2011 Gamay@ Clos Roche Blanche's block@La Tesnière

Quick visit yesterday afternoon to a few local vignerons (+ a vigneronne) in the Cher to get an idea of how things are shaping up and when picking is due to start.

Vincent Roussely (Clos Roussely, Angé) was putting in a last afternoon on the paperwork that threatens to submerge many producers. From today it will down to getting everything prepared for the harvest, which Vinent expects will start a week today. He's happy with his Sauvignon: a yield of around 35 hl/ha because of coulure during the flowering with 11.8-12% potential at present.

Vincent Roussely in his office keeping the paperwork at bay

Then we went onto La Tesnière (Pouillé*) to see Noëlla Morantin and Laurent Saillard. Both were very busy getting everything ready to start picking on Monday, although things could change depending on the weather. The Gamay and Chardonnay are currently at 10.5% potential.

On Friday the 2010 Terres Blanches (Chardonnay) and 2010 Chez Charles (Sauvignon) will be bottled making space for the new vintage. Both of the 2010s are looking promising.

Noëlla Morantin

Tomorrow afternoon we will be back in this neighbourhood for the start of the vintage at the Clos Roche Blanche. Unfortunately Friday's weather forecast isn't great – some thundery rain. Hopefully the forecast will be wrong or the pattern will change.

* I'm tempted to start referring to Pouillé-sur-Cher to differentiate it from Pouilly-sur-Loire but this may only add to the confusion.

More Gamay@La Tesnière

Noëlla Morantin

Nigel Wilkinson (RSJ Restaurant in London) arrived on Wednesday afternoon for a few days of visits to producers. He had time to drop off his bags before we headed off on our first visits. We started with Noëlla Morantin, someone I really should have visited before. She has 8.66 hectares, which she bought from Catherine and Didier of the Clos Roche Blanche with the following grape varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Gamay and Côt. I had previously tasted Noëlla's Gamay in London and was further impressed by her wines during this visit.

The barrel room

The winery kittens (above and below)

Bunches of grapes growing fast in a nearby parcel still owned by the Clos Roche Blanche

Centre of Angé where Vincent Roussely has his temporary boutique

From La Tesnière (Pouillé) to Vincent Roussely in Angé is but a short drive. Vincent's ambitious building works around the family winery, which he bought back last year, are advancing.

The old winery


Inside the restored winery

Nigel and Vincent

Further reports to follow but off now for a day in Saumur and Chinon...

2009 Sauvignon Blanc (Touraine), Villebois
2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Villebois, Seigy

2009 Le Clos, Touraine Sauvignon, Domaine du Clos Roussely, Angé

2009 Pointe de Doux, Sauvignon Blanc, Frédéric Brochet, Marigny Brizay

Here are three quite different expressions of 2009 Sauvignon Blanc: two come from Touraine –  Villebois and Domaine Roussely – and the third from Haut-Poitou – Frédéric Brochet of Ampelidae.  

Villebois is Dutch owned. The 2009 Villebois is made by Thierry Merlet, who trained in Australia and worked for Brian Croser at Petaluma, before returning to France and working in the Cher Valley. It is the most citric, aromatic and refreshing of the three Sauvignons here. Watching this video clip on YouTube, explains why is this is the case. In the clip Thierry explains that the Sauvignon is picked at different times. Part of the Sauvignon is picked early to give the aromas and freshness, while part is picked later to give some weight and body to the wine. 

 

2009 Le Clos, Touraine Sauvignon, Domaine du Clos Roussely, Vincent Roussely

Vincent worked in Bordeaux, Reims, South Africa, Australia and California, before returning to his native Cher Valley. Le Clos comes from the vineyard just behind the old family cellars in the village of Angé. The cellars used to be rented to Vinival – they returned to family hands in 2010. The 2009 Le Clos is a richer style of Sauvignon than the Villebois, although it does have good freshness in its long finish.

2009 Pointe de Doux, Sauvignon Blanc, Brochet

The wine is called Brochet after the maker – Frédéric Brochet. As brochet means pike (the fish) in French there is a a drawing of a fearsome fish. Despite the nice joke on the label, I find this the least successful of the three Sauvignons featured here as I find it has less character. Well made it is bland and this may be due to the small amount of residual sugar (3.6 gms). I should taste Brochet's Mon Blanc, another Sauvignon Blanc, which has less than a gram of residual sugar in it.

I had hoped to taste Frédéric's wines at this year's Salon des Vins de Loire but as was the case with a number of other producers I just ran out of time.

Good to see that both Villebois and Brochet are closed with screwcaps.  

Contact details:

Villebois, 43 Rue de la Quézardière, 41110 Seigy

Email: vin@villebois.nt

Domaine du Clos Roussely, 11 Route du Château, 41400 Angé
Tel: 02.54.32.86.46
Email: clos_roussely@yahoo.fr


Ampelidae, Manoir de Lavauguyot, 86380 Marigny Brizay
Tel: 05.49.88.18.18
Email: ampeliade@ampeliade.com