Had another wonderful lunch at Jacky Dallais' La Promenade. The food is always great and inventive, the wine list excellent, the restaurant completely unstuffy and relaxed and to cap it all it's excellent value for money. Madame Dallais looks after the front of the house assisted by Xavier Fortin, the excellent sommelier. All too many sommeliers are useless, not so Xavier who is enthusiastic and really knows his wines, especially from the Loire but also the Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon.

Jacky Dallais' presence in the dining room

Jacky Dallais stays in the kitchen, so there is none of the celebrity chef nonsense with the chef pressing the customers' flesh rather than getting on with the business in hand in the kitchen. I don't know of another restaurant in France that offers such quality at such good value as you'll find at La Promenade.



We took the menu tradition – 50€ for three courses plus cheese and dessert or 40€ for two courses.

2005 Le Volagré, Montlouis, Stéphane Cossais

For our aperitif we had a bottle of 2005 Le Volagré, Montlouis (38€) in memory of Stéphane. It was delicious and a very sad reminder of Stéphane's potential. Initially it showed some wood but this disappeared as it cooled down and had time to breathe and showed the richness of 2005 along with clean and precise minerality.

Huîtres speciales, compôte d'artichaut, citron confit et consommé de tomate

My first course was an amazing dish with a number of plump oysters hidden under the thin, brown biscuit. We had Didier Dagueneau's 2005 Pur Sang, Pouilly-Fumé (70€), which was good with attractive concentration and pure clean length but it didn't really quite have the complexity of Le Volagré. Didier's wine may just need more time.

Cabillaud cotier en croute de persil et coquillages

The cod was perfectly cooked – wonderfully moist and flavoursome.

Canard: le filet cuit rosé à lolive noir, le foie gras juste poelé, croque tomate acidulée et jus d'abat au vin rouge

With the very fine duck we had the 1999 Coteau de Noire, Chinon, Philippe Alliet (48€), which was attractively leathery with a touch of earthiness/sous bois. Philippe's Chinon brought to an end our sad series – Stéphane and Didier – of drinking bottles from top Loire producers cut down in their prime. I shouldn't forget the wickedly rich mousseline of potato – a Dallais speciality – believed to be 55% butter to 45% potato.

1999 Coteau de Noire, Chinon, Philippe Alliet

After the cheese I chose this strawberry dish – unfortunately I don't have the description but it was strawberries souffled sitting on little disks of jelly made from Gamay.

The only one small problem with La Promenade is that it is 50 minutes drive away deep in the unspoilt countryside of La Touraine Sud and it is difficult to find a good chambre d'hôte nearby. It is, of course, worth the journey. le Petit Pressigny has a population of 373.

Summer hours for La Promenade: open all week apart from Sunday night, all day Monday and Tuesday lunchtime. Booking is strongly advised.

11 Rue Savoureulx, 37350 Le Petit Pressigny‎. Tel: 02.47.94.93.52‎

Au Bon Coin: Le Petit Pressigny's other restaurant

Stéphane in August 2008

I have just received the very sad and shocking news that Stéphane Cossais, a very talented and individual producer in Montlouis, died of a heart attack on Saturday morning while in the Dordogne on holiday with Chloé, his nine-year old daughter. My guess is that Stéphane must have been in his late 30s to early 40s, so this is an awful shock for a young man to have died of a heart attack.

I last saw Stéphane at Les Caves de Pyréne's London tasting at the end of April, when he seemed very well, fit and full of fun.

Stéphane was one of a number of newcomers to Montlouis, whose presence has made this such an exciting and dynamic appellation. He was very critical of his wines and determined to be complete true to his vision of how his wines should be. Stéphane concentrated on making dry whites of great purity and brilliant precision. The pain of his death is accentuated by the conviction that the best was yet to come – a feeling of great promise that will now never be fulfilled. My profile of Stéphane is here.



I'm trying to confirm this terrible news and will naturally be delighted if this turns out to be a mistake. (This turned out to be a false hope.)

Addition:
Sadly Micaela and Sue's post has confirmed that Stéphane did indeed die on Saturday. He was just 42. Apparently he was taking part in a walking race. Report on Omnivore here.

Further comment on Stéphane's death:

Fellow Montlouis producers – Les Loges-de-la-Folie

Cuisine en ligne with a video interview with Stéphane

My condolences to Stéphane's family.

The funeral will be on Thursday (30th July) in Montlouis at 15.00. I understand that his Montlouis friends will continue to look after Stéphane's vines and will do the 2009 vintage. Apparently Flore, his partner from whom Stéphane was separated, may take over running the small domaine.

Stéphane@Les Caves de Pyréne tasting in London: 29th April 2009

The Hérédias (Domaine du Montrieux, Coteaux du Vendômois) with their red Coteaux du Vendômois (Pineau d'Aunis) and 'Pet Nat' Boisson Rouge (Gamay)

Have been off at two London tastings today. First 'Bordeaux Grands Crus Classés: 2005-2008' at the Portico Rooms, Somerset House. This involved ten Bordeaux châteaux, including Smith Haut-Lafitte, Canon la Gaffelière, Gazin, Angelus, Rauzan-Ségla and Leoville-Poyferré, showing their various wines. It was a welcome opportunity to have a rapid squint at the 2008s. I got here quite earlier but it was already fairly crowded and rapidly got fuller.

Rather than taste everything I just concentrated on 2007 and 2008. On this showing, at least, I can't imagine why anyone bought 2007 Bordeaux en primeur particularly now that the 2008s, a better vintage is being offered for substantially less than the opening prices of 2007. Even though 2008 is better than 2007 I can still see no reason why it makes sense to buy 2008 en primeur, especially in these difficult economic times. Better to wait and see how the wines turn out once they are finished and not to take the risk of your chosen merchant or Bordeaux négociant going bust in the nearly two years before the 2008s are delivered.

•••

An Oddbins interlude
On the way down the Strand to the Portico Rooms I passed an Oddbins – the blackboard outside listed Oddbins red at £4.49 for a single bottle but only £3.59 as part of a mixed dozen. One of the noteworthy things about the press tasting was the high price for a single bottle purchase, whereas prices as part of a mixed dozen were much more competitive. Oddbins appeared to be trying to do a Majestic and encourage their customers to buy a minimum of 12 bottles. All very well if you have car parking facilities – extremely tricky parking in the Strand! So who, apart from a weightlifter, is going to buy a mixed case here in central London?

•••

The Hérédias and Christian Chaussard (Le Briseau)

Real wine: tasting of primarily biodynamic and organic wines

Next up Les Caves de Pyrene's Real Wine tasting up at the Porchester Hall nearly Paddington. Les Caves is a marvelous antidote to the tedium of big brands and BOGOFs. On show today 56 producers making interesting wines with passion. The tasting is on for two days and it would be easy and time well spent to be there for all two days – sadly deadlines makes that impossible. Instead I naturally concentrated on their Loire producers.

Frantz Saumon (Montlouis)

Frantz Saumon tasting his rosé

I started with Frantz Saumon’s Montlouis and particularly liked the recently bottled 2008 Minérale +, Montlouis. Sec (£10.68 ext vat – same for all Les Caves prices quoted here) with has considerable weight but also mineral precision. Should be good to drink young but will also age well.

Stéphane Cossais (Montlouis)

Then to Stéphane Cossais and two vintages of Le Volagre – 2007 and 2006. 2007 won’t be bottled until 8th December 2009 and Stéphane was regretting bring it along as it wasn’t showing very well. Anyway the impressive 2006 (£18.38) has the typical richness and concentration of this vintage.

Stéphane and Frantz – "Yes you do look like José Mourinho's brother!"

Emile Hérédia (Domaine de Montrieux, Coteaux du Vendômois)

Next I moved onto the reds beginning with the 2008 Pétillant Naturel Boisson Rouge (£9.88) from Emile Hérédia (Domaine de Montrieux in the Coteaux du Vendômois). PetNats (pétillants naturels) are very fashionable in Touraine and the Valley of Le Loir at the moment. Their secondary fermentation relies on their being sufficient grape sugar left when the wine is put in bottle to provoke fermentation. Emile’s Boisson Rouge is 100% Gamay and has soft attractive blackberry fruit – a good fun wine for the summer but at quite a serious price.

The Hérédias have seven hectares of vines with three varieties planted: Gamay and Pineau d'Aunis for the reds and Chenin Blanc for their whites. Their 2005 Coteaux du Vendômois (£9.43) is 100% Pineau d’Aunis – typically peppery on the palate, while aromatically more discreet.

Then onto three wines from Thierry Puzelat, who was yet to arrive although he was on his way courtesy of Ryanair. Of the three I preferred the delicate and spicy 2007 Touraine KO ‘In Cot we trust’ (£10.73). Thierry and the Domaine du Tue Boeuf in Les Montils have a Portes Ouvertes (open weekend) on 9th and 10th May. Other producers present include René Mosse (Anjou), Pierre Breton (Bourgueil, Chinon and Vouvray) and Pascal Potaire (Touraine).

Thierry Germain (Domaine des Roches-Neuves, Saumur) wasn't present but the 2007 Insolite (Saumur Blanc £13.48) has the lean, minerla precision that Thierry is now looking for. The 'basic' 2008 Samur-Champigny has some attractive ripe fruit but quite marked acidity. Of the other wines 2007 Terres Chaudes (Saumur-Champigny £12.98) was a bit of puzzle with both bottles showing bitter, astringet fruit mid-palate. I thought the first bottle was slightly corked but the second proved to be similar. This may well have been a one-off but I hope it is not an indication that Thierry is pushing his current enthusiasm for picking very early slightly too far.

Danielle Caslot (Bourgueil) with the impressive 1996 Les Galichets

On to the Domaine la Chevalerie – a 33 hectare Bourgueil estate that impresses me and one that I ought to know better. First up the sweet, juicy fruited 2007 Binette (£7.48) from young vines grown on sand and clay. Amongst the range shown I liked 2006 Les Galichets (£10.63) – red and black fruits but needing time – and the same cuvée ten years on with its delicate, sweet evolved fruit and fairly priced (£12.18) for this 1996 – a lovely vintage now often drinking very well. 1998 Les Busardières, from 50-year-old vines on the clay-limestone coteaux, has initially supple fruit but has quite tight tannins reflecting this difficult vintage.

Pierre Breton (Bourgueil, Chinon and Vouvray)

With Pierre Breton I tasted his fine 2008 La Dilettante Vouvray Sec (£9.78), made from bought in grapes, for the first time. Catherine Breton is responsible for the vinification and it's a success with attractive quince fruit, good length and that touch of bitterness in the finish – typical Chenin. Pierre also has a 2007 Bourgueil Dilettante (£11.28), which is soft and supple. It is also made by Catherine, using carbonic maceration, but pricy for what it is. Similarly I have always thought the Breton’s entry level Bourgueil – Trinch (£9.78) – to be overpriced.

Christian Chaussard with 2006 Kharaktêr (Jasnières)

Of the three wines Christian Chaussard (Le Briseau), incidentally one of the initial guiding lights behind the PetNat movement, showed the 2006 ‘Kharakter’ Jasnières (£12.68) stood out for its balance and minerality on the palate. The 2005 Clos des Longues Jasnières (£16.28) is a considerable contrast with its richer, rounder fruit.

Pierre-Henry Pellé (Menetou-Salon)

Pierre-Henry Pellé was showing three Menetou-Salons – two whites from 2007 and the 2008 red. The Morogues (£10.58) and the Clos Blanchais (£12.88) both have the pure linear character of the 2007 vintage. I think it is worth paying a bit more for the Blanchais’ additional character and concentration. The 2008 Morogues red (£11.58) has attractive vivid, leafy young fruit. The Pelles’ 2006 Les Cris, their top Menetou red is currently showing very well, especially if served cool.

Sébastien Riffault (Sancerre)
Not sure what pruning system Sébastien uses but it is clearly complex and precise

There are some villages in the Loire where if you shout out a particular surname almost the entire population will appear and rush towards you. For instance, try ‘Mabileau’ in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. In Sury-en-Vaux (AC Sancerre) the name to shout is ‘Riffault’. Here things are made even more complicated because there are two very promising young producers – both with a first name that starts with an S – Stéphane and Sébastien. Stéphane now looks after Domaine Claude Riffault, while Sébastien has a five-hectare property – 4.5 planted with Sauvignon Blanc and just 0.5 ha of Pinot Noir.

I’ve been wanting to taste Sébastien’s wines for a while, so this was a good opportunity. If you are looking for a classic Sancerre, then you’ve come to the wrong place. Sébastien’s are richly fruited in a slightly oxidative style and have real character. As well as his red (2007 Raudons £16.98), he showed 2007 Akmenine (£14.13 - caillottes) and 2007 Skeveldra (£16.98 – silex). Of the two, Skeveldra is the more mineral. Sébastien is certainly working outside the norm and I must try to get to see him some time this year. See profile of Sébastien on Bernard Celce’s wine terroirs site.

The legendary but unwell Eric Narioo (Les Caves de Pyrene) – no swine flu here please!

Went to a great concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank last night. Part of the London Jazz Festival, it starred Joanna McGregor, the amazing Dhafer Youssef, Satoshi Takeishi and the Britten Sinfonia. Dhafer’s voice and range were particularly amazing.

Stéphane Cossais: August 2008

Afterwards we headed off for a couple of courses at the nearby RSJ Restaurant, where I do some consultancy mainly running the tastings and going to the Loire on buying trips. We started with a bottle of Stéphane Cossais 2005 Le Volagré Montlouis – a delicious combination of richness and minerality with a trace of vanilla showing initially. We also enjoyed the quite gamy, sous-bois 2005 Les Mines Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil from Yannick Amirault. The RSJ kitchen was certainly on-form: my salmon fishcakes followed by duck confit were very good.

Yannick Amirault: late January 2008

Sites:
Yannick Amirault

RSJ News (blog)

RSJ Restaurant

London Jazz Festival

(16th August: last day of visits with the Wine Detective – Montlouis)

Stéphane outside the entrance to the cave

We left La Cave Insolite to drive to Stéphane’s cave. Finding 12 bis Route de Saint-Aignan looked easy enough as this is the road from Montlouis to Saint-Martin-Le-Beau. Unfortunately few of the properties along the road are numbered and reaching number 36 it was clear we had overshot. The only vignernon’s property we had passed was that of Christian Martin at No 28, who would later feature in Stéphane’s tale.

The entrance to 12 bis

Anyway we found a small, short track leading up to the base of the river cliff. No number, no names but a wine press on a concrete plinth and a locked entrance to a cave set into the coteaux with a pile of wooden beside it and next to the Moulin Rouge, which I fondly but wrongly imagined was some wild and nefarious night club. Disappointingly it turns out that it is just a restaurant. A quick mobile call and Stéphane soon arrived – it turned out that he had cut short his holiday and come over specially from Saumur to see us.

The 'exotic' Moulin Rouge

Before tasting Stéphane told us how he came to be a vigneron and of his series of misfortunes.

Stéphane is unlikely to find his fortune making wine as a small scale Montlouis producer. He could, however, make a very comfortable living from advising people to avoid his example and give up the dream of becoming a small, boutique producer making exquisite wine. I can see the pitch now: “Look at all the problems and misfortunes that I have suffered and turn your back on viticulture.”

“My background is classical music,” Stéphane explained. “I spent four years in Lille but my passion for wine proved to be stronger than my devotion to music. I knew Saumur-Champigny as my mother has a business in Saumur. I enrolled for a year’s course at the Lycée Viticole de Montreuil-Bellay and I really wanted to make Saumur-Champigny. I spent three stages (periods of work experience) with the Frères Foucault.

“I became captivated by Chenin Blanc and starting to look for vines in four Loire appellations: Savennières, Saumur, Vouvray and Montlouis. In 2001 I managed to rent 2.4 ha of Chenin here in Montlouis. I have three hectares now. When I started in 2001 I had less than a Euro in my pocket but I wasn’t prepared to make concessions.


"The first year my wine was very bad because I started off with equipment from an old vigneron. Unfortunately the barriques were dirty, so I had to change them in 2002 and sell my wine at a greatly reduced price. A frost on 11th April 2003 was the next disaster – that year I only made 9 hl/ha. Then my bank said ‘bye-bye’ – they weren’t prepared to fund my overdraft any more. So, if I was to continue, I had to find €23,000 by 31st July 2003. I started a subscription and we managed to raise €210,000. With the heat wave in 2003 we began picking on 15th September but the Chenin was already 15˚ and I wanted to make dry wine!

“More disasters in 2004! I was hit by hail and the owner, Christian Martin, of the vineyards I was renting tried to get rid of me.” Martin apparently disapproved of Stephane cultivating the vineyards organically and going for low yields – pruning so that he has six buds – the practice of the Foucault brothers – instead of the more traditional eight.

There appears to be quite a tradition for vineyard owners, especially those perhaps inclined to look for high yields and with a belief in the efficacy of a chemical regime, to attempt to get rid of the young producers renting their vineyards who have different ideas and different approaches to viticulture. Nicolas Renard, who made some remarkable wines in Jasnières during the 1990s, was eventually forced to give up following a long dispute with the owner of his vineyards. Also the valley of Le Loir Eric Nicolas of Domaine de Bellivière apparently had problems initially with vines he was renting that were solved when he was able to buy his own vineyards.

The pneumatic press

Fortunately Stéphane was able to get an expert to testify that he was looking after the vineyards properly and he won his case before the tribunal.

During this tale of woe we tasted the honeyed and toasty 2006 Les Maisons Marchandelles, which also had some slightly unclean flavours. “This is the last vintage,” Stéphane suddenly announced. Sarah (the Wine Detective) and I exchanged shocked glances and assumed that serial adversity had finally driven Stéphane to give up his dream to be a vigneron. Fortunately this was a misunderstanding. “I’m giving up making Les Maisons Marchandelles because my wines need a long time to stabilise and this cuvee only has 18 months. In future all my wines will have 23-24 months in barrel. Les Maisons Marchandelles on argile-silex (clay and flint). Unfortunately it doesn’t get enough morning sun and it’s the morning sun that makes quality wine, evening sun gives you plonk.”

Stéphane continued with his history. “In 2005 I made 30 hl/ha, in 2006 it was 17 hl/ha and in 2007 it was 22 h/ha. My aim is to have 30-35 hl/ha. I now have four hectares of vines.”

Next we tasted samples of the rich, concentrated and mineral 2007 Le Volagré that will be bottled in 2010. Stéphane: “I want to avoid having a malolactic fermentation”. Le Volagré comes from a vineyard at Saint-Martn-le-Beau, where the soil is more sandy. Then we moved onto the much fatter and honeyed 2006 with some toasty notes. “I’m not happy with the toastiness,” said Stéphane. “I had 10% new barrels in 2005, 20% in 2006 and none in 2007.

We finished by tasting firstly the sensational 2005 Le Volagré – wonderfully rich and honeyed but with great balance because of its acidity and minerality. Then 2005 Cloelote a 14% moelleux from passerillage with 70 grams of residual and 3.4 gms acidity, which was quite rich but balanced with good acidity but it was Le Volagré 2005 that really stood out.

The world divides into optimists and pessimists – those who see the glass as half full and those for whom it is half empty. Stéphane appears to be firmly in the pessimists’ camp. Throughout our visit he stressed the problems and, in particular, what was wrong with his wines. Our assessment on the evidence of the finished wines, admittedly a tiny sample, is that Stéphane is making good, individual wines and that it is newcomers like him that is making the small Montlouis appellation dynamic and interesting.

Before we left we had a quick photo opportunity and as I took the shots I realised who Stéphane reminds of: José Mourinho formerly Chelsea’s ‘special one’.

What's José Mourinho doing in Montlouis?

Golden Chenin in a Montlouis vineyard: 11th October 2008

The 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 suggest
that this isn't all Chenin – perhaps some Gamay to make Touraine Rosé?
Also still green areas may have been 'treated' to chemical fertilisers.

Stéphane Cossais: the José Mourinho of Montlouis!

A la mi-septembre, on n'était pas très confiant pour les vendanges! Heureusement, le beau temps s'est installé pour nous accompagner jusqu'à la maturité des raisins et le temps de les rentrer en cave. Résultat, on tient un très beau millésime qui devrait nous donner de très beaux vins.

Pour ma part, les vendanges ont commencé le 3 octobre pour se terminer le 13 octobre. L'état sanitaire était génial et l'équilibre alcool acidité est intéressant. Vivement la fin des fermentations pour voir se dessiner la trame du vin. Les jus de raisins étaient superbes, j'espère que les vins nous étonneront aussi!

Le millésime 2008 est dans le même esprit que 2002, belle acidité et belle maturité.

In mid-September we were not very confident about the vintage. Fortunately the good weather arrived and stayed with us long enough for the grapes to mature and to bring them into the cellar. The result is a very good year that will give us some very fine wines.

As far as I concerned the harvest started on the 3rd October and finished on 13th. The grapes are very healthy and the balance between the alcohol and the acidity is interesting. We will have to wait for the end of the fermentation to see the style of the wines. The juice was superb and I hope that the wines will astonish us too. The 2008 vintage is in the same style as the 2002, good acidity and good ripeness.

(To follow report on visit to Stéphane in August.)