2011 Cabernet Franc@Château du Petit Thouars

Sébastien du Petit Thouars

A brief visit to Château du Petit Thouars on Wednesday to see the Cabernet Franc just before it was harvested yesterday. The grapes, which will be machine harvested, looked in good condition. Any rotten or poor grapes have been removed by the picking machine passes. Their vineyard at Saint Germain sur Vienne has a cooler climate than the nearby Chinon appellation, so the grapes ripen a little later. 

As well as looking forward to a good harvest in 2011, Sébastien is hopeful that the Chinonais will accept their request to be included in the Chinon appellation. The Chinonais are due to vote on the request next year but at the dinner during La Verticale du Chinon (15th September 2011) Jean-Max Manceaux, president if the syndicat, seemed to be positive about their application, which concerns only some 50 hectares with the same clay limestone soil as found in the appellation vineyards on the south bank of the Vienne.

This small area of AC Touraine vineyard is being orphaned by the jihadists of AC Touraine in the Cher Valley, who intend to outlaw 100% Cabernet Franc and 100% Chenin from the Touraine appellation.      

More 2011 Cabernet Franc

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.          

Having discussed the AC reforms and the possible solutions we moved onto to tasting some unfinished wines in the cellar. When Yves and Marguerite began to make wine again they used the old cave, which like many of the cellars in this region had originally been created when people quarried the tuffeau (limestone) to build houses. Later it has been used for wine making and you can still see  notches on the cellar wall where a large wooden press was attached. A few years ago they built a more modern facility at the entrance to the cave where they have the press and some stainless steel and fiberglass vats.

We started the tasting with the 2009 Rosé. This is a clear indicator that wine making here comes before commerce. It was obvious that Sébastien would have liked to be able to have some 2009 Rosé to sell over the summer. However, the 2009 is not yet ready. It has been fermented in 400 litre barrels. "2009 took a long time to complete its alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. They have only just finished," said Michel. Sébastien looked somewhat crestfallen when Michel announced that the 2009 Rosé would not be ready to bottle until the end of the year. "It has to take its time," said Yves. "This is the first time that we have vinified our rosé in barrel.

Certainly although yet to be bottled this 2009 Thouars Rosé is far from your typical young rosé. It has more weight and structure than is customary with a floral and red fruits character. I fancy that if you tasted this blindfolded you might well have difficulty identifying it as a rosé. Will be interesting to taste when it is finally in bottle.   

Sébastien du Petit Thouars and Michel Pinard

We then tasted some 2009s reds including the Reserve from barrel which looks promising with dense fruit, good balance but slightly drying tannins but it still has some months in barrel left. We also tasted a potential special cuvée from 2009 – a blend of old vines and press wines.

Next we headed out into the vineyard to the Clos just above the château and to see the new plantings of Chenin Blanc. The vineyards are grassed over in the centre of the row with weeds between the vines controlled by weedkiller.

The new plantings of Chenin Blanc are selection massale planted on calcaire ("pretty hard" – Michel) along with some silieuse.

The new Chenin Blanc plantation

Post on going 

Part One is here.