Worked well with both Keith's quiche and my linguine and crab.

1996 Grand Clos, Saumur-Champigny, Château de Villeneuve

I'm a great fan of 1996 Loire reds – a really classic vintage – and I think Jean-Pierre Chevallier's Grand Clos is one of the finest examples of the vintage. It has the typical Loire Cabernet Franc herbal character with touches of sous bois, rich, silky fruit and good structure and length. It shows no sign of tiring and will still be a fine bottle for several years to come. Not surprising that the 1996 Grand Clos has stunned the Bordelais on a number of occasions in blind tastings.

1989 Clos de la Dioterie, Chinon, Charles Joguet

Next, the 1989 Closde la Dioterie Chinon from Charles Joguet. This was made when Charles was at the height of his powers, nearly a decade before he retired, and when he was generally considered the best Chinon producer. I've had several bottles of the 1989 Dioterie and, although it had lovely silky, voluptuous fruit on the palate – closer to Burgundy than to Bordeaux – on the nose it was beginning to show its age. Initially when we opened it, it had that typical Joguet animal, kidney nose. However, it soon took on that tiring, slightly pencil shavings nose.

And the wine of the lunch: I'd have to go for the Grand Clos, although all revealed the possibilities of the Loire.

Hugo with the guacamole & king prawn

23 August 2009

Menu cooked by Hugo Naon

Hugo used to be at Cordeillan-Bages and Café Lavinal. He is now planning to open a restaurant in central Bordeaux. He agreed to cook this special dinner at our friend's house in Pauillac. Much of the preparation was done beforehand with Hugo cooking and assembling the dishes on the night. It was a great treat to watch Hugo at work and also to see how much could be prepared in advance.

Les mises en bouches

Foccacia & Grisini with dips:

Anchoiade

Caponata

Cebiche

Guacamole & king prawn
All good but the guacamole and the king prawn along with the cebiche, made from maigre – a local fish – were standouts.

Entrée

Tomatoes, rocket, peppers

Marinated tomatoes and a pungent rocket salad from Derek’s garden
The tomatoes were roasted in an oven for 12 hours at a low heat and this was a simple but delicious dish

Pasta

Spaghetti & clams
A great Italian classic – again apparently simple but wonderfully flavoursome.

Main course

Hugo salting the lamb

Hugo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where kids are taught to barbecue almost before they can walk. Hugo has revolutionised our Pauillac friends' barbecueing technique by showing how to build up a pile of hot coals on one side of the bbq and to regulate the heat by moving coals across as they are required. Also a lot of the cooking is done at a much higher height than most people customarily use, so avoiding the charred and blackened offerings that are typical of many bbqs.

Herb scented & grilled rack of lamb on a crusty polenta with 'petites legumes'
Just as delicious and succulent as the photo suggests.

Cheese

Dessert
The British-Italian connection: a trifle of summer pudding, vanilla ice cream & zabaglione Jean-Pierre's
Assorted berries from the Marche des Capucins in Bordeaux and a team effort in whipping up the zabaglione.

The wines:

We started with some Champagne from Eric Léger.

2001 Les Cormiers, Saumur Blanc Château de Villeneuve

The quality of Jean-Pierre Chevallier's top Saumur greatly impressed the eight of us, particularly two of our Pauillac friends' neighbours who said that there was nothing like this in Bordeaux. Initially the first bottle showed a little wood spice but this soon disappeared and the power, richness and complexity of Les Cormiers 2001 came through. The second bottle was a little more austere and mineral – clear bottle variation here. The 2001 Les Cormiers may well live longer than the 2001 Grand Clos that we drank the previous evening. If this wine wasn't appellation Saumur, it would be considered as one of France's Grand Vins.

2002 La Fleur Milon, Pauillac

The 2002 Fleur Milon drinking very well now with soft, supple black fruits underlaid by that typical Médoc tannin and austerity – good match with the lamb.

2007 Rémus, Montlouis, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups

2007 is the latest release of Rémus and it sold out within a couple of months.Served with the cheese, where despite being really too young its quite lean minerality worked well. 2007 is a vintage that should age well.

This 1990 Vouvray was a glorious finale from Bernard Fouquet. Mid-golden in colour with rich honeyed, 0apricot confit fruit and barley sugar flavours plus wonderful texture, this was a treat: a wine to sip slowly. Given its concentration it went well with our dessert. At the Vouvray Foire aux Vins one of the Vigneau-Chevreau brothers maintained that its is 1990 that is the greater vintage in comparison to 1989. I don't agree and I think both Noël Pinguet and Philppe Foreau believe that 1989 is superior to 1990, albeit that 1990 produced some very rich wines but 1989 has more complexity and finesse. Whatever Bernard's 1990 Selection des Grains Nobles is a reamrkable wine.

1990 Le Marigny SGN Vouvray Moelleux, Domaine des Aubuisières

The birthday boy – 'always worth practising before the event....'

2007 Sancerre, Henry Natter

Crisp, grapefruit quite austere and very much in the 2007 style – très droit en Français. very refreshing, especially on a hot day.




2008 Les Perrières, Saumur, Domaine de Saint-Just
Clean and lemony, 100% Chenin Blanc that sees no wood. May take more weight with age. Would be a good match with a plateau de fruits de mer.



2006 Saumur-Champigny, Château de Villeneuve
Herbal, soft Saumur-Champigny with good concentration for Jean-Pierre's domaine wine. Delicious – one of those bottles that disappear with startling rapidity.

4 August 2009

The line up

Back in the Loire arriving just in time to entertain Wink Lorch and Brett Jones of The Wine Travel Guides. They have been spending a few days in the Loire, which has included eating at two of the Loire's most interesting restaurants – C'Heu le Zib in Menetou-Salon and La Promenade in Le Petit-Pressigny. Both establishments I'm happy to report had met their expectations.

With a nice warm evening we are able to eat outside and take the opportunity to look at one or two bottles.

1986 Clos du Bourg Moelleux Vouvray Domaine Huet

We started with the 1986 Clos du Bourg Moelleux, Vouvray, Huet SA. As is so often the case with the Huet wines it is very difficult to judge the age of this wine from the colour, which is light gold – paler than you might imagine a 23 year old wine would be. Delicately sweet and beautifully balanced with crisp, precise acidity, this made a very fine apéritif. There was some discussion whether this really was a moelleux. It certainly wasn't demi-sec – too much residual sugar. My guess is that it has between 50 and 65 grams of residual sugar. This is, however, very much a guess as the acidity probably masks to sugar and makes the wine appear drier than it is analytically.

It is also I fancy an assumption that moelleux means sweet enough to drink with a dessert, which is often not the case. This, of course, underlines the stupidity of those who insist on describing all sweet wines as dessert wines.(I could go on at some length here but won't on this occasion.) This Clos du Bourg would be murdered by a dessert but as well as being a lovely apero would have been good with cheese, creamy pork and chicken dishes. It might also work well with sautéd Coquilles Saint Jacques.

2007 Montées des Roches, Saumur-Champigny, Domaine Saint-Just

With the simple warm salad of lardons and goats' cheese (from Epeigné-les-Bois) the surprisingly rich, supple and delicious 2007 Montées des-Roches, Saumur-Champigny slipped down a treat with the accent very much on its generous black fruits.

1999 Château de Villeneuve Vieilles Vignes

For the main course – plain roast chicken – we had a small, slightly lopsided vertical of Saumur-Champignys from Château de Villeneuve. Firstly the still youthful 1999 Vieilles Vignes followed by the fine 1997 Le Grand Clos. We discussed whether I had chosen to serve these two in the right order – given that the 1999 is still quite grippy, while the 1997 has more finesse and the soft, opulence that the flattering 1997s have always had. Although an argument could be made for putting the 1997 first, I think that as the 1997 Grand Clos has more complexity then it was better off being served after the 1999. However, the 1997 Grand Clos is not as good as the marvellous 1996.

1997 Le Grand Clos, Château de Villeneuve

For cheese we had two wines that included the one failure of the evening – the 1990 Château de Hureau Saumur Blanc 9Philippe Vatan), which was a bit oxidised and now past it. Brett kindly suggested that the 1990 was a painted lady with fading charms. I'm more inclined to feel that the wine's charm had faded. Not that this was in anyway Philippe's fault but mine for not drinking this earlier. His 1990 Saumur Blanc was a real revelation and an inspiration in the early to mid 1990s, showing what could be done with Saumur Blanc.

1990 Saumur Blanc, Château de Hureau

1994 Vin de Paille, Côtes du Jura, Alain Labet

Wink Lorch

Wink is a leading expert on the wines of the Jura and Savoie and she and Brett kindly brought along this 1994 Vin de Paille, Côtes du Jura from Alain Labet, a producer in Rotalier. Considerably sweeter than the Huet Moelleux, with its raisiny and nutty characteristics this is much in the style of an Italian Vino Santo. It was good with the cheese (Comté and some Gongonzola) as well as the raspberry tarts that completed the meal.

1990 Coteaux du Layon Saint-Aubin, Domaine Gaudard, Pierre Aguilas

With the raspberry tarts we also tried Pierre Aguilas' attractively honeyed and delicate 1990 Layon which was a good match with the strawberries. Pierre is now a grand fromage in French wine administration as he is now president of the Confédération nationale des producteurs de vins et eaux-de-vie de vin à appellations d’origine contrôlées (CNAOC).

The forecast is promising us a couple of fine days to enjoy the sunshine before rain sets in on Friday and Saturday.