Anne Guégniard emptying Cabernet Sauvignon grapes into trailer
Domaine Cady: must and grapes pouring from a hose
Philippe Germain in his office at Chateau de la Roulerie
Showing posts with label Jean-Hubert Lebreton. Show all posts
Jean-Hubert and Jean-Yves Lebreton tasting
Tried taking photos of Jean Hubert and Jean-Yves sitting around an interestingly lit table with decanters. Unfortunately I couldn't get the lighting right. Ideally they would have been sat the other side of the table but that would have been difficult as it was against the wall. Anyway I like to think there are some intruing effects here, even though it is too dark despite some adjustments on photoshop.
Table with decanters
Nigel Wilkinson (RSJ Restaurant) tasting @Domaine des Rochelles
2007 La Garde, Anjou, Château Pierre-Bise
Excellent drive down from London to Angers. Leaving just before 6am we were through London before the traffic got at all busy and we were lucky with the lights. Then a good drive down to Angers, arriving with enough time to drop off our luggage and to clock that Andy Murray had won his semi-final before heading out to see the Lebretons at Domaines des Rochelles at Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets. We had an impressive and illuminating tasting with Jean-Yves Lebreton and occasional appearances from his son, Jean-Hubert. The reds continie to be very good, while the whites have shown very marked progress over the past five years or more both for dry and sweet styles.
We finished the day with a convivial dinner at Le Relais with Sarah Ahmed joining Nigel Wilkinson, Tom King and myself.
We started with the 2007 La Garde (no sulphur), Anjou Blanc from Claude Papin's Château Pierre-Bise. Full bodied and reasonably rich but with lovely balancing acidity and mineral character, this is better balanced that some of Claude's Anjou Blanc where the richness of fruit and alcohol can be initially attractive but which becomes tiring.
2005 Coteau des Ouches, Bourgueil, Thomas and Denis Gambier
Spotting this Gambier Bourgueil on the list I thought it would be good to try as I don't think I have tasted anything from this estate since it was run by their father Paul. Deep coloured with good concentration, dense rich fruit and decidely attractive to drink, although perhaps without the complexity that would have lifted it onto another level.
2008 Cuvée Prestige, Anjou-Villages, Château de Putille
This deep coloured gamy and savoury wine has attractively vibrant fruit with the tannins more present than in the 2005 Bourgueil, reflecting the customary differences between cabernets from Touraine and the more angular wines from Anjou. Unfortunately the label is surely a leading contender for the worst label award. It is difficult imaging that anyone would voluntarily select this Touraine from a retailer's shelf without considerable prompting. This is a pity as the wine is good and Pascal Delaunay (Château de Putille) has reputation for quality.
Evelyne de Mascarel, Château de Minière
Having rather foolishly left my notes behind in London when I headed north to Inverness on Wednesday, this report will inevitably be somewhat sketchy and lacking in detail. If I get time next week I will add another post.
Jean-Hubert Lebreton (Domaine des Rochelles) was showing a number of red Anjou – mainly Anjou Villages but also the very attractive, juicy early drinking 2009 L’Ardoise.
Amongst other reds I went through the 2008 range from Château de Minière (Bourgueil) once again showing the consistency of this property.
Carine Simoneau (Antoine Simoneau) told me that they have started to till 10 hectares of their vineyards. This is good news as previously they have relied on weed killers. It will be interesting to see if they progressively abandon the use of weed killers. Previously the domaine’s strongest suit has been their Sauvignon Blanc but Karine told me that they are now working on improving their reds. Certainly the 2008 Cabernet was the best Simoneau red I have tasted so far with more concentration and riper tannins than in the past. They are not happy with their first Pinot Noir, which they made last year. Karine thinks it may be that the yield was a little too high.
I also tasted a number of promising 2009 Muscadets from Henri Poiron, Manoir de la Mottrie run by Sébastien Duvallet and Alain Gripon, Bernard Chereau (Chereau-Carré) and Jerémie Huchet.
Domaine des Rochelles
(This report follows on from the report on the visit to Domaine Ogereau)
Jean-Hubert Lebreton
Following a very enjoyable lunch – simply but well cooked (Catherine Ogereau always promises us a simple meal with no starter but cheese and dessert always follows the main course) – it was off to the Lebretons at Domaine des Rochelles in Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets close to the Loire and north of Brissac-Quincé.
Here Tom King (RSJ Wine Company) and I were looked after by Jean-Hubert Lebreton. Jean-Hubert used to be the assistant-wine maker at Hardy’s Banrock Station in Australia, where just one tank held more than the entire production of Domaine des Rochelles. On average the Lebreton’s press 700 tonnes of grapes – at Banrock Station it was 35,000. He also worked in Bordeaux at Pichon-Baron and Lynch-Bages.
As elsewhere the Lebretons had a small crop in 2008 – down overall by 15%-20% due to a combination of frost damage, poor flowering and small grapes with little juice. Normally they make 350-400 hls each of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, making a total of around 800 hls of Anjou Villages. In 2008 they made only 180hls-200hls of each. Jean-Hubert mentioned that they are now selling 240 hls of VIn de pays Sauvignon in bag-in-box.
Both the 2008 and 2007 Anjou Blanc, which is vinified in 400 litre barrels, were attractive. The 2007 showing moiré honey, while the 2008 at this stage a more mineral character. The 2008 L’Ardoise Anjou Rouge (10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 90% Cabernet Franc) has a sooty nose and quite ripe, easy drinking fruit – as an Anjou Rouge should be. (Ardoise means slate – one of the rocks of Anjou.)
Jean-Hubert LebretonFollowing a very enjoyable lunch – simply but well cooked (Catherine Ogereau always promises us a simple meal with no starter but cheese and dessert always follows the main course) – it was off to the Lebretons at Domaine des Rochelles in Saint-Jean-de-Mauvrets close to the Loire and north of Brissac-Quincé.
Here Tom King (RSJ Wine Company) and I were looked after by Jean-Hubert Lebreton. Jean-Hubert used to be the assistant-wine maker at Hardy’s Banrock Station in Australia, where just one tank held more than the entire production of Domaine des Rochelles. On average the Lebreton’s press 700 tonnes of grapes – at Banrock Station it was 35,000. He also worked in Bordeaux at Pichon-Baron and Lynch-Bages.
As elsewhere the Lebretons had a small crop in 2008 – down overall by 15%-20% due to a combination of frost damage, poor flowering and small grapes with little juice. Normally they make 350-400 hls each of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, making a total of around 800 hls of Anjou Villages. In 2008 they made only 180hls-200hls of each. Jean-Hubert mentioned that they are now selling 240 hls of VIn de pays Sauvignon in bag-in-box.
Both the 2008 and 2007 Anjou Blanc, which is vinified in 400 litre barrels, were attractive. The 2007 showing moiré honey, while the 2008 at this stage a more mineral character. The 2008 L’Ardoise Anjou Rouge (10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 90% Cabernet Franc) has a sooty nose and quite ripe, easy drinking fruit – as an Anjou Rouge should be. (Ardoise means slate – one of the rocks of Anjou.)
Tom King tuning into the French languageThe 2006 Anjou-Villages (80% Cabernet Franc/ 20% Cabernet Sauvignon) initially has soft, floral black fruits with quite tarry tannins in the long finish. As you would expect the 2007 AV is less rich. It is also less tannic, so best to drink this while waiting for the 2006 to show its best. “It is difficult to get Cabernet Franc soft and supple – it needs time,” commented Jean-Hubert. “It is easier to sell La Croix de la Mission.”
The 2007 la Croix de la Mission (90% Cabernet Sauvignon/10% Cabernet Franc) has pretty impressive richness and structure for a 2007 with remaining soft.
Jean-Hubert: “2007 wasn’t easy. The Cabernet Sauvignon was picked some 10 days after the Franc – the yield was 45 hl/ha. With Cabernet Sauvignon it is possible to push the maturity further than with Cabernet Franc because Franc’s skin is not as tough and robust. The wine had three weeks maceration.
“In 2008 we picked La Croix de la Mission on 1st and 2nd November with the fruit coming in at 13.5-14% potential for 35 hl/ha.”
The 2008 La Croix is very deep coloured with sweet, richly concentrated fruit with good length. A this stage it is a bit cloying but is still has a long way to go before it will be bottled.
Onto the very rich and powerful 2005 Les Millerits, Anjou Villages, which comes in at 15% with blackcurrant and coffee notes. Still too young, this needs leaving in the cellar for at least another three or four years. Les Millerits is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard planted on friable, yellow schist. In contrast the 10 ha La Croix de la Mission is on quartz-red schist. It is aged for 18 months in barrels – partly new, partly one wine and partly two wines.
Jean-Hubert: “We didn’t make Les Millerits in either 2006 or 2007. The 2008 is not yet in barrel. It went through malo in tank but in future we’d like it to do its malo en barrique once we have enough cellar space available. While I was at Pichon-Baron we did some experiments on this and found that malo en barrique made the wines rounder and richer. ”
La Croix de la Mission close to the vineyardThe infant 2008 Les Millerits is like the 2005 – dark and brooding, with very rich, concentrated fruit and unlikely to be ready to drink before 2015.
Tasting these powerful Anjou-Villages Cabernet Sauvignons is once again a reminder that you can get good results with Cabernet Sauvignon in Anjou but that it is very site-specific. To get ripe fruit you need a warm soil, so that the vines get off to an early start. Planted in cold soils it is very rare to get ripe Cabernet Sauvignon here. The Lebretons are fortunately to have some of the best vineyards for CS in the area.
Finally onto the sweet wines with the quite rich, nicely balanced and citric 2007 Coteaux de l’Aubance the first up. This is fermented and aged in 400 litre barrels. Not super sweet but one to enjoy as an aperitif or with blue cheese. The agreeably citric 2008 is lighter and without the same length as the 2007. It illustrates that 2008 is not a sweet wine vintage in the Loire. Providing you don’t pay very much for them, there are some perfectly pleasant wines to be enjoyed young and drunk as aperitifs or with rich pork and chicken dishes.
We finished by tasting the rich and concentrated 2007 L’Ambre, the Lebreton’s top L’Aubance with its fine peach and apricot flavours. Unsurprisingly L’Ambre was not made in 2008.
We talked about the rumours of some Anjou producers turning in 2008 to osmosis machines to try to make sweet wine without taking risks. Picking at 14%-15% potential and hoping the machine would work its magic. I guess this is an unfortunate illustration that despite the big renaissance of sweet wine in Anjou over the last 15 years that there are still producers who think that osmosis machines or chaptalisation for sweet wine are acceptable. They are not and we agreed that the sooner Anjou bans chaptalisation for sweet wine the better. Apparently the L'Aubance producers are considering banning chaptalisation – bravo I hope they soon take this long overdue step.
Name plate outside Château Pierre-BiseJust got back to the Hotel du Mail after a busy day – four excellent visits starting with Claude Papin, then Vincent Ogereau, followed by Domaine des Rochelles – Jean-Yves, Jean-Hubert and Anita Lebreton – and Christophe Daviau to finish. Now off to Le Relais for dinner with Sarah Ahmed (the wine detective), Chris Kissack (the wine doctor), Neil Irvine (HG Wines) and Tom King (RSJ Restaurant).
The four visits provided not only the opportunity to see how the 2008s and some of the 2007s are developing but also raised anumber of very interesting issues including a detailed explanation from Claude Papin about the harmful effects of working the soil, several mentions of the use of osmosis machines in Anjou during the 2008 harvest to convert grapes picked at around 14˚ natural into sweet wines, and the possibility of the Coteaux de l'Aubance banning chaptalisation. Clearly all themes to return to in more detail but if the Coteaux de l'Aubance do have the courage to ban the chaptalisation in the making of sweet wine – then bravo you will have put a stop to an aberration! Hopefully the Coteaux du Layon would rapidly follow your example.
Claude Papin: "Le travail du sol is an aberration"
Similarly the use of osmosis machines, if indeed they have been used and Jim's Loire would be delighted to hear from any Anjou producer who has used them, surely undermines the hard work that a good number of Anjou producers have put into the remarkable renaissance of quality sweet wine in Anjou since 1985.
The four visits provided not only the opportunity to see how the 2008s and some of the 2007s are developing but also raised anumber of very interesting issues including a detailed explanation from Claude Papin about the harmful effects of working the soil, several mentions of the use of osmosis machines in Anjou during the 2008 harvest to convert grapes picked at around 14˚ natural into sweet wines, and the possibility of the Coteaux de l'Aubance banning chaptalisation. Clearly all themes to return to in more detail but if the Coteaux de l'Aubance do have the courage to ban the chaptalisation in the making of sweet wine – then bravo you will have put a stop to an aberration! Hopefully the Coteaux du Layon would rapidly follow your example.
Claude Papin: "Le travail du sol is an aberration"Similarly the use of osmosis machines, if indeed they have been used and Jim's Loire would be delighted to hear from any Anjou producer who has used them, surely undermines the hard work that a good number of Anjou producers have put into the remarkable renaissance of quality sweet wine in Anjou since 1985.
Golden Chenin in a Montlouis vineyard: 11th October 2008The reports from Stéphane Cossais (posted 28th October), Philippe Germain and Jean-Hubert Lebreton (also posted 28th October) have now been translated. Plus new pic of Catherine Roussel (Clos Roche Blanche) in post of 26th October.
In AC Montlouis near Husseau. The different autumnal colours suggestthat this isn't all Chenin – perhaps some Gamay to make Touraine Rosé?
Also still green areas may have been 'treated' to chemical fertilisers.
Philippe Germain@Château de Fesles January 2008
Philippe Germain, Domaine de la Roulerie, St. Aubin de Luigné, Anjou
2008 a été un millésime trés spécial. Jusqu'à fin aout, la situation était trés préoccupante mais nous avons eu la chance d'avoir de trés bons mois de septembre et d'octobre.La qualité est donc là, mais pas la quantité. Pour la Roulerie, je suis entre 35 % et 40 % en moins de production. Par contre, nous avons des degrés qui oscillent entre 12.8 à 13.2 naturels pour les chenins avec une acidité de 5.5 à 5.8. Pour les Layons, nous venons de faire le premier tri trés intéressant sur une base de 12.5 à 18 degrés naturels et nous continuerons la semaine prochaine. Concernant les rouges, la production est encore plus limitée avec des degrés entre 12.5 et 12.8 ce qui est assez satisfaisant.
2008 is a very special vintage. Right until the end of August the situation was very worrying but we had the luck to have two very good months – September and October. So the quality is there but not the volume. At La Roulerie I’m between 35%-40% down on a normal year’s production. In contrast we have degrees that vary between 12.8˚ and 13.2˚ for the Chenin with an acidity of between 5.5 and 5.8. As far as the Coteaux du Layons are concerned we are making the premier tri (first selective picking) with grapes between 12.5˚ and 18˚ and we will be continuing next week. For the reds production is even more limited with degrees between 12.5˚ and 12.8˚, which I’m quite happy about.
2008 is a very special vintage. Right until the end of August the situation was very worrying but we had the luck to have two very good months – September and October. So the quality is there but not the volume. At La Roulerie I’m between 35%-40% down on a normal year’s production. In contrast we have degrees that vary between 12.8˚ and 13.2˚ for the Chenin with an acidity of between 5.5 and 5.8. As far as the Coteaux du Layons are concerned we are making the premier tri (first selective picking) with grapes between 12.5˚ and 18˚ and we will be continuing next week. For the reds production is even more limited with degrees between 12.5˚ and 12.8˚, which I’m quite happy about.
Philippe Germain
Château de la Roulerie
49190 St. Aubin de Luigné – France
Tel: 02.41.68.94.02
Email : p.germain@vgas.com
Jean-Hubert LebretonJean-Hubert-Lebreton, Domaine des Rochelles, St Jean des Mauvrets
La récolte 2008 s'annonce très interessante par l'arrière saison qui a fait concentrer les Sauvignons, Chardonnays Grolleau, Cabernets Francs, Cabernets Sauvignons et Chenins donc nous avons des forts degrés mais des faibles quantités .
Nous avons récolté les Chardonnays et Sauvignons la première semaine d'octobre puis nous avons attendu la troisième semaine d'octobre pour les Cabernets Francs et ensuite nous avons récolté les Cabernets Sauvignons. Les Chenins sont toujours dans les vignes, nous attendons le passage pluvieux de cette semaine pour reconcentrer et botrytiser car actuellement les raisins sont dorés, le botrytis tarde à se développer donc la pluie est très bénéfique. Il faut juste être patient.
Donc le résumer de l'annèe 2008 est 'peu mais bon'.
Jean-Hubert and a row of Chenin Blanc,
Domaine des Rochelles October 2005
The 2008 vintage looks very interesting thanks to the fine autumn weather which concentrated the Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grolleau, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenins. We have high alcohol degrees but small quantities.
We picked the Chardonnay and Sauvignon in the first week of October. Then we waited until the third week of October to first pick the Cabernet Franc followed by the Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chenin is still on the vine as we are waiting firstly for the rain that is forecast for this week to clear away and then for the grapes to reconcentrate and for the botrytis to develop. At the moment the Chenin is golden with botrytis slow to develop, so the rain should be very beneficial. We just have to be patient.
In short: 2008 is good but small.
Jean-Yves Lebreton, Anita and Jean-Hubert Lebreton
Domaine des Rochelles, 49320 Saint-Jean-des-Mauvrets
Tel: 02.41.91.92.07
Email: jy.a.lebreton@wanadoo.fr
Site: www.domainedesrochelles.com
Nous avons récolté les Chardonnays et Sauvignons la première semaine d'octobre puis nous avons attendu la troisième semaine d'octobre pour les Cabernets Francs et ensuite nous avons récolté les Cabernets Sauvignons. Les Chenins sont toujours dans les vignes, nous attendons le passage pluvieux de cette semaine pour reconcentrer et botrytiser car actuellement les raisins sont dorés, le botrytis tarde à se développer donc la pluie est très bénéfique. Il faut juste être patient.
Donc le résumer de l'annèe 2008 est 'peu mais bon'.
Jean-Hubert and a row of Chenin Blanc,Domaine des Rochelles October 2005
The 2008 vintage looks very interesting thanks to the fine autumn weather which concentrated the Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grolleau, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenins. We have high alcohol degrees but small quantities.
We picked the Chardonnay and Sauvignon in the first week of October. Then we waited until the third week of October to first pick the Cabernet Franc followed by the Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chenin is still on the vine as we are waiting firstly for the rain that is forecast for this week to clear away and then for the grapes to reconcentrate and for the botrytis to develop. At the moment the Chenin is golden with botrytis slow to develop, so the rain should be very beneficial. We just have to be patient.
In short: 2008 is good but small.
Jean-Yves Lebreton, Anita and Jean-Hubert Lebreton
Domaine des Rochelles, 49320 Saint-Jean-des-Mauvrets
Tel: 02.41.91.92.07
Email: jy.a.lebreton@wanadoo.fr
Site: www.domainedesrochelles.com
