Flowers and vines in the Clos Roche Blanche – Joe's type of vineyard 

I was very sorry to learn this evening that Joe Dressner of Louis Dressner Selections died last night after a long and remarkably courageous battle with a brain tumour that was discovered in the latter part of 2008. Joe chronicled this battle is The Amazing Misadventures of Captain Tumour Man – a humourous and often surreal blog. There is an appreciation of Joe by his son Jules here on the Louis Dressner site.

Unfortunately I never met Joe. It would have been good to have met this champion of many small, individual and exciting Loire producers. To appreciate why Joe was important you only need to look through the list (here) of producers that Louis Dressner imports into the USA and then to read on about the company and their philosophy. Also see a fine portrait of Joe by Bertrand Celce on Wine Terroirs.

2009 Gamay, Clos Roche Blanche         

Joe has long imported the wines of the Clos Roche Blanche (Catherine Roussel and Didier Barouillet) and did much to establish an enviable reputation for them and their wines, so it was very appropriate that I was drinking their delicious 2009 Gamay when I heard the news of Joe's death. Cheers Joe!

Mid-afternoon break for Noëlla Morantin's pickers – anti-frost device in background

Then back to work for the final row of the afternoon (above and below)

Dappled light in Clos Roche Blanche press house

Catherine Roussel: "We started picking the Gamay on Thursday and through yesterday, which was very hot – over 30˚C. We did have a thunderstorm on Thursday but fortunately we didn't have much rain although what we did have was very heavy. We finished picking the Gamay this morning. This year we expect it to be quite light as it is around 12% potential with 5.5 acidity. We plan to pick the Pineau d'Aunis on Tuesday." Hopefully Catherine and Didier will be making their delicious L'Arpent Rouge again this year.

2011 Gamay

Bertrand Celce has a fine piece here on the 2011 harvest at the Clos Roche Blanche on his Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France. We must have been following each around!

Across onto the north side of Cher in the village of Monthou we had a quick look at Jérôme and Dominique Sauvété's Sauvignon Blanc.

Plenty of life in these vineyards

Dominique told us that they weren't quite ready to start as the acidity levels were still a bit high. She expected that their vintage would be starting this coming Monday.

2011 Gamay@ Clos Roche Blanche's block@La Tesnière

Quick visit yesterday afternoon to a few local vignerons (+ a vigneronne) in the Cher to get an idea of how things are shaping up and when picking is due to start.

Vincent Roussely (Clos Roussely, Angé) was putting in a last afternoon on the paperwork that threatens to submerge many producers. From today it will down to getting everything prepared for the harvest, which Vinent expects will start a week today. He's happy with his Sauvignon: a yield of around 35 hl/ha because of coulure during the flowering with 11.8-12% potential at present.

Vincent Roussely in his office keeping the paperwork at bay

Then we went onto La Tesnière (Pouillé*) to see Noëlla Morantin and Laurent Saillard. Both were very busy getting everything ready to start picking on Monday, although things could change depending on the weather. The Gamay and Chardonnay are currently at 10.5% potential.

On Friday the 2010 Terres Blanches (Chardonnay) and 2010 Chez Charles (Sauvignon) will be bottled making space for the new vintage. Both of the 2010s are looking promising.

Noëlla Morantin

Tomorrow afternoon we will be back in this neighbourhood for the start of the vintage at the Clos Roche Blanche. Unfortunately Friday's weather forecast isn't great – some thundery rain. Hopefully the forecast will be wrong or the pattern will change.

* I'm tempted to start referring to Pouillé-sur-Cher to differentiate it from Pouilly-sur-Loire but this may only add to the confusion.

More Gamay@La Tesnière

Claude Aupetitgendre with his Montlouis methode traditionnelle

Claude Aupetitgendre is a vigneron in Civray de Touraine (AC Touraine) in the hamlet of Thoré just off the road from Tours to Vierzon (D976). Thoré is actually closer to Bléré than it is to the centre of Civray. He has 8.5 hectares here and has long grassed over his vineyards and aims for low yields.

In 2007 he entered into partnership Jacques Gozard to produce Montlouis from two hectares of vines near to Château de la Bourdaisière. They put together an association of 58 wine lovers – many from Paris but also some from further afield, Norway for instance.

The wines of Domaine de Montory are vinified in Lussault where this Saturday (7th May) they are holding an open day at 11 Vallée Saint-Martin from 10h-18h. 

 Claude with his sparkling Montlouis, Touraine Cuvée les Lys (Cabernet, Côt and Gamay)

Cuvée les Lys

La Boudinèrie, 2009 Gamay, AC Touraine, Noëlla Morantin

There are some things that are quite inexplicable. Take Noëlla Morantin's wines, which she makes at La Tesnière, Pouillé from vineyards that she bought off the Clos Roche Blanche. She is no distance from Epeigné-les-Bois but I have never managed to go and taste her wines even though it was my intention. It has taken getting a sample of her delicious 2009 Gamay from Les Caves de Pyréne to finally get round to tasting Noëlla's wine. La Boudinèrie is quite deep coloured with plenty of black fruit aromas with some attractive earthy and spicy notes. Softly textured this has spicy complexity as well as concentrated ripe fruit. Can be enjoyed on its own but it also worked well with cold chicken served with a potato gratin and cauliflower cooked with hot paprika and ginger.

Imported by Les Caves de Pyréne Noëlla's 2009 Gamay will retail around £11.99. Not cheap I would be happier to see it around £9.99. On the other hand it does come from low yielding, organically farmed vines and it does have the potential to keep a few years.

2009 Les Vieilles Vignes, Côte Roannaise, Domaine Robert Sérol

The second Gamay comes from much further up the Loire from the Côte Roannaise, some 70 kilometres east of the Beaujolais, so little surprise that the vines here are mostly Gamay. The Sérol has attractively sweet fruit with red plums and cherries to the fore. Easy drinking it is ideal as a red to drink by itself, although it lacks the complexity and the additional weight of Noëlla's Touraine.

The Robert Sérol is available from the Wine Society at £7.95.

Pinot Noir in Châteaumeillant

The relevant French minister has now found his pen and has signed the décret that promotes Châteaumeillant to appellation controlée status. Châteaumeillant was a VDQS but they disappear next year, so it was either promotion to AC or becoming a vin de pays. Unfortunately there appears to be a rule that no new Loire AC can make pure Pinot. Instead they have to put up with a blend of Gamay and Pinot – a truly ungainly mongrel. The fact that some of the most interesting wines from this 80 ha appellation used to be Pinot Noir, is entirely beside the point. Doubtless the Domaine Romanée Conti will soon see the error of their ways and plant Gamay, so that they too can have this miraculous blend – perhaps starting with La Tache with the experimental wine to be called une tache de Gamay. Of course in Limoux you can concoct a wine in the Pinot style from whatever grapes you happen to have to hand.

Wines from the 2010 vintage will be entitled to the AOC.

Here is the press release that gives details of the new appellation and the history of Châteaumeillant:

AOC Châteaumeillant

C’est en effet par décret du 22 novembre 2010 que ce vignoble de plus de 80 hectares a accédé à l’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (Décret paru au Journal Officiel du 25 novembre 2010).

La nouvelle a été accueillie avec soulagement par les professionnels du vignoble le plus central de France, professionnels qui ont attendu le décret près de 6 mois après le vote du Comité National de l’INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine).

« Nous savons que nous sommes une très petite appellation qui se situe dans une toute petite niche. Cette reconnaissance va déjà nous permettre de ne plus avoir à expliquer pourquoi nous ne sommes pas en AOC » déclare Pierre PICOT, président heureux du syndicat.

« Cela va nous permettre, avec les autres vignobles du Centre-Loire, de travailler sur un autre registre de communication » poursuit-il avant de conclure « Cette AOC va enfin susciter des vocations et amener de jeunes vignerons sur le vignoble et lui donner un nouveau souffle ».

Rendez-vous est déjà pris au Salon des Vins de Loire 2011 pour déguster les premiers Châteaumeillant AOC de l’histoire des vignobles du Centre-Loire.

Contact Presse : Benoît Roumet

benoit.roumet@vins-centre-loire.com

Pierre PICOT – Président du syndicat

Tel : 06 08 27 61 11

Châteaumeillant: Un peu d’histoire…

L’origine du vignoble se situe au Ve siècle. Châteaumeillant fut le Meylan des Bituriges avec la vigne biturica, le Mediolanum de Peutinger, nœud routier gallo-romain, véritable entrepôt d’amphores.

Grégoire de Tours mentionne le vignoble dès 582.

De 1220 à 1275, des chartes de franchises réglementent le bon vin, les corvées et le ban des vendanges. Ce dernier existe toujours.

A la fin du XVIIIe siècle, on importe le plant lyonnais, en 1830 le gamay beaujolais s’installe de façon durable.

La réputation de Châteaumeillant s’est établie grâce à son célèbre « gris », vin issu du pressurage immédiat des raisins de gamay.

Les qualités de ces vins seront reconnues en 1965 par un arrêté qui consacrera le vignoble VDQS : vin délimité de qualité supérieure.

Le 22 novembre 2010, le vignoble obtient l’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée.

Le vignoble

Le vignoble de Châteaumeillant, qui compte 82 hectares, est situé sur les communes de :

- Châteaumeillant, Saint Maur et Vesdun dans le Cher

- Champillet, Feusilles, Néret et Urciers dans l’Indre

Les Sols

Le vignoble de Châteaumeillant est planté sur des terres siliceuses à dominante sableuses et sablo-argileuses. Les sous-sols sont constitués d’une assise métamorphisée comportant principalement des grès, des micaschistes et des gneiss.

Cépages :

Gamay majoritaire (60% minimum pour les rouges et les rosés

Pinot noir (40% maximum pour les rouges et les rosés)

Pinot gris (15% maximum pour les rosés)

Filière : 24 déclarants dont

- 7 Vignerons

- 1 Cave coopérative regroupant 17 adhérents

Production annuelle moyenne : 4 000 hl (530 000 bouteilles) dont 63% de rouges

Ventes sur 12 mois en moyenne : 500 000 bouteilles dont 10 % à l’export

Châteaumeillant en AOC

C’est officiel depuis le 22 novembre 2010

Gamay@Châteaumeillant August 2009

1996 Touraine Gamay, Clos Roche Blanche

Continuing the Gamay theme in this week of the launch of the 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau, the 1996 Touraine Gamay from Clos Roche Blanche – still delightfully fruity (but no bananas) and youthful – now à point, although it should continue to drink well for a number of years. This 1996 Gamay has long been excellent and a clear example that well made Gamay de Touraine can age well.

1997 Côtes de Forez, Odile Verdier and Jacky Logel

This week there has been much talk – admittedly mainly in France and possibly Japan – of Beaujolais Nouveau and to lesser extent Touraine Primeur. So it seemed appropriate to try some older Gamay this week. Although I would be happy to try a few Touraine Gamay Primeurs if I happened to be in the Loire, in London the fashion for Beaujolais Nouveau has long receded and few supermarkets now bother with it.

There was no sign of any BN during a quick visit to Sainsbury's at Dog Kennel Hill, East Dulwich and as far as I know Tesco are not selling any either, although Waitrose have some on line.

Anyway back to the mature Gamay. Tuesday night we tried a bottle of 1997 Côtes de Forez from Odile Verdier and Jacky Logel. We hadn't intended to keep this so long but somehow it got mislaid. I think we must have acquired it during a visit to the Côte de Forez and the Côte Roannaise in August 1998.  Verdier and Logel are one of the few independent producers in the Côtes de Forez, an AC since 2000 with some 200 hectares of Gamay planted. Gamay is the sole permitted variety here – producing mainly red but a little rosé and even some sparkling. Most of the wine is made by the co-operative based at Trelins.

Accordig to their website they have 17 ha of vines – 14.5 ha of Gamay with 2.5 of Pinot Gris and Viognier. A few growers in the Côte Roannaise are experimenting with Viognier, which has to be sold in both appellations as a vin de pays. The Verdier-Logel vines are cultivated organically.

The Côtes de Forez is the Loire first appellation you reach as the river flows away from its source – about 150 kilometres from the Gerbier de Jonc where the Loire rises.

Although the 1997 would properly have been best drunk three or four years ago and was a little faded, it still had sweet fruit – typical of 1997 – and a noticeable Gamay character. Although not designed for long aging, this Gamay showed that it did have a potential to age. How much it had benefitted from quite extended bottle age is another matter.   

Odile Verdier and Jacky Logel
La Côte
42130 Marcilly le Châtel 
Tél. 04 77 97 41 95
Fax. 04 77 97 48 80
mail : contact@verdier-logel.com      

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

 Tasting in full flow

Reds made up the majority of the wines we tasted. 

Gamay

I started with a short series of Touraine Gamay. The 1990 Première Vendange from Henry Marionnet was one of two wines not from the Clos Roche Blanche and is an early example of a wine without sulphur. Now bricky in colour it had some Pinot Noir like aromas but was thin and fading on the palate.  Certainly this bottle was over the hill. The 1995 Clos Roche Blanche was disappointing – also thin and faded. However, the 1996 that I have drunk with pleasure over the years was still showing well with attractive fruit, although perhaps beginning to dry a little in the finish. Still remarkable for a Gamay of 14 years old that is not normally expected or really designed to age. 

Equally remarkable was the 1999 with still dense, rich brambly fruit and length and probably good for another few years. Indeed the quality of the reds from 1999 was demonstrated by this tasting. Because of rain during September, 1999 has tended to be considered as an average vintage. This tasting allied with a couple of Clos Roche Blanche 1999s – a Côt and a Closerie – have shown that these wines are now showing very well and that 1999s have turned out to be considerably better than anticipated. In contrast the 2005 Gamay was rather disappointing – mushroom aromas and quite tannic although it does have fruit. Perhaps it just needs a little more time!

 

 

Busy tasting

Today we held a big tasting of the wines of the Clos Roche Blanche arranged in several verticals with the oldest wine from 1987. A total of 42 wines were shown. Although impressive verticals are relatively common in parts of the wine world, today's tasting was a fairly unique event for a Touraine producer in the Cher Valley.

It is a testament to quality of the Clos Roche Blanche wines that although a few of the older wines were drying out there was hardly a complete dud. Even the 1987 Côt from a very difficult year was still there as a pale phantom. Otherwise perhaps the 1995 Gamay was closest to being off its perch – disappointing as the 1996 Gamay is still there are giving pleasure.

The wines 

Arpent (Chenin Blanc, Arbois etc.): 2000, 1999, 1998

Sauvignon: 2001 2000, 1996 1995

Sauvignon n°2 : 2007 2006 2004, 2002

Gamay: 2005, 1999, 1996, 1995, 1990 (Première Vendange, Henry Marionnet)

Côt: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1997, 1996 1995, 1994, 1987

Closerie (blend of Cabernet, Côt and Gamay) : 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1993

Cabernet: 1996, 1989 (Domaine Michaud)

Further details to follow.

Some of the bottles

Joseph Berkmann and Georges Duboeuf

A couple of firsts today: I have never been to Langan's Brasserie before even though it has been open for more than 30 years and I had never met Georges Duboeuf. The occasion was the opportunity to taste the much vaunted 2009 Beaujolais – the full range of the Duboeuf Beaujolais range through from the simple Beaujolais to the Moulin à Vent.

I'm aware we are still not back to the Loire – but at least we have a grape variety – Gamay, which is quite widely planted in the Loire most notably in Touraine and the Côte Roannaise. The latter only about 80 kilometres to the west of the Beaujolias. The best of the Loire Gamays, from producers such as the Clos Roche Blanche in Touraine or Robert Sérol in the Côte Roannaise, are the equal of many Cru Beaujolais.

Georges Duboeuf explained why 2009 was climatically such as good vintage in the Beaujolais. It started with very good weather in May and a successful flowering at the end of May. The weather in August was also excellent and certainly hot – Georges explained that he measured 40˚C in the vineyard. The vintage started on 24th August. Yields were low between 38-45 hl/ha with no trace of rot.

First floor of Langan's Brasserie

There were 23 Beaujolais from 2009 to taste. I thought the quality was uneven, although some allowance should perhaps be made for recent bottlings. There were some very attractive wines but equally there were some with quite green tannins. My favourite wines had ripe concentrated fruit but good freshness in the finish. They included Domaine La Madona (Fleurie), Domaine Descombes (Morgon) and Saint-Amour Flower Label.

Georges Duboeuf

Lunch was uncomplicated but delicious: starting with fillet of smoked trout with remoulade salad and mustard sauce. We drank the 2005 Pouilly-Fuissé Cuvée Prestige, which was rather oaky, with this course. The main dish was a very flavoursome saddle of new season lamb matched with the 2009 Château des Capitans, AC Julienas, that showed very well at table – considerably better than in the tasting. It was deliciously easy drinking and considerable discipline was required not to drink two or three glasses, so knocking out the possibility of any work later in the afternoon. With the cheese we had the rich and powerful 2005 Cuvée Prestige, Moulin à Vent.

2005 Equiss, VDT (colour here deceptive, actually grey, brown)

14th April 2010: Dynamic Vines tasting (cont) 

Julien and his father, Claude, have vines in Soings-en-Sologne at the western edge of the Sologne, a wooded region with many ponds and small lakes and famous for hunting. Not long ago I tasted Julien's 2004 Originel (100% Menu Pineau). For the 2007 (£18.20) the blend has changed to 80% Menu Pineau with 20% Romorantin. I was agreeably surprised by the 2004 whereas the 2007 lacks charm and is quite oxidative and medicinal.

I then moved onto two truly bizarre wines, especially with regards to their colour. The photo gives the 2005 Equiss (VDT – 100% Menu Pineau) a rich golden colour when in actuality the colour was an extraordinary greyey brown-like the colour of dishwater. Julien must have considerable talent to achieve such a curious hue! This is a vendange tardive but vinified dry. It does have a touch of honey but I certainly wouldn't want to pay £31.60 even if I did want to play a joke on friends. The 2005 Franc de Pied (VDT – 100% Menu Pineau) is also a vendange tardive and exhibits the same colour as Equiss. Also very oxidative with a note of iodine like an Islay malt. Again £31.60 a bottle.

The three reds were a little better. I tasted two Gamays – 2007 'Element-Terre' (£16.50) made from Gamay Chaudenay (a teinturier) – quite rustic with some greenish tannins in the finish. 100% was a Gamay à jus blanc was also from 2007 and was the best of the reds but very poor value at £17.90. The last red was the 2007 Ancestral, presumably a blend, supple with some fruit but quite marked acidity.  
Steven Spurrier was also at the tasting and I asked him what he thought of the Julien Courtois wines and he admitted he was equally bemused by them.        

2009 Gamay Clos Roche Blanche

Catherine Roussel did say that this Gamay would be showing at its best next year but we could not resist opening a bottle last night. It went perfectly with baked dorade (sea bream) with a prawn and orange butter. I was going to write detailed tasting notes but the wine disappeared too quickly for that. Suffice to say that it has lovely fresh ripe fruit, with some structure and good freshness in the finish. Certainly can be drunk with pleasure now, especially with food and has the potential to age – if you let it!

2008 Gamay Vieilles Vignes, Touraine, Vignoble du Haut Bagneux (Jean-Christophe Mandard)

On Thursday evening I thought it would be appropriate to open a bottle of Jean-Christophe Mandard's old vine Gamay to mark the return of electric power to the more isolated parts of the commune of Mareuil-sur-Cher. This Gamay from 65 year old vines has the concentration you would expect from old vines, so a Gamay needing food. The spicy black fruit worked well with lamb steaks, slightly less well with a magret de canard.

Jean-Christophe Mandard

I've tasted Jean-Christophe's wines (Vignoble du Haut Bagneux) on several occasion – his UK importers are Richards Walford and also the wines are listed by La Lionnière, Mareuil's ferme auberge, so I took the opportunity of tasting the reds during the Salon des Vins de Loire. (Given the range of Loire wines it is difficult to keep switching colours. I was on reds at the time and didn't have an opportunity to go back and taste the whites).

The Vignoble du Haut Bagneux has 21 hectares of vines with 10 different grape varieties planted including a parcel of 100 year-old Gamay de jus noir – a teinturier. (The vast majority of wine grapes have white flesh and includes all the top quality varieties. In the past teinturier varieties were used to give wines colour. Alicante Bouchet and Dornfelder are probably the best known today.) I must check with Jean-Christophe exactly which Gamay this is as there are apparently three different Gamay teinturiers – le Gamay de Bouze, le Gamay de Chaudenay and le Gamay Fréaux.

I started with the soft, easy drinking 2009 Gamay de Touraine that will be bottled this month made by carbonic maceration it had a hint of banana that can be typical of this fermentation process, especially if a particulr yeast has been used. Then the 2009 Cabernet – 60% Franc and 40% Sauvignon – with concentration, structure and quite marked blackcurrant notes. It will be bottled in April, whereas the soft and ripe Tradition – 50% Côt and 50% Cabernet Franc – will bottled in September.

Another domaine I need to visit. It will be interesting to taste the 2009 reds once they are in bottle.

Château de Chenonceau

Jim's Loire understands that yesterday a commission from the INAO was in the Cher Valley to visit the long proposed new 'villages' appellations of Touraine-Chenonceaux* and Touraine Oisly-et-Thésée. Apparently they were happy with what they saw, although there still needs to be work done on the criteria for the reds and defining the area of the two new appellations.

River Cher@Thésée-la-Romaine

To an extent this is good news, although I get worried when the INAO start looking at grape varieties – what should be allowed and in what proportion. One of the major characteristics of eastern Touraine is the diversity of the grape varieties used, although this is admittedly considerably reduced from what it was before the arrival of phylloxera. I fear that by the time the rules have been agreed and the appropriate French minister has found the official pen and signed the décrets it will be a complete dog's breakfast (un repas de chien complêt).

All too often the rules drawn up for some of the recent appellations appear to have been concocted by bureaucratic ideologues fuelled by high octane dogma. I've already mentioned several times in this blog how the rules for AC Coteaux du Giennois set red winemaking there back a number of years due to the INAO's insistence on making a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir obligatory and they appear to be dead set on making the same mistake in Châteaumeillant and the Côtes d'Auvergne. Not forgetting Saint-Pourçain where the rules now demand 75% Gamay to 25% Pinot Noir. Who has ever come across a really good Gamay/Pinot Noir blend – one that was better than it constituent parts?

I fancy that if today the INAO had to approve appellations for Burgundy's Côte d'Or they would insist on a blend of Pinot Noir/Gamay – legislating that La Romanée-Conti had to include between 17.5% and 22.5% Gamay!

Gamay – would the INAO now insist that Romanée-Conti included a proportion of Gamay?

* The appellation will be called Touraine-Chenonceaux after the village. Chocolate Meunier, who own Château de Chenonceau (no x), apparently refused to allow the château's name to be used for the appellation. If Oisly-et-Thésée goes through there will have to be an English translation of Oisly, which is pronounced 'wali'.

11 December 2009

Simon gave me this bottle to try when we stayed at their excellent chambres d'hôtes (Domaine du Fontenay) in the Côte Roannaise in August with the instruction not to taste this cuvée until the end this year at the earliest as it had just been bottled and needed time. The label explains the name – L'authentique – 'On the 12th May 1855, the Archbishop of Lyon came to bless the domaine's private chapel. This wine reflects the full bodied style produced at that time. Traditionally made with no added sugar or tannin. Bottled unfiltered.'

Inside the chapel

Made from 100% Gamay (the only grape allowed for Côte Roannaise) this is still a youthful purple, medium weight with vivid raspberry fruit and quite vibrant acidity in the finish. Enjoyable now but may well soften and mellow a little over the next year or so.

View from the decking of the chambres d'hôtes across La Loire towards Roanne

See report of visit to Domaine du Fontenay here.

2009 Gamay grapes@Le Clos du Porteau, Saint-Georges-sur-Cher

Mark Robertson reports on this annual concours held in Epeigné-les-Bois

The results of last night's degustation of Primeurs. 12 highly motivated judges - nine wines tasted blind. Amongst the "traps" - 2 bottles of the same wine (Domaine de la Girardière) plus a Beaujolais Nouveau and a Gamay from the Ardèche.

Overall the judges thought the standards high, a good year with lots of ripe fruit made for concentrated, mouth-filling wines with a good balance of acidity.

The results as follows with details of the medals awarded to each wine in local competition. Maybe surprising but the Epeigne panel was somewhat at odds with the professional panels. Nobody liked the Paul Buisse, it was slightly pétillant and had an unpleasant "confected" taste.

Winner was Caves Père Auguste from Civray.

The evening was rounded off by a ragout of pork with buttered noodles, cheeses and a mouthwatering selection of home made desserts (canelles, creme caramel, pain d'epices, gâteau chocolat et poire poches au vin rouge).

2009 Gamay grapes@Le Clos du Porteau, Saint-Georges-sur-Cher

2009 Gamay Primeur, Père Auguste – surround of label would make a good shirt!

Results

1st Caves Père Auguste (41 points)
2nd joint Lycee Viticole Amboise & Domaine de la Girardière (Silver medal) (38 points)
3rd joint Domaine de la Girardière (Silver medal) & Beaujolais (36 points)
4th Closerie de Chanteloup (Silver medal) (31 points)
5th Gamay d’Ardeche (30 points)
6th Plou et Fils (Silver medal) (28 points)
7th Paul Buisse (Gold medal) (17 points)

26 September 2009

Some of the morning's harvest arriving – Chardonnay for the Crémant

The start of lunch

Lunch over – time for a coffee before heading back to work

What could be more agreeable than a morning spent picking grapes in the warm Touraine sunshine, lunch in the courtyard and the afternoon spent either filling the press or back into the vineyard to check whether the next parcel is ready to be picked. Yesterday Vincent Roussely (Clos Roussely) had some 45-50 people, who have signed up to MesVignes, spending the day with him at the domaine.

MesVignes is one of a number of schemes that offer the chance to discover what it is like to be a vigneron by buying vines in an established vineyard. The company has 12 domaines in various parts of France including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Languedoc, Loire and Rhône Valley involved. Domaine Fouassier in Sancerre and Clos Roussely are the Loire domaines in MesVignes.

The minimum purchase is 12 vines which gives you 12 bottles of wine (2010 prices). If you signed up for Vincent Roussely's Clos Roussely it would cost 194€ for 12 vines. Clients can then sign up for for a day's harvesting with Vincent. If you choose all the options the cost for 36 vines would be 799€.

Today Vincent has another MesVignes group, who will be picking Pineau d'Aunis from vines planted in 1905.

Is the Gamay ready to pick? – out in the vineyard to find out

Part of the 'is the Gamay ready?' group

Renaud, a local oenologue, explains how to judge a grape's maturity

The other group sorting grapes on the tapis de tri as they head up into the press (above and below)

Pineau d'Aunis – vines planted in 1905 (above and below)

Vincent with a baby frog – will MesVignes have an adopt a frog scheme soon?

There are several other buy vine schemes including 3D Wines and Wineshare.