Aynard de Clermont Tonnerre: a global vision from his new office!

Posts to come include a tasting of 2009s at Couly-Dutheil on Tuesday afternoon, tasting more 2009s at La Maison des Vins de Tours with Marie Colombe Haudebert and a round up of recently tasted wines.

Opened a bottle of Aynard and Isabelle Clemont Tonnerre's 2009 Les Chaffines, AC Touraine. This is 100% Sauvignon Blanc and has mouthfilling texture and the typical richness of 2009 – more tropical fruit than grassy and gooseberry. It lacks a little bit of freshness in the finish, so is a better food wine than apéritif.

On our return to London Sunday evening we drank the Clos du Porteau's PetNat – a fun wine made from 80% Gamay and 20% Grolleau with an attractive mid-pink colour and 8% alcohol, so there is some residual sweetness. I should have taken a photo of a glass of his PetNat but the wine had been drunk by the time I remembered my camera!   

Duchesse de Clemont Tonnere

Aynard and Isabelle Clermont Tonnerre, Clos du Porteau 

News yesterday that the PetNat of the Clos du Porteau (AC Touraine) has fallen foul of France's byzantine wine laws with their Red PetNat, a new product. A blend of Gamay and Grolleau it has a fashionably low level of alcohol – 8.5%. It appears to correspond to a demand in the UK market as Aynard and Isabelle de Clermont Tonnerre, owners of the Clos, have orders for it from Waitrose and Harrods. 

Unfortunately the UK importers needed to check this new product out with the UK wine authorities before it could be imported. The query was referred to the French authorities who spent some time considering whether it was a product that could be sold. Unfortunately Aynard and Isabelle were informed by magnificently bureaucratic fax on Monday (31st May) sent by tperson responsible for le Pôle Concurrence of the Consommation et Répression des Fraudes that their PetNat could not be sold either in France or anywhere else. The family could either drink all the 3000 bottles made (vive la modération!) or it could be turned into wine vinegar or distilled.

Le Clos du Porteau PetNat, which is a VMQTA (vin mousseux de qualité de type aromatique) falls foul of the French rules on several counts: it contains Grolleau; it has 8.4% alc and has 7.3 bar.* Grolleau is not on the list of grape varieties permitted for VMQTA. Unless it is an appellation d'origine protegée, the level of alcohol has to be a minimum of 9.5%. Also for a pétillant the pressure must be between 1 and 2.5 bars.

The fax concluded thus:

'En conséquence, comme <<tout vin élaboré à partir des variéties à raisins de cuve visées dans les classements établis en application de l'article 120 bis, paragraphe 2, premier alinéa, mais n'entrant dans aucune des catégories établies à l'annexe XI ter >>, le produit dénommé <>, ne pourra être <> (art. 113, quinquies, 3 du RCE 1234/2007, modifié par le RCE 491/2009).'

The Clos du Porteau has been promised a visit from agents of the Répression des Fraudes to ensure that this decision is respected.

* 7.3 bar seems to be very high not sure how you would bet a PetNat up to this pressure.