Charly Foucault plus assistant connecting the hose
Charly Foucault watching grapes and must going into vat down in cellar
Foucaults: at the sorting table
Thierry Germain checking grapes
Showing posts with label Saumur-Champigny. Show all posts
Red light in le Petit Pressigny
During dinner at La Promenade on Saturday night, Xavier Fortin, the restaurant's long-serving sommelier, kindly invited us to visit the restaurant's cellars the next morning around 11am. This gave me time to wander around the village (population: 326 in 2006) and, in particular, to admire the new traffic lights in the centre of the village. These are a traffic calming measure – changing colour as cars etc. approach.
Among the treasures in La Promenade's cellars, there are some very old bottles from the Foucaults (in Chace). The oldest being a 1900 Saumur-Champigny.
Xavier kindly opened a 2004 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine from André Michel Brégeon. Now one of the crus communales it spent five years on its lees. Light to mid-gold in colour this has a richness and complexity that one doesn't normally associate with Muscadet. At the same time it is brilliantly precise and mineral in the finish. A grand vin but not at a grand vin price.
Getting the green light
Among the treasures in La Promenade's cellars, there are some very old bottles from the Foucaults (in Chace). The oldest being a 1900 Saumur-Champigny.
1900 Clos Rougeard, Saumur-Champigny (Foucault)
Xavier Fortin who has been at La Promenade since 1988
2004 Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine, André Michel Brégeon
Xavier kindly opened a 2004 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine from André Michel Brégeon. Now one of the crus communales it spent five years on its lees. Light to mid-gold in colour this has a richness and complexity that one doesn't normally associate with Muscadet. At the same time it is brilliantly precise and mineral in the finish. A grand vin but not at a grand vin price.
1986 Savennières demi-sec Château d'Epiré + 2010 Les tufolies, Saumur-Champigny, Domaine des Champs Fleuris
1986 demi-sec Savennières Château d'Epiré
Dinner with Chenin appreciating friends so a good opportunity to look at a mature Savennières. Despite a short cork, this Château d'Epiré is still in good condition. Mid-burnished gold in colour, slightly fungal aromas with good mouthfilling honeyed fruit and the richness nicely balanced by vibrant, quite austere background of acidity. made a complex and intriguing aperitif and proved to be a good match for a Greek style salad as first course.
2010 Les tufolies, Saumur-Champigny, Domaine des Champs Fleuris
For the main course a sort of North African shepherd's pie we went from middle aged to nearly extreme youth with this vibrantly fruited, young Saumur-Champigny full of soft round fruit. This is an ideal bottle to enjoy now, though it will doubtless last easily another three or four years but to what purpose?
