Yesterday I took the opportunity at the marché aux truffes@Marigny-Marmande to taste from most of the four or five Loire wine producers present. I started with the Jasnières from Christine de Mianville, a completely new producer to me.

She has just a hectare of vines in the Jasnières appellation at L'Homme and set up in 2005. I did wonder afterwards why it was worth her while driving the 113 kilometres from L'Homme to Marigny-Marmande. However, I see from Richard Kelley's profile that her home is in Varrains close to Saumur and only just over 60 km from Marigny.

Christine de Mianville has two parcels of vines and makes two cuvées of Jasnières, which has to be made from pure Chenin Blanc. Everything is picked by hand into small boxes. I started with the 2008 Chante de Vigne (13€) that comes from very flinty ground on the middle of the slope. The 2008 has bright fruit with touches of apricot and a quite lean, mineral finish. The 2007 (14€) has all the precision and minerality that is typical of this vintage. Both wines should age well. The last two wines came from their clay and limestone parcel – Les Cotières. The 2008 Les Cotières (17€) is richer and fuller than the Chante de Vigne and was my favourite of the three dry wines. I also tasted the  concentrated and mineral 2007 Les Cotières Passerillées (25€ for 50cl) made from grapes that have concentrated on the vine rather than been affected by noble rot giving it vivid and vibrant flavours of fruits confits leading to a long mineral finish.   

Production may be small but Christine's wines are clearly worth following. She and her husband have restored an old loge des vignes and they intend to offer visitors special weekend breaks in the Loir Valley. 

 

Christine de Mianville

72340 Lhomme 

Tel: 02.41.52.91.62

Mobile: 06.71.80.5763

email: demianville@voila.fr   

Today we spent part of the morning at the second of this year's truffle market at Marigny-Marmande. We had intended to go last week but as it was raining we decided against because we thought the market was outdoors. We only discovered later that it is held in the village's salles des fêtes. Just as well as it was again raining hard today and thoroughly miserable. 

A top quality truffle

We arrived about 9.45am when it was still relatively quiet but it soon got very busy. There were a number of truffle sellers present but also a number of other stalls selling 'les produits du terroir'. 1000€ appeared to be the going rate for top quality truffles. This, if I remember rightly, was the same price as it was in Vaucluse about five years ago when I went on a truffle and Rasteau press trip.

Over the past few years Touraine has seen the revivial of the 'production and harvesting' of truffles. Apparently in the Middle Ages there was a very large truffle market held at Richelieu. I bought a copy of a pamphlet called La fouace chere a Rabelais/ la Truffe en Touraine (3€) produced by the Association Géohistorique d'Information sur le Patrimoine. 

Truffle seller nosing one of his truffles (above and below)

More truffle sellers

As well as food there were several wine producers showing their wines. These included Luc Bizard (Château d'Epiré, Savennières), Christine de Mianville (Jasnières) and Bruno Breton (Domaine du Carroi, Bourgueil and Saint Nicolas-de-Bourgueil).

Christine de Mianville with her 2008 Les Cotières, Jasnières