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.        

Candes Saint Martin – the western limit of Touraine 

 I gather that under the on-going reform of the French wine laws that AC Touraine is about to simplify the white grapes that can be included in in the appellation. In essence if the grape isn't called Sauvignon – either Blanc or Gris it's out. This means no more Menu Pineau or Chenin Blanc in the still white wines of AC Touraine. Already varieties like Malvoisie were barred and Chardonnay couldn't be used as a sole variety.

Although there is a case to be be made for barring Chardonnay as it's a grape from further east – Burgundian rather than Ligerian, I don't see that it makes sense for Touraine to tie itself so closely to Sauvignon Blanc – 'putting all their eggs in one supermarket trolley'!

For a start Sauvignon Blanc is apparently not the historic grape of the region but was first planted in the 1920s. Chenin Blanc and Menu Pineau have a greater claim to being amongst the traditional varieties of Touraine.

Sauvignon Blanc is badly affected by vine disease esca and its mortality rates are higher. Higher, some like Thierry Puzelat, claim than the more traditional Menu Pineau.

2009 Menu Pineau

Eastern Touraine is the varietal melting pot of the Loire with a spread of grape varieties that reflects its position at the crossroads between the Oceanic western Loire and the more contintental eastern section. A single variety is against regional tradition.

It is also a dangerously limiting option – remember what happened to Chardonnay! Once the darling of the wine drinking classes, Chardonnay saw its popularity fall as the ABC (anything but Chardonnay) tendency grew. Sauvignon Blanc is popular now but a SOS (Sod off Sauvignon) movement may soon appear!  

The decision to go for only Sauvignon Blanc might have some logic in eastern Touraine where Sauvignon Blanc has established itself as the dominant variety. However, it makes no sense in western Touraine on the border with Saumur in the vineyards on the southern side of the Vienne around villages like Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne and Seuilly. Here, as in Chinon and Samur, it is Chenin Blanc planted on clay and limestone that is the traditional while variety of this area. Admittedly the volumes prodoced here are not large but there is a tradition of wine-making and pre-codification would have been considered part of Chinon. Indeed I gather that when the Chinon appellation was created in 1937 one of the mayors of these villages decided not to apply to join the nascent appellation because he feared that having this distinction would have resulted in higher taxes for his village. About a dozen years ago this area along the Vienne did apply to join the Chinon AC but were turned down.

So it would seem as things stand that whites from Seuilly and Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne etc. will no longer be entltiled to be called AC Touraine because they are made from Chenin Blanc and not Sauvignon Blanc. Of course should they decide to graft their Chenin over to Sauvignon Blanct then they will have the appellation. But why should they want to do that, when it is Chenin Blanc that is the traditional variety and adapted to their climate and soil – a question de terroir, n'est pas?

A possible solution might be to create a village appellation similar to Touraine Amboise, Axay-le-Rideau, Mesland or Noble-Joué and to make Chenin Blanc a or the permitted grape variety here. Perhaps we will see a Touraine-Seuilly or, more imaginatively, a Touraine-Rabelais as the great man was born in Seuilly and was much enmaoured by its wines. Doubtless the INAO will find rules that makes this impossible. A affair to follow!

I'm all in favour of appellation contrôlée as the protection of products' place names and sensible traditions is very important. However, all to often my impression is that the French AC system has become over-bureaucratic, too rigid and lacking the flexibility required for today's global market. Too often the wine legislators appear to be imposing petty rules that often go against the traditions of a particular area. Rules imposed either through pressure from more powerful appellations or for bureaucratic neatness. In short appellation contrôlée is becoming anal contrôlée. 

   

Clos du Porteau: 25th September 2009

One of the last bunches of 2009 Pinot Gris – Malvoisie

A reasonably wide range of grape varieties helps to make Eastern Touraine an interesting wine region, despite the dominance of Sauvignon Blanc and Gamay. Varieties like Sauvignon Gris or Fié Gris, Pinot Gris – often called Malvoisie here, Côt, Pineau d'Aunis, Menu Pineau, Grolleau Gris and Grolleau Noir and Pinot Noir all add spice to the mix. A small range, however, in comparison to the some 250 indigenous grape varieties that Portugal has as a national treasure.

The vineyard's flinty soil

During the 2009 vintage we had a quick walk in the vineyard just behind the Clos du Porteau in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher with Isabelle and Aynard Clemont-Tonnerre. The vineyard is on the premier côte of the Cher Valley. The soil is a mix of clay and flint over a limestone base. In this part of the Loire the local term for flint is perruche. They have a number of different varieties planted here, so it was a good opportunity to take photos of them.

Pinot Gris is more commonly called Malvoisie here. What little there is planted is often used to make a late harvest wine – sweet or semi-sweet depending on the vintage and the style wanted. It is rare to find it on sale. Instead an unlabelled bottle for personal consumption is more common. Further west in the Coteaux de l'Ancenis Malvoisie is relatively common. It is one of the three Pinots used to make Noble Joué (or rosé or vin gris) – the other two are Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

Grolleau Gris

Grolleau Gris is used to make rosé and is also a useful component in sparkling wine for the finesse of the bubbles it produces.

Menu Pineau (above and below)

Menu Pineau (also called Arbois) is a relation of Chenin Blanc. Once relatively widely planted it lost a lot of ground after the arrival phylloxera and during the 20th century. It can make attractively minerally dry whites. Some producers, like Pascal Potaire, are making 100% versions and I hope this coming decade will see more examples being made. Along with Chenin Blanc, it is the other grape of Vouvray, although this tends to be downplayed.

The official decrét (text) for the Vouvray appellation is unequivocal:

'Art. 2. - Les vins ayant droit à l'appellation contrôlée " Vouvray " devront obligatoirement provenir des cépages suivants : gros pineau ou pineau de la Loire ou chenin et petit pinot ou menu pinot.'

Interloire's site is an example of Menu Pineau being downplayed as Chenin Blanc is given as the sole permitted variety for Vouvray.

It would appear here that 'pinot' and 'pineau' are interchangeable. The rules appear to allow a Vouvray to be made from 100% Menu Pinot or Pineau. I have no idea if there are any examples of Vouvrays made from 100% Menu Pineau – if anyone knows of any I'd love to know please. In contrast to Vouvray, Montlouis allows only Chenin Blanc.

Gamay: Touraine's most popular red variety

From the vineyard overlooking Le Clos du Porteau

•••

Bertrand Celce (Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France) has a good article on La Chapinière, a recently established domaine in Châteauvieux. Although I haven't yet visited the domaine I have tasted and enjoyed their minerally Sauvignon Blanc on a couple of occasions. They are involved in the Sauvignon Blanc project.