The Loire in pictures
On 9-11 October the drinks business and Loire Valley Wines jointly hosted a trip for UK-based independent wine merchants designed to uncover hidden gems of the region. Taking part in the tour were (left to right): Colin Thorne, events and education manager at Vagabond Wines; Natalia Posadas Alvarez, head buyer for Perfect Cellar; Auriane de Sauvon d’Aramon, head buyer for Friarwood Fine Wines; Laurene Amiet, head French wine buyer for Borough Wines, and Patrick Schmitt from the drinks business.
Here’s one I prepared earlier: our first visit saw Nicolas Choblet from Domaine du Haut Bourg in the heart of the Muscadet appellation Côtes de Grandlieu show us his underground vats, which are lined with tiles, and filled with Melon de Bourgogne ageing sur lie – and not just for months, but years…
Nicolas, who runs the 40-hectare estate with his brother Hervé, is pictured here standing in front of a selection of historic barrel-making tools (and a plastic bag if you look closely).
Among the wines tasted was the Origine du Haut Bourg 2006 – a Muscadet that is aged on its lees in tank for a minimum of seven years, adding complexity and richness, but also preserving the freshness. Colin Thorne was impressed at the longevity of Melon de Bourgogne.
Thorne then asked Nicolas, “Is there a figurehead producer in Muscadet, like for example, Dauvissat in Chablis?” Responding, Nicolas said, “I try to be the Dauvissat of Muscadet.”
Our second visit featured another underground tank filled with Muscadet, but this time it was from Sèvre et Maine, where Maxime Cormerais makes the wines for Domaine Bruno Cormerais.
Like Domaine du Haut Bourg, Cormerais ages his top Muscadets for many years, with a wine called Bruno – after Maxime’s father – seeing six years on the lees in an underground tank, using grapes from Clisson, a Muscadet cru established in 2011, along with Le Pallet and Gorges.
The evening was then spent with Nathalie Safran of Les Caves de Grenelle, a producer responsible for the sparkling Saumur Brut called Louis de Grenelle – which she admitted, was not named after a real person.
Safran began the evening with new, and delicious, prestige cuvée sparkling from the house, called 3 / 7.7.4 – which signified the fact that the fizz is made with 7 parts Pinot Noir, 7 parts Cabernet Franc and 4 parts Pinot d’Aunis.
The following morning was spent at Domaine des Deux Arcs in Anjou, where Florent Baucher talked through the range, which included a Vin de France Chardonnay, as well as Chenin Blanc from Savennières, and two sweet wines: one from Coteaux du Layon and a second from Bonnezeaux.
Many of the domaine’s visitors had left their mark on the vats, though we took down our thoughts on pads.
The second half of the summer has been exceptionally dry in the Loire, which has been good for ripening, but the soils – as you can see above at Bonnezeaux – are parched.
Botrytis is starting to take hold on the Chenin Blanc. We tasted the grapes and a previous vintage from Domaine des Deux Arcs among the producer’s vines in Bonnezeaux.
We were greeted by this winery cat at our next stop: Domaine de Montgilet, a respected producer in Coteaux de l’Aubance – an appellation best known for its sweet wines based on Chenin Blanc.
The feline made an immediate beeline for Colin.
Then Aurélien Talibard showed us new plantings at the producer’s 65-hectare estate, made using a massale selection from the property’s oldest Chenin Blanc vineyards.
Talibard said that the domaine has lost a lot of vines to the grapevine trunk disease Esca, which is particularly prevalent in the Loire. He also recorded that the estate had lost up to 30% of its production in this vintage due to poor weather during flowering and fruit-set in May. However, conditions have been perfect for harvesting, and Talibard described the vintage as “small, but good quality”.
Bringing in the grapes at Montgilet, which has an impressive collection of ancient orange tractors – which co-owner Vincent Lebreton has amassed over the years.
Loading the grapes into the press (above), and Vincent Lebreton, who runs the estate with his brother Victor, shows Laurene the bunches.
And then Natalia checks the sugar levels using a refractometer.
As well as 65 ha of vineyards, Montgilet has an arable farm and impressive vegetable garden (below).
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The tasting finished with a fresh and unctuous Coteaux de l’Aubance from the 1990 vintage – an exceptional harvest in the region.
And then it was time for lunch – which we had outside in the midday sun.
Our final visit that day took us to the remote Domaine de Bellivière – an organic estate with 15 hectares in the Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir appellations, where co-owner Christine Nicolas took us on a tour of the new winery (above, and below).
Behind the new building’s concrete walls one can clearly see the thin soils and thick chalk bedrock of the region, into which the Bellivière’s cellars have been carved (pictured below).
And within one of these chalk cellars was this wine collection – featuring some serious labels (that is, where you could read them).
Christine then talked us through the range of delicious Chenin-based whites, before finishing with a red, made, unusually, with just Pinot d’Aunis.
The day finished at Le Casse-Cailloux in Tours – a brilliant but tiny restaurant with a comprehensive list of Loire Valley wines – where Rodolphe Raffault from Domain Jean-Maurice Raffault talked us through the geography of Chinon.
Although the appellation is famed for its Cabernet Franc, Rudolphe also makes a wonderful, dry Chenin from Chinon.
The evening saw us taste a range of Chinon Cabs from some of the appellation’s top producers, selected by Rudolphe, who is also vice-president of the region.
The following morning began with a Touraine Sauvignon Blanc tasting at Domain Earl Barbou.
Véronique Barbou gave an introduction to Touraine Oisly – an appellation granted in 2011 with stricter rules for higher quality Sauvignon Blanc.
Just 13 producers are currently making Oisly – which is pronounced a bit like ‘wally’.
Pioneer of the new appellation was Dominique Barbou, pictured below.
Our final visit took us into another new appellation called Touraine-Chenonceaux, which, like Oisly, was granted in 2011. Presiding over this new high-quality sub-region is Luc Poullain from Domaine des Echardières.
After a quick winery visit Luc took us into his home for a tasting and lunch.
Beyond Luc’s garden were harvesters picking grapes under clear blue skies, ensuring that 2016 will produce a ripe, clean, if small vintage in the Loire.
