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? 

Philip Fournier

Loire Regional Trophy: White Loire over £10 Trophy

2008 Savennières, Château de Chamboureau, Domaine FL

This brilliantly precise Savennières shows the heights that Chenin Blanc can attain and illustrates that it is often the more difficult, cooler vintages like 2008 that produce the finest dry white Loires. 2008 was a cool summer with little sun. The sun came out in September and October but the temperatures remained cool – rarely above the low 20s˚C. The grapes ripened slowly with a significantly longer hang-time than normal. The result – very pure flavours, minerality and a wonderful backbone of acidity.      

Domaine FL is the creation of Philippe Fournier, a telecommunications tycoon in Angers. FL combines the Domaine Jo Pithon in the Layon and the vineyards of Château de Chamboureau in Epiré (Savennières).

A long established domaine in Savennières likely to have been producing wine for some 400 years, it is at the western end of the village of Epiré. The vines are planted on schist. In 1949 the property was bought by the Soulez family. The vineyards were sold by Pierre Soulez in 2006 to Fournier. The following year the Bordeaux consultant, Stéphane Derenoncourt, was hired to advise here and for Domaine Jo Pithon. This led to the acrimonious departure of Pithon. Fournier then combined the two estates under the Domaine FL umbrella in 2008. A new winery is now under construction at Rochefort.

Hugues Daubercies, Pierre Soulez’s nephew is the winemaker. The grapes are picked by hand with three sweeps through the vines selecting the fruit at just the maturity needed. Native yeasts and fermentation and aging in barriques for 12 months. 

The 2008 is remarkable value: retailing at just 15.60€ a bottle on the FL site (www.domainefl.com). It has the potential to last for 20-30 years.  

Philippe's son, Julien, looks after the commercial side of Domaine FL.


** Back in November 2009 I asked here whether Philippe Fournier was 'serious'. The quality of the 2008 Chamboureau answers my question: he is certainly serious!

2008 Clos le Grand Beaupréau, Savennières, Domaine Ogereau

After our return from Lisbon, Friday night was the first opportunity to have an evening of Loire wines for some time. We made a start with the 2008 Clos le Grand Beaupréau Savennières from Catherine and Vincent Ogereau as the aperitif. This Savennières comes from the vineyard that they share with Claude and Joëlle Papin and Yves and Marie-Annick Guégniard. This 2008 still has a touch of buttery oak in the good mouthfilling fruit – the richness balanced by minerality. A lovely glass with all the precision associated with the 2008 vintage.

2009 La Cerisaie, Anjou Rouge, Domaine de la Bergerie

We then enjoyed the easy drinking, juicy red and black cherry fruited Anjou Rouge with the roast chicken. Very much a wine to enjoy with friends – not one to analyse at length and it worked well with the chicken helping the flow of animated conversation with our neighbour. Made from 100% Cabernet Franc this is best drunk young to enjoy its fruit.

2009 Coteaux du Layon Saint-Lambert, Domaine Ogereau

With the cheese I opted for this 2009 Coteaux du Layon from the Ogereaus. Delicately sweet it shows how versatile this style of Layon can be – it worked very well with two types of Gorgonzola – creamy and piccante. This 2009 has lovely balance with citric flavours along with some apricot and just a touch of honey – all set off by refreshing acidity. This 2009 will doubtless age well but I'm not convinced that there is necessarily much point in long cellaring as it is already showing well. Naturally this rather depends upon whether it closes up this year (two years on from the vintage) as Loire Chenins often do.

Bruno Breton (Domaine du Carroi) with his 2009 Bourgueil Tradition

Bruno Breton's Bourgueils from his Domaine du Carroi was next up after the Jasnières of de Mianville. There was a small group of men clustered around the stand enthusiastically sampling the wines. Although he shares the same surname, Bruno Breton is no relation to the more media conscious Pierre Breton also of Bourgueil. Domaine du Carroi has 20 hectares of vines – 17.5 in Bourgueil and 2.5 in the neighbouring Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.

I started with the juicy, soft, easy drinking 2009 Saint-Nicolas (7.00€). Just the sort of wine that would disappear rapidly when shared with friends. Next the more angular 2009 Bourgueil Prestige (6.50€),  which needs a bit more time to soften, although food would soften the tannins. Then on to the deep coloured, dense and concentrated 2009 Tradition (8.50€) with plenty of black fruits and structure. I'd buy the Saint-Nicolas to drink now and the reasonably priced Tradition (my preferred wine) to put away for a couple of years or more. I do, however, find it a little strange that 'Tradition' is used for the top wine whereas the lesser Bourgueil is called Prestige.     

Bruno explained that he picks by hand. When I asked about a sorting table he said he didn't have one as he was in the vineyard with the pickers making sure of the quality. 

Roselyne and Bruno Breton
Domaine du Carroi
45 Rue Basse, 37140 Restigne
Phone : 02.47.97.31.35   

**

Luc Bizard

I finished with a range of 2009 Savennières from Château d'Epiré with owner, Luc Bizard. Firstly the minerally, quite tight 2009 Epiré (11.50€), which is a blend of a number of parcels. Le Hu Boyau  (13.50€) from 50 year-old vines using an old clone that produces small bunches is definitely a step up and worth the additional two euros with more concentration, texture, minerality and length.

Then on to the concentrated, quite rich but well balanced Cuvée Speciale (14.50€) from vines on roches bleues (phtanites). There is no malo on this cuvée, whereas there is a partial malo on the first two wines. Equally there is no malo on La Reserve du Maître, whose grapes come from the same type of soil as the Cuvée Spéciale but are aged in acacia barrels. I found La Reserve du Maître was a little more drying on the finish than the Spéciale, although I think both should age well.      

To be concluded.

Domaine de la Bergerie (Yves ad Marie-Annick Guegniard): harvest picnic in Le Clos le Grand Beaupréau: 28th September 2010

Yves Guegniard: Chenin in Le Clos le Grand Beaupréau: 28th September 2010

The Layon@Chaudefonds-sur-Layon (above and below)

Pigeonnier@Château de Chasseloir (Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine)

Once at magnificent tree in front of offices of Chasseloir – now sadly on its way out

Chenin Blanc in Claude Papin's parcel

On Tuesday our last visit in Anjou was to the Clos le Grand Beaupreau, the Savennières vineyard shared by Vincent Ogereau, Yves Guegniard and Claude Papin. We were there to see Yves and his team make a first tri (selective picking) there. After the decidedly miserable weather on the Monday afternoon (light rain) Tuesday was gloriously sunny, although not as hot as the previous week had been.   

Yves with some of his pickers

Grapes in Vincent Ogereau's parcel

We opened this last night and I was knocked out by how good it was. I have tasted and drunk the 1997 on a number of occasions and found it variable: at times sublime with the opulence of 1997; other times the oak has been too dominant. This 1996 was a little more restained but still with a richness – a touch of butter but a lot of dry, rich honeyed tones and enough acidity to provide a balance. This had none of the cheesiness that some Savennières of this age can develop. Also the wood was now fully integrated. All in all a lovely bottle of wine that should continue to age well.

When Bernard Germain bought Château de Fesles and the other properties from Gason Lenôtre in 1996, the package included an eight year lease on the Château de Varennes vineyard. Vinification in barriques was done at Fesles.

Philip Fournier (February 2009): is he really serious about building FL as an internationally reputed brand?

Today I was invited to a lunch at Rowley Leigh's Café Anglais in London to meet three producers: Philippe Fournier of Domaine FL (a fusion of Domaine Jo Pithon, AC Anjou, and Château de Chamboreau, Savennières), Dominique Meneret (Château de Brondeau and Domaine de Courteillac Bordeaux Supérieur) and the son of the owner of Tenuta la Novella in Chianti.

I have met Philip Fournier once before at a dinner in Angers in early February during the Salon des Vins de Loire. Fournier's stated ambition is 'to make Loire wines of the highest level at FL and to create an internationally reputed brand'. Thus it was more than a little curious to arrive and be told by an exasperated Christine Ontivéro, who until now has done PR for Domaine FL, that neither Fournier or his wines were present. Apparently Fournier had turned up at the railway station only to discover that his passport was out of date. It is not known why FL's wines hadn't arrived but suffice to say that those from Dominique Meneret and Tenuta la Novella had arrived at Café Anglais and were served during the excellent lunch.

The lunch had long been arranged, so it would seem foolish to get together a small group of journalists including influential figures like, Tim Atkin MW, Nick Faith, Rosemary George MW and Margaret Rand and to fail to get there. It is not as though Philip Fournier is some country hick. Instead he is the founder and managing director of the Afone telephone group with a turnover of €50million.

17th October 2009

Last evening I opened this bottle of 1982 Roche aux Moines from the Soulez brothers. We must have bought it somewhere in London in the mid 1980s and have held onto it ever since. It was served at slightly below cellar temperature and I decanted it just before pouring to give a chance to open out. I should probably have decanted it a bit earlier.

Very light gold giving no indication from the colour that this wine is now about 17 years years. Initially marked iodine and petrol aromas with considerable similarities to Riesling. While still fresh the nose gives more indication of its age, on the palate a strong mineral character and an austere, dry finish. This 1982 opened up in the glass becoming softer, less austere with a hint of honey. If we had more bottle of this I'd be very happy to keep this for another ten years easily – probably more. A lovely bottle and a reminder that these wines should be served just cellar cool.

•••

There are a series of 2009 vintages reports on The Tasting Room blog here.

Biodiversity in Savennières

Cover crops between the rows of vines
Photos by Cathy Shore of le tasting room

Spring flowers

Silent spring in Touraine

Can this scorched earth approach really be a viable long-term alternative? Admittedly a bottle of Savennières sells for considerably more than a Sauvignon de Touraine but..... If you were a bee where would you prefer to pollinate?

More details on le tasting room's blog.

Sauvignon Blanc in Quincy 2008 – never in Savennières!

'Top 10 Loire wines – the value and variety of lesser-known labels can be surprising'
(Jonathan Ray, wine correspondent, Telegraph 31.1.09)
‘I love the Loire Valley. I love gawping at the exquisite fairytale châteaux and scoffing the fabulous seafood and confit de canard.

The sauvignons blancs (such as Menetou-Salon, Pouilly Fumé, Quincy, Sancerre and Savennières) make great aperitifs or partners to first courses….’

‘And if the top Sancerres and Pouilly Fumés are sometimes a bit pricey, then the less well-known (but often as good) sauvignons from Quincy, Reuilly or Savennières, say, rarely are.’


Oops Jonathan! Savennières is one of the glories of Chenin Blanc. Indeed it may have been its birthplace, although Jean-Hubert Lebreton (Domaine des Rochelles) surprised me last week by telling me that apparently Chenin’s origins may have been much further south in Les Landes. Anyway Chenin is mentioned growing at Bouchemaine in the 9th century. So a Savennières made from Sauvignon Blanc would be both ‘surprising’ and ‘less well-known’.

Also if I’m being picky, which I am, I agree about the ‘fabulous seafood’ but confit de canard is not a particular speciality of the Loire.

Jonathan, however, is right about Loire Sauvignon Blancs going well with first courses. A half bottle of the attractively citric 2007 Les Vignes Blanches, Sancerre, Henri Bourgeois was perfect with a duo of smoked salmon and gravalax yesterday.

Monday 2nd February 2009

Philip Fournier

The new Domaine FL, a fusion between the Domaine Jo Pithon (Anjou) and Château de Chamboreau (Savennières), was presented to the press over dinner at Une Ile, 9 Rue Max Richard. FL is owned by Philip Fournier, the founder of the telecommunications company, Afone, based in Angers.

Philip was born in Saint-Etienne and, as his father worked for a bank and was frequently moved from branch to branch, he saw quite a lot of France during his childhood. Philip then spent 25 years in Paris before setting up afone in Angers in 1999. He had a second home in Britrtany, so Angers was conveniently on the way.

Philip: "In 2005 I was introduced to Jo Pithon by Catherine and Gérard Bossé (then owners of Les Tonnelles and now Une Ile in Angers), who were good friends. Jo was in financial trouble and I agreed to buy 95% of Domaine Jo Pithon. Then following year I bought Château de Chamboreau from Pierre Soulez in 2006. We are now combining the two estates under one name – Domaine FL."

Fournier and Longchamps were the names of Philip's parents. The idea is to build Domaine FL up as a brand as a way of getting away from the generally poor image of Anjou, especially Anjou Blanc. At FL there are now 21 hectares south of Angers – the old Domaine Jo Pithon, which has been organic since 1997, while there are 18 hectares in Savennières – the old Château de Chamboreau, which has been in conversion since 2006 to organic culture. 88% of FL is planted with Chenin, 11% Cabernet Franc and just of 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, which will soon be grubbed up.

Hugues Daubercies

In 2006 Hugues Daubercies, the nephew of Pierre Soulez, was brought in to look after the vineyards and the winemaking. Hugues made wine at La Courtade on the Ile de Porquerolles just of the coast of the Côte d'Azur near to Toulon before returning to Anjou in 1994. Then in 2007 Stéphane Derenoncourt, the well-known and much in demand Bordeaux consultant, agreed to come involved. By the end of January 2008 Jo Pithon found himself no longer in agreement with the direction and philosophy of the two estates, so he left.

Hugues continues in charge of the vineyards and the wine-making at both properties. "We have changed the style of the wines," Hugues explained. "We want to make finer, more precise, fresher wines and to emphasise the fruit and to avoid an oxidative style. We want wines that are capable of aging better. I'm pragmatic and we now use more SO2 when necessary."

Philip Fournier

Over a very good dinner cooked by Gérard Bossé – very lightly poached oysters over a red cabbage salad, roasted scallops, perfectly cooked sandre de Loire (pike perche) with a delicious beurre blanc, and a rare fillet steak – we tasted a number of the FL wines. We started with the only finished wine of the evening – the quite rich and mineral 2007 Le Chenin Anjou Blanc. (11€ TTC from property). This new cuvée combines two Jo Pithon's old cuvées – Les Bergères and Les Pépinières. My preferred wines were the minerally 2008 Roches aux Moines Savennières (49€ for 2007), currently with decidedly marked acidity, and the richly textured 2006 Cabernet Franc, AC Anjou (16.50€). We finished with easily the least convincing wine of the evening – the 2007 Quarts de Chaume (35€ for 37.5cl). It lacked the precision of the other FL wines and, although not in bottle, is well below the standard of other 2007 Quarts de Chaumes made by other producers.

Christine Ontivéro: relations presse


The new restaurant: Une Ile

Domaine FL, 11 Place François Mitterand, 49100 Angers
Tel: 02.72.73.59.41
Email: info@domaineFL.com
Site: www.domaineFL.com

More to follow.....

Across the Layon: October 10th 2005 from near Pierre-Bise
and looking towards St-Lambert

Château Pierre-Bise

Managed a quick chat with Joëlle Papin (Château Pierre-Bise, Beaulieu-sur-Layon) over the phone this afternoon.

“We are in the middle of the harvest – about half way through. We’ve done the first passage for the dry white, the Cabernet Franc and the rosé. Still to do are some of the rosé, some reds plus a bit more in Savennières as well as the sweet wines. The quality isn’t bad. It’s sunny but quite fresh, which is good. We have a problem with the birds eating the grapes – maybe nets would be the answer. We will be slimming down the size of our picking team next week as the sweet wine grapes aren’t ready to pick yet, so we’ll just keep a small team.”

Chenin Blanc, Beaulieu-sur-Layon October 2005

I’ve been very caught up this week with finishing off the 88th edition of Circle Update, the Circle of Wine Writers newsletter. Now this is out of the way I should have more time to check up on progress of the latter stages of the 2008 harvest.

Claude and Joëlle Papin, Château Pierre-Bise, 49750 Beaulieu-sur-Layon.
Tel: 02.41.78.31.44
Email: chateaupb@hotmail.com

I was delighted to receive an email this evening from Richard Kelley MW announcing the launch of his new website (www.richardkelley.co.uk/index.htm) devoted to Loire wines. Richard is the highly respected buyer for Richards Walford (agents for Domaine Huet, Eric Nicolas etc.), one of the UK’s top quality wine importers. Richard has set himself the task of producing the definitive guide to the wines of the Loire and his new site opens with the most comprehensive study of Savennières in English and, I suspec, in any language including French.

It is great to see Loire wines getting the sort of coverage they deserved with at least four English language sites or blogs: Jacqueline Friedrich (www.jacquelinefriedrich.com), Chris Kissack's The Wine Doctor (www.thewinedoctor.com), Jim’s Loire (http://jimsloire.blogspot.com) and now Richard Kelley (www.richardkelley.co.uk/index.htm), which are either wholly or part dedicated to this wonderfully varied and beautiful region. I hope this will lead to the wines being better appreciated and help good producers, especially in the lesser appellations, will be able to achieve better prices while continuing to offer amazing value.

Richard has been working with Jamie Goode to put his new site together.