"The 2012 harvest is pretty well over, with just a few parcelles
of chenin hanging out in the Layon, waiting for the weather to go cold,
sunny and windy (the forecast is good), in which case we may get some stickies
this year after all. Keep praying!
Otherwise :
Dry whites - sauvignon & Muscadet : as
per, quality is good to fantastic in Muscadet, Touraine, Sancerre & Pouilly
Fumé, with the Muscadets promising to be among the best ever. Quantities are
way down in Muscadet and Touraine but look fine in Sancerre & Pouilly.
Muscadet's yields are a problem and compounded by the
appellation going from 13000 hectares to under 8000 as growers have ripped
up or abandoned 40% of the vineyards since the 2008 frosts as bulk prices have
been way below production costs. Luckily the serious single estates have
survived so far. Hopefully you'll be able to use the quality of the vintage to
really put across to the consumer just how attractive this appellation can be.
Reds - cabernet franc : starting 2 weeks
later than average (and a month later than last year) was always going to be a
gamble, so the rain end September that helped ripen the sauvignons were
less of a blessing here, especially as the last couple of weeks have seen about
5 inches of rain. That said, there's been hardly any rot until this week
(picking is now effectively over) so although there's obviously been some
concentration lost as growers waited for ripeness, this should be a pretty
and easy-drinking vintage for the cab francs.
Reds - pinots : Our guys in Sancerre and
over in St Pourçain are pretty ecstatic about quality, with lovely ripeness -
and the concentration that comes with low yields.
Chenin Blanc - Vouvray, Montlouis & the Anjou
: First things first : there won't be any great moelleux this year - but
growers have stocks of the truly great 2010 and 2011 vintages, so that's
not a problem.
For dry and off-dry chenins, things are looking
surprisingly good, though again, yields are down. In Vouvray and Montlouis the
juice is tasting fresh, clean and nicely aromatic. Less concentration than 2009
and 2010 especially, but this should make for a pretty, consumer-friendly
vintage - and growers like Jacky Blot, who really did a serious 'tri'
at harvest should make some super 'secs'..
Meanwhile, the hand-picked chenins of the Anjou are
promising to be really lovely, with some real
ripeness and concentration.
The proof of the pudding is of course in the eating, and
we're about to start tasting with our growers all along the Loire. We expect to
send you a 'real' vintage report early in the New Year.
I've attached some photos taken over the last 2 weeks of the
harvest....
Enjoy!
Charles
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| 23rd October - Coteaux du Layon from the Sky... |
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| The sorting table in the vines at Jacky Blot's Taille aux Loups in Montlouis |
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| Stephane Branchereau's vines at Domaine des Forges |
