Pipette and glass@the cave Domaine de la Taille aux Loups

I spent this afternoon with Jacky Blot (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups) first visiting his new vineyard – Le Clos de Mosny – and then tasting from barrel a number of his 2010 Montlouis and Vouvray.

Jacky looking towards the south western end of the Clos

Jacky and Joëlle Blot took over the historic Clos Mosny from Monmousseau after the 2010 harvest. See the details here. Driving along the D40 from Saint-Martin-Le-Beau to Montlouis you pass the southern end of the Clos, whose walls completely encircle the 12ha vineyard and the Château de Mosny making 1.6 kilometres of wall to look after! Jacky has already hired a stonemason called Antoine to repair and look after the walls. I suspect he will be busy!

Ivy infested gateway

Although I had previously looked through the gate at the Clos I had never been inside, so it was particularly interesting to visit it with Jacky yesterday. It seems very likely that not all of the Clos will produce the same quality of grapes. The soil is a mix of flint and sand. Typically the soil in Montlouis becomes more sandy as you approach the southern part of the AC around Saint-Martin-le-Beau. The Clos slopes gently down from its northern end to the D40 road. It seems likely that the best part of the Clos, which faces south – south-west, will be from the upper and the middle parts. In the lower part the soil may be deeper with more clay. There looks to be a frost prone hollow at the south-western end. Some of the vines are around 50 years old.

The intention is that the best fruit from the Clos will be used for a single vineyard cuvée with the lesser fruit going into either Les Dix Arpents or to the base wine for Triple Zéro.

Pruning in the Clos (above and below)

Vines beyond the wall are part of the Clos Michet

Pruning has already started in the Clos as the cold snap at the end of November has allowed producers to start pruning earlier than normal. It makes particular sense in the clos as all the posts, etc. will be replaced here once pruning has finished. Yields will be drastically reduced – Jacky suggested that yields here in 2010 could have been in the order of 120/130 hl/ha, which was reduced at vintage time around 70hl/ha by discarding rotten bunches.

There is also a winery at the entrance to the Clos with a ground florr and cellar, which has a stock of bottles from the Monmousseau purchase. 

The Blots have a virtual monopoly of the Clos except for a small patch of untended vines (see below) at the northern end which belongs to the Château de Mosny, more an attractive manoir than a true château.

The Château de Mosny

It is a pity that the vineyard and the château have been in separate hands for some years now as there is a potential to make the Clos Mosny a show place for Montlouis.

Barrel tasting of 2010s

After visiting the Clos we headed back to the village of Husseau to taste the 2010s from both Montlouis and Vouvray from barrel – many of them still fermenting. It is always fascinating to taste wine at all of its stages, although it is difficult to fully know how the finished wine will taste, especially if there is still some sugar left to ferment and the blend is yet to be made. However, you can discern the broad outlines. At this early stage in their life they seem reminiscent to the 2007s and 2008s – very precise, clean flavours with quite strong acidity.

Among the many samples we tasted was the Clos Michet. 2009 was the first vintage of this Clos, which is adjacent and just to the west of the Clos Mosny. Michet is also 12 hectares but has a number of owners with Jacky now having some 4 hectares here as the deal with Monmousseau included some parcels in this Clos. My current impression is that Michet has less weight than Rémus, which comes from a number of parcels, but has delicacy, finesse and precision. We also tasted wine from the Château de la Bourdaisière, whose harvest Jacky has been looking after for the past three or four years.

Chassin – Jacky's preferred barrel maker

Jacky Blot (above and below)

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I gather that sometime over the past year Domaine Deletang (20ha) was sold to Michel Antier, a wine producer (Domaine de Cray) and restaurateur (La Cave à Montlouis).

Made from 50% Gamay and 50% Grolleau Noir and like the Triple Zéro white it has no added sugar at any point in its production. Dominated by red fruits, red currant in particular, it has an attractive touch of bitterness in the finish. Jacky Blot (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups) feels that this rosé could do with a bit more zip – to be more 'tonique'. One solution would be add around 10% of a Chenin base wine to this. Although for reasons beyond my understanding a still rosé (AC status) in the EU cannot be a blend of red and white wine, this is perfectly acceptable for sparkling wines.   

Le Clos du Château de Mosny

We arrived at the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups just after Joëlle and Jacky had finished lunch. As we were the first of the afternoon callers we had time to chat to Jacky about his recent acquisition of Le Clos du Château de Mosny (AC Montlouis). This is quite a complicated story.

Around 2007, while chatting to a representative of Monmousseau, the sparkling wine company based in Montrichard, Jacky expressed an interest in Le Clos Mosny should Monmousseau ever be interested in selling. The rep had told that Jacky even though they had reps in 38 of the US states they were unable to sell their Montlouis there. Instead the grapes from the Clos were going into their sparkling wine range. This made little economic sense as they could buy grapes cheaper on the open market than they could be produced at Le Clos.

Soon the boss of Monmousseau contacted Jacky and they started to negotiate. However, just as they were about to sign in the latter part of 2007, Monmousseau pulled out of the deal. The 2007 vintage was short and Monmousseau were unable to source all their grape requirements, so they decided that it was best to hold onto their vineyards as business was then good. Needless to say Jacky wasn't best pleased!

The Clos: October 2010

Then, of course, in September 2008 the financial world virtually collapsed and the situation changed. In time Monmousseau got back in touch with Jacky and negotations started again in 2009. By this time Ackerman had become involved as they were looking to buy the sparkling wine side of Monmousseau, which is based in Montrichard. Ackerman were not interested in the vineyards and one of the conditions of purchase was that Monmousseau should dispose of their vineyards before the sale went through. Naturally Jacky was now playing poker with six aces!

Monmousseau was keen that Jacky should take the 2010 harvest from Le Clos Mosny but he wasn't interested. "The crop level was far too high," he told me. Eventually agreement was reached and Jacky signed the contract on Saturday 2nd October and I believe that the Ackerman's purchase of Monmousseau then went through the following Monday. Under the sale Jacky Blot has bought the company running the vineyard, which includes the various agricultural buildings. The vineyard, which totals 20 hectares – 12 in Le Clos and 8 outside – is in fermage for 19 years. At the end of the 19 years it will become part of the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups.

I'm delighted that the Clos de Mosny, which is on the road between Montlouis and Saint-Martin-le-Beau is now in the hands of a dynamic individual producer. There may well be possibilities for developing wine tourism here. Jacky intends to make a single vineyard cuvée from the best parcels of the Clos. "I'm sure not all of the Clos has the same terroir or potential for quality," Jacky explained. "I hope we can identify four or five hectares for Le Clos Mosny. This will be plenty for a single cuvée. grapes from the less good parts of the Clos will either go into Les Dix Argents or into Triple Zéro."

By this time customers were starting to turn up, so we tasted the range of 2009 Bourgueils (see a separate post to come) and departed with some 2009 reds along with a judicious investment in the new Triple Zéro Rosé.