Pierre-Marie Luneau

Pays Nantais

The ban des vendanges was on Wednesday 24th August. La famille Luneau (Domaine Luneau-Papin, Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine: Pierre, Monique, Pierre-Marie and Marie) will be starting at 8am on 30th August.

Anjou-Saumur

Picking the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for the Crémant de Loire, Anjou and Saumur Mousseux started on Tuesday 24th August.

Touraine

Big thunderstorm in the Cher Valley overnight. Lots of lightning with flashes continuing for a couple of hours. Some 15 mm (0.6 inches) rain recorded in Epeigné-les-Bois. More rain further east in the Cher – around 23/25mm at Mareuil, 32mm at Noyers-sur-Cher but only 15mm at Thésée and 9 at Saint-Julien-de Chédon. May well not be good news for the Gamay that tends to act like a sponge sucking up water and diluting the juice. A few showers continuing this morning, which feels decidedly autumnal. Fortunately the forecast for the next few days is better – sun and cloud and around 20˚C.

Jacky Blot's team (Domaine de la Taille aux Loups) carried out their first maturity checks on their grapes in Montlouis and Vouvray yesterday. I tasted the domaine's 2010s – Rémus and Clos Michet (Montlouis); Clos de la Bretonnière and Clos de Venise (Vouvray) that will be bottled in the next fortnight. All four cuvées looking very good – more akin to 2008 with precision and minerality than the richer 2009s.

Central Vineyards

Picking due to start in Reuilly and Quincy next week with Sancerre and Pouilly the following week – beginning of September.

Picking in Sancerre (Chez Vincent Grall) September 2009

On Thursday 30th March there was the opportunity to taste 56 Sauvignon Blancs (all 2010s) from the Central vineyards with examples from Coteaux du Giennois, Reuilly, Quincy, Menetou-Salon, Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre. The wines weren't selected, rather it was down to the producers to decide whether they wanted to enter their wines into this tasting. The tasting was held at The Sampler in London's South Kensington.

Overall these 2010s emphasised the difference between this year and 2009 with the 10s leaner, considerably less rich and opulent. This is a more classic Loire vintage with lower alcohol levels but higher acidity. Many of these wines had only recently been bottled so were quite tight and I expect they will take on some more weight over the next few months.

Coteaux du Giennois

 

Of the five Giennois on show, this crisp and lemony wine from Domaine de Montbenoît (Sainte-Gemme) was my preferred wine with Rivotte from Domaine Poupat et Fils (Rivotte) as the runner-up.

 

**

Quincy

 

The soft, quite spicy and weighty Domaine Trotereau (Quincy) was my preferred wine from 10  Quincys shown followed by Les Vignes d'Adèle, Domaine Adèle Rouzé (Quincy) and Domaine Vincent Siret-Courtaud (Lunery). Vincent Siret-Courtaudis promising young vigneron, whose wine I first tasted at this year's Salon des Vins de Loire. Vincent also has vines in Châteaumeillant and is not the only vigneron in Quincy to have holdings in both appellations. He is joined by Nicolas Lecomte (Domaine Lecomte) and Domaine Roux.

Menetou-Salon
Although there were only six wines presented from this appellation it had my highest hit rate of the six ACs in this tasting. Two stood out – the grassy and goosebery Domaine Chavet (Menetou-Salon) and the weighty and well balanced Domaine de Châtenoy (Menetou-Salon) followed by Cave Gilbon (Soulangis) and Domaine Pellé (Morogues).

Followed by:

 

Pouilly-Fumé
Out of the ten examples from Pouilly-Fumé, one stood out – the floral and long flavoured Harmonie from Domaine Chatelain (Saint-Andelain) with the Domaine Cédrick Bardin as runner-up.

Sancerre 
Since this is easily the largest appellation it was hardly a surprise that Sancerre supplied 21 wines. My preferred wines were: Les Chasseignes, Domaine Claude Riffault ((Sury-en-Vaux); Vin d'Homme, Dionysia (Auguste Natter in Montigny); Les Classiques, Domaine Henry Natter (Montigny); Domaine Yves et Pierre Martin (Chavignol); Origine, Domaine Matthias et Emile Roblin (Mainbray); and L'Authentique, Domaine Thomas-Labaille (Chavignol).   

 

Close behind were Domaine Daniel Crochet (Bué) and Tradition from Domaine Bernard Fleuriet et Fils (Menetou-Ratel).

 

Reuilly
None of the three Reuillys shown really stood out. The quite lean and minerally La Raie from Domaine Lafond being the best.

 Vines and Reuilly

In his latest addition to his The Definitive Guide to the Wines of the Loire Richard Kelley has recently added sections on Quincy and Reuilly. Go to www.richardkelley.co.uk

Picking Sauvignon Blanc@Quincy

A message from Jean Tatin (Quincy)

Salut Jim

je te communique des infos, pour ton blog, pour une manifestation à Quincy sur la fin aout, les journées de l'océan dont on va fêter le quarantième anniversaire cette année. C'est la plus grande manifestation populaire à Quincy: des milliers de personnes viennent se gonfrer d'huitres et de moules, avec évidement quelques verres de quincy!

bon été à toi

Jean

Opening oysters

Picking machine in Quincy 2008

Here is a slightly expanded version of my post in early June on the Quincy wines tasted at Sancerre:

'Last Thursday afternoon I started my tasting of 2009 whites from Pouilly-Fumé, Quincy and Sancerre with 15 from Quincy. This was the most homogeneous flight with many of them having the typical grassy and citric characteristics of Loire Sauvignon Blanc. Although none showed great complexity, equally there were none that were just too big and fat, lacking freshness as was the case with some of the Sancerre whites.

Of the 15 wines tasted my very clear favourite wine was the concentrated, grassy 2009 from Jean-Michel Sorbe with attractive minerality and acidity – a fine bottle. Other wines well noted were Villalin from Domaine Villalin – I preferred this cuvée to their Tradition, Philippe Portier and Vincent Siret-Courtaud. I also noted Tradition from Domaine Trotereau and Haute Victoire from Domaine Bourgeois.

 Picking machine in Quincy

Last Thursday afternoon I started my tasting of 2009 whites from Pouilly-Fumé, Quincy and Sancerre with 15 from Quincy. This was the most homogeneous flight with many of them having the typical grassy and citric characteristics of Loire Sauvignon Blanc. Although none showed great complexity, equally there were none that were just too big and fat, lacking freshness as was the case with some of the Sancerre whites. 

My favourite wine was from Jean-Michel Sorbe. I also liked the 2009s from Domaine de Villalin, Philippe Portier and Vincent Siret-Courtaud.   

Some photos displayed near Sury-en-Vaux 

Busy and very interesting afternoon@the Bureau du Centre tasting 2009s from the above three appellations. 2009 is not a classic year for Loire Sauvignon Blanc. There is at present less minerality and citric flavours than is customary and certainly in comparison to 2008 or 2007.

Curiously of the three appellations Pouilly-Fumé was perhaps the most successful overall, which was a considerable surprise as with certain exceptions I usually find PF a disappointing and underperforming appellation. This time having less concentration worked in their favour as many avoided the very ripe character of some of the Sancerres. Overall the Quincys had more of the citric character that one associates with Sauvignon Blanc.

Benoît Roumet@work in his director's office 

My thanks to Benoît Roumet and his team at the Bureau du Centre and, in particular, to Laetitia Izard who organised everything so efficiently. Many thanks also to the many vignerons who supplied samples for the tasting. 

 Laetitia dealing with the empties after the tasting

(More detailed postings to come on this tasting.) 

 2009 Vendange in AC Quincy

Samedi 3 avril 2010, les vignerons vous invitent à fêter BACCHUS.

Offrez-vous un moment de détente et venez déguster le nouveau millésime 2009. 

Rendez-vous à la Villa Quincy et partez à la découverte du cépage sauvignon. Les vignerons seront vos guides pour une dégustation des différents vins de leurs domaines. 

Des mises en bouches accompagneront votre initiation à la première Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée du Val de Loire.

C’est un parcours didactique et ludique, conçu pour vous aiguiller dans votre approche de la dégustation. Cette journée se terminera par un repas/concert en l’honneur du Dieu romain.

Convivialité, gaieté et découverte vous attendent dans une ambiance festive !

Au programme : 

 

··  14H00 : Portes ouvertes à la Villa Quincy, 

 

··  15H00 : Découverte  des  cuvées  2009 

accompagnées  de  mises  en  bouches préparées  par  les  artisans  et  chefs  locaux, 

 

··  18H00 : Présentation du millésime par de professionnels au foyer rural de QUINCY, 

 

··  18H30 : Concert « Chansons du boire et du manger » animé par Sylvie BERGER (chanteuse) et Emmanuel PARISELLE (accordéoniste et chanteur). Des entractes accords mets / vins sont prévues accompagnées par des commentaires sur les différents vins dégustés. 

Avec la participation du restaurant Le Prieuré à VIGNOUX-SUR-BARANGEON. 

L’achat d’un verre à 5 € vous donnera accès à l’ensemble des festivités de la journée.

Renseignements et pré-inscription au Tel : 02 48 51 72 34 

*

Quincy has the distinction of being the first appellation controlée in the Loire – getting its AC status in August 1936.

This was a useful opportunity to taste a good number of Loire wines fairly quickly. I was rather unusually well organised for the tasting as I had downloaded the tasting catalogue in advance and printed off the lists from exhibitors showing Loire wines. Something worth doing as it saved a lot of time scrabbling through the 105 page catalogue on the day.

Highlights included the rich and opulent 2008 Quincy from Phillippe Portier and the soft and concentrated 2006 Concerto Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil, Vignoble de la Janoterie These two producers are looking for UK importers. I tried all the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc AC Touraine Ambassadors, the Interloire project involving Interloire). From these I'd pick out: quite concentrated Ante Vinum, Château de Quinçay (Meusnes in the Cher Valley and a producer of Touraine and Valençay),  the very zippy and fresh Domaine de Fontenay (Didier Corby), the 2009 Châteauvieux from Pierre Chainier, the Cristal Buisse (Paul Buisse – now part of Pierre Chainier) and Domaine Gibault (Les Martinières, Noyers-sur-Cher).

I tasted the full range on show from Domaine Fouassier (Sancerre) – represented on this occasion by Benoît and Paul Fouassier and the ever green, Michael Ott, The estate is in full conversion to biodynamic viticulture  and tasting these wines confirms my view that this a domaine on the move. Among the around dozen wines tasted I particularly liked the mouthfilling 2008 'sur la fort' white Sancerre from limestone slopes and the weighty and minerally 2008 Les Chasseignes (clay and limestone). Although they have been making Melodie de Gustave Fouassier since 1996, I hadn't come across it before. This Sancerre Blanc is a blend that is selected at the momenrt of pressing and then fermented for around 10 months in wood. Only 3000 bottles are made, which is probably why I haven't encountered it before. There is still a touch of wood on the 2006 but it has attractive rich and toasty fruit. 

It was good to taste some of Daniel Lambert Wines Ltd's selection of Loire wines including those from Domaine Villageau in the Coteaux du Giennois like the clean and weighty 2009 white (100% Sauvignon Blanc) and too reds that have a minimal percentage of Gamay – presumably to comply with the absurd AC regulations that ban 100% Pinot Noir and insist on a small percentage of Gamay. The 2008 Les LiCôtes has an attractive, ripe Pinot Noir character of some structure. Aged in wood it doesn't need its small drop of Gamay. Under the VDQS regulations Villageau could market a 100% Pinot Noir, if AC regulations were based on common sense they would be able to sell a 100% Pinot Noir as an AC Coteaux du Giennois.

Daniel had a couple of 2008 Sancerres from Balland-Chapuis – I preferred the more mineral La Vallion to the other Sancerre that rather dominated by asparagus notes.

To finish.. 

This is a lightly sappy, grassy Quincy from Jean-Claude Borgnat, Domaine de la Commanderie, with the citric austerity of the 2007 vintage. Pleasant enough but rather bland and without much length. Borgnat became a vigneron in 1993 and now has eight hectares of vines.

The sample was from Majestic Wine where it was selling for £7.99 or £7.49 when buying two bottles, which was a fair price for a Quincy. However, it is no longer listed on the Majestic Wine site so I assume that it is out of stock having sold out of the 2007.

Although considerably more expensive the Domaine de Chevilly, Quincy (see post here) is a better example. From Majestic the 2008 Touraine Sauvignon, Domaine Pré Baron at £6.99 a bottle is a more than adequate replacement.

I last tasted the 2008 Quincy from Domaine de Chevilly owned by Yves and Antoine Lestourge back in May when I looked at a range of Loire wines from UK importers Thorman Hunt. Then the 2008 was quite New Zealand in style with asparagus notes. Now it is now more classic Loire with citric notes to the fore in particular grapefruit. This sample came from the Colchester Wine Company at £12.47 a bottle.

Domaine de Chevilly is in Méreau in the Arnon Valley to the west of Quincy appellation. The domaine was founded in 1994 with just 1.5 ha of vines. The Lestourges now have nine hectares planted.

Domaine de Chevilly
52 Route de Chevilly, 18120 Méreau
Tel: 02.48.52.80.45
Email: domaine.de.chevilly@orange.fr

Vineyards above the small town of Reuilly (above and below)

We have had another good day out in the vines with the weather still set fair, although there was a little more cloud around Reuilly and Quincy. Everyone, who was spared the hail, is very happy – even delighted with the quality of the harvest so far. In Reuilly and Quincy the vintage will be over next week.

We started at the Clos du Porteau (Saint–Georges-sur-Cher) as I wanted to take photos of several grape varieties that I had never photographed – Grolleau Gris, Pinot Gris (also known in the Loire as Malvoisie) and Menu Pineau (also known as Arbois). These will be posted separately.

Pickers in Reuilly

Sign for Le Chai de Reuilly

Immediately after this we headed for Reuilly. Firstly to have a look at the vineyards – they can be a little difficult to find at Reuilly as it is only a small appellation. Then dropped by Le Chai de Reuilly and had a quick chat with Claude Lafond and tasted some juice and some fermenting must. "We've done about two thirds of the harvest. It has been very dry but the rain at the beginning of the month was very good for the grapes. The Sauvignon Blanc is around 13.5% potential alc, Pinot Noir is around 13˚% and the Pinot Gris – 12.5%-13%. For all three varieties the acidity is between 4-5g per litre. I've now started to relax and the last two nights I have been sleeping better." All the samples of 2009 I tasted were gras but appeared to have balancing acidity and certainly no hint of false flavours as the grapes are so clean and healthy.

Denis Jamain in Les Pierres Plates

Next we went to see Denis Jamain and his partner Anne and their Villa Camille on the southern outskirts of Reuilly on the road to Issoudun. Denis is absolutely delighted by the quality of the 2009 grapes from his 16ha. "We have been able harvest each parcel at the optimum moment. He has only a small amount to finish including his Pinot Noir in Les Pierres Plates vineyard, which is in conversion to organic viticulture.

Denis Jamain: Pinot Noir in Les Pierres Plates

Then we drove the 10 kilometres north east from Reuilly to neighbouring Quincy (Sauvignon Blanc is the sole permitted variety here). First a brief stop in the village of Quincy to watch a couple of picking machines working in the vineyards of Gérard Bigonneau, who is based in nearby Brinay. About two thirds of the harvest in Quincy is now finished and there are plenty of picking machines either in the vineyards or on the roads heading to their next assignment.

Picking machine in vineyards of Gérard Bigonneau (AC Quincy)

Close up of the machine

Then we headed up to Brinay to see Jean Tatin, who was harvesting just to the south of the village by the cemetry. Jean was less happy: "We had hail in May and this was followed by the worst attack of mildew for 20 years. After the hail there was a drying wind from the east and I thought it wasn't necessary to spray against mildew. Big mistake! When we did spray 10-12 days later it was too late. We lost about 20% to hail and about the same to mildew. Overall the yield is about 40-45hl/ha but it is very variable with some parcels at 60hl/ha and some at 20hl/ha."

Jean Tatin with a bunch of 2009 Sauvignon Blanc – the browny patch on one of the grapes is acid rot

Jean: "Fortunately the grapes are big this year and full of juice, so this is helping to bring the yield up. There was plenty of rain in July, so although August was dry the vines haven't lacked water this year. There are still about 7-10 hectares to pick. We have finished at Domaine de Tremblay and we will finish Ballandors early next week. We can't wait any longer because the pourriture acide (acid rot) is starting to develop. Anyway despite the problems this year 2009 is a good vintage."

Picking machine@Ballandors

Sign for Domaine des Ballandors, Brinay

Foire aux Vins de France à Sancerre: 29th and 30th August

'Samedi 29 et Dimanche 30 août les vignerons du sancerrois vous invitent aux Caves de la Mignonne à la découverte de leur appellation et de plus de 60 autres appellations de France.

Convivialité et découverte sont les maîtres mots de ces deux journées en Sancerrois.
Entrée gratuite - 5€ le verre pour la dégustation.'

Les Journées de l'Océan à Quincy: 29th and 30th August
Oysters and Quincy
'Samedi 29 et Dimanche 30 août Quincy fête depuis près de 40 ans, les noces sans cesse renouvelées des produits de la mer en provenance directe de l’Ile d’Oléron et des Vins de Quincy. Grande fête populaire dont le succès ne s’est jamais démenti.

Plus vieille appellation du Val de Loire, le vignoble de Quincy est en fête le week-end des 26 et 27 août 2009 et reçoit les marreyeurs de l’Ile d’Oléron à l’occasion des “Journées de l’Océan”.'

Adresse :
Centre ville
18120 Quincy
Tél : 02.48.51.34.98

Morogues

6 September: Balade Gourmande: Menetou-Salon
10 kilometre walk in the vineyards of Menetou-Salon
Départ : 9h00 Place de Morogues, Morogues

'Parcourez 10 km dans les vignes de Menetou-Salon. Partez à la découverte de lieux insolites qui font le charme des paysages du Berry. Entre vignes et sous-bois, profitez de pauses gourmandes.

Ecoutez les artistes, historiens, conteurs et professionnels du vin vous livrer leur histoire.

Entrez dans la cour du Château de Maupas, installez vous à la table des vignerons et laissez vous servir des mets et nectars.

Au son de la vielle et de la cornemuse, participez à la célébration des noces d’Or de l’homme et du terroir !!

Cette randonnée sera « panneautée » à l’année, des informations spécifiques au vignoble de Menetou-Salon vous apporteront des renseignements complémentaires sur les paysages traversés, les cépages, les sols, le climat et le savoir-faire.'

Details on www.vins-centre-loire.com/actualites/

A guinguette at Preuilly

After we left Menetou-Salon we headed through Mehun-sur-Yèvre, whose medieval centre is attractive and worth a visit if you are in the area. Details here. Then across to Quincy on the River Cher. On a very quick look there appeared to be less hail damage in Quincy than in other vineyards we had seen, although we really didn't see enough vineyards to tell – the picnic lunch was calling!

Quincy: some hail damage

We found the Guinguette la Plage in Preuilly, which had a few picnic tables by the Cher. They were setting up for an afternoon dancing session to songs from before the First World War. We wtached the musicians getting ready, while couples started arriving dressed in their best dancing clothes – one woman with impressive shining silver shoes. Apparently Sunday afternoon dances are regular feature here.

Old vertical press@the Guinguette La Plage

Next we drove on up the southern side of the Cher Valley, which turned out to be less attractive than I had hoped. We crossed the Cher at Châteauneuf-sur-Cher and had a brief stop to photograph the impressively imposing Château on a bluff overlooking the river.

Châteauneuf-sur-Cher

Instead of going directly to Saint-Amand-Montrond we did a diversion to the east to visit Dun-sur-Auron, notable for its medieval quarter and its walnut oil. Just out of Châteauneuf I spotted these old loges des vignes, which I had read about on an information panel in the car park in Châteauneuf. The loges are now protected, so can't be demolished although it looks like nature is being allowed to take its course. Difficult to find money to restore all France's historical artifacts! The existence of these loges miles away from any modern day established vineyard is a testimony to how extensive vines were in France prior to the arrival of phylloxera in the mid to late 19th century. Here I would guess phylloxera devastated vineyards here in the late 19th century, perhaps beginning of the 20th

Old loges des vignes near Châteauneuf-sur-Cher

Dun-sur-Auron: cottages in old quarter


Dun-sur-Auron: window of an old house


Dun-sur-Auron: gateway

From Dun-sur-Auron we headed towards Saint-Amand-Montrond via Meillant. Unfortunately it is difficult to get much of a glimpse of the Château de Meillant. As it was now late afternoon a visit to the château was out of the question so we had a reviving cup of tea at L'heure des thés close to the entrance to the château.



We stayed overnight in the quite modern and functional Hotel Le Noirlac in the northern suburbs of Saint-Amand-Montrond. Over dinner we drank Domaine Gilbert's 2006 Les Renaudières, Menetou-Salon. This concentrated and well made prestige cuvée is further evidence of the spreading red revolution in the Loire's Central Vineyards.