Loire 2013 Preliminary Harvest Report

Loire specialist Charles Sydney recently sent us the following 2013 vintage report.  Charles and Philippa are not only stationed permanently in Chinon but also very close to many Loire growers. Their intel is therefore excellent….

The note of cautious optimism is a welcome relief. It seems 2013 in the Loire will go down as another tricky, but ultimately successful vintage (for those that put the work in)… 

Jean-Philippe from Domaine de la Taille aux Loups was even carrying the hotte! 

Apologies in advance for the long message - there's too much panic out there and we wanted to put some perspective on things.

Looking out the window at the moment, Phil and I are wondering whether to wander down to the Anjou to watch the picking today, or to leave it till tomorrow. It's misty, there was some rain yesterday (sunshine too) but the forecast is fine. Which sort of sums up the 4 weeks since harvest started here. That's obviously not perfect - but it's also nothing new.

2013 looks to be a perfectly normal (if slightly stressed-out) vintage.

Muscadet : started end September, the guys got hit by some rain beforehand, but in some sectors they needed it. Combined with warm weather, that meant a risk of rot, so it was time to pick.

Where the vines had been properly looked after, that was fine, even if we'd have liked slightly higher degrees. Better still in vineyards that had been grassed through, as the moisture went to the grass and the grapes were clearly riper and healthier.

By the end, the guys were happy to finish, fining some vats to eliminate any potential off flavours. In general, after a good cold settling the juice was tasting fine and the wines should be pretty good!

Sauvignon : started right at the beginning of October, with the same sort of conditions as in Muscadet - basically, if the grower looked after his vines, the harvest is fine, with reasonable degrees and balanced acidity. Again, there's more ripeness with growers prepared to grass through their vines or to cut out (as chez Jacky Marteau) any unripe or rotten bunches.

Also as in Muscadet, there was some rot so producers had to be particularly careful with the juice (inerting vats, fining the juice), but we've tasted enough grapes and enough vats of juice to be happy that the wines will be classically fresh and grassy.

Up in Sancerre and Pouilly, picking generally started a week later - around the 7th - and we're not

convinced they would gain anything by waiting.

Here you'll really see the difference between growers, with special benefits coming with growers who grassed through their vines and who were prepared to 'tri' the grapes either in the vineyards or in the cellar. 

Chinon and the reds : Some people have started picking, harvesting machines were out yesterday. They run the vineyards to get the best possible ripeness in a late vintage - grassed through vines, de-budding to keep bunches apart, high foliage for maximum photosynthesis, de-leafing around the bunches.... we've been there before!

Chenin starting to concentrate 

These growers have no need to panic - the grapes are healthy and ripening gently. This won't be a hyper-ripe 2009, but, well, more anon!!!

Chenin blanc : No idea yet - apart from seeing some first pickings to bring in some 'baby' moelleux with a potential of 18° and others to clean up the harvest to let the grapes ripen more.

With a bit of luck, we should see some pretty good dry chenins and maybe some moelleux, but that's guess work. we're off to see the grapes now (the mist has lifted) and we're off to Vouvray and Montlouis tomorrow.

More anon!!!

Best!

Charles and Phil

PS cliché time.... looks like this is (yet another) année de vigneron...

Loire 2011 - So much quality, so much value...

Chez...guess who?

Sunday June 24th 2012. 11.30pm. Giles’ flight is delayed so I'm alone in slightly dog eared French 'Pub' watching England predictably lose to Italy on penalties. And I don't even particularly enjoy football. This is not, it would seem, the most auspicious start to a buying trip to the Loire. But fortunately, for me and our Loire offer, my lot improved straight off the bat at our very first tasting the next morning.


The mighty Loire, France's longest river, rises in the Cévennes and travels over 1000km heading first north and then west before reaching the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic at St Nazaire. It would make a very fine bike ride. As it turns north-west and then west it plays host to one of the most diverse and perhaps underappreciated of France's great "wine regions". From the Marl and Kimmeridgean clay soils of Sancerre and the flinty, Silex strewn slopes of Pouilly Fumé via the Cabernet Franc friendly regions of Chinon, Bourgeuil and Saumur Champigny through dry, sweet and sparkling Chenin Blanc in Vouvray, Montlouis Anjou and Savennieres, right the way back to Sauvignon in Touraine and finally the Oyster partnering Muscadet towards its mouth. There is much to get excited about and many stellar domaines making world class wines at eminently affordable prices.

The 2011 vintage was, across the Loire, a vintage where careful vineyard management was vital. Growers up and down the region reported early flowering, prodigious fruit set and the danger of allowing yields to creep up to levels that would have prevented ripening. As elsewhere in France, the growing season was back to front; Summer came in Spring and Spring in Summer, with rainy spells through July and August and plenty of warmth. Perfect conditions for vigorous vegetal growth and the danger of potential rot. As a result, crop thinning, leaf plucking, yield management and patience at harvest were all vital to ensure healthy and most importantly ripe grapes were picked. It really is testament to the quality and commitment of our growers that the wines they have produced are of such high quality.

In Sancerre and Pouilly the 2011 Sauvignons may not be as racy as those in 2010, but they are no less intense and just as concentrated. And they have tremendous textural elegance. Giles Crochet and Serge Dagueneau provide the benchmarks in Sancerre and Pouilly respectively with beautifully balanced and rewarding wines of great purity and finesse. Also in Sancerre, Clement and Florent Pinard continue to push the envelope at their father's domaine producing a range of red and white Sancerre that surely must be some of the regions very best. The intensity and laser like precision of their 2011s is just staggering. As we left we found ourselves comparing their top cuvees to those of Domaine Didier Dagueneau. Say. no. more....

Further west more hard work was evident with a superb range of Cabernet Franc at Jacky Blot's tirelessly run Domaine de la Butte. Amongst other things, Jacky uses a primary up lit sorting table in the actual vineyard (and a second in the winery) to help sift out any less than perfect grapes at source. Given the prices these wines command this a serious demonstration of commitment to quality. And it shows. The wines at Charles Joguet, with a new winemaker as of 2010, have become a more supple, approachable and engaging. They are silkier now, more gourmande, and in my eyes at least, all the better for it. Over in Saumur Champigny, Phillipe Vatan at Ch. de Hureau, whose 11th Century caves are cut deep into the limestone "Tuffe", has once again produced a set of eminently pure and honest wines that keep you coming back for more.

Jacky Blot's world class Chenin's from Montlouis and Vouvray have once again produced the goods in 2011, though Jacky himself was the first to admit it was a “complicated” vintage. No fewer than 100 pickers were employed to allow precise and timely picking. The resulting wines are ripe, succulent and concentrated with crystal clear flavours. I am still drinking Remus Plus 2007 at home and it is absolutely breathtaking. These really are stand out value and deserve to be shouted about.

Last and by no means least, as of this year we have a new Chenin Blanc producer to rave about alongside Jacky Blot. Young up and coming star Thibaud Boudignon seems to be friends with all the right people. With just a few hectares in Anjou and Savennieres and a zealous belief in the importance of vine health, Thibaud is producing powerful yet silky wines that we are hugely excited to be adding to our list. His philosophy is hands on in the extreme and his attention to detail extends to ordering a particular barrel from Ramonet in Chassagne year on year. The only downside; he makes such tiny quantities. We’ll be offering the 2010’s shortly so watch this space. Word will be out soon...

Loire 2010 - Unmissable Value

Arriving at Angers train station on Monday 13th to find that even rental car companies in France take off the obligatory "jour ferrier", despite having accepted my reservation, was an inauspicious start to the trip. Well, thankfully it was as bad as my week got, it was smooth roads and 5th gear from then on.

2010 in the Loire, like many of France's wine regions, was not always easy. Poor flowering, a gloomy summer and even some late summer rains tested the mettle of the region's best growers. And this is exactly the point. The days of turning but a glancing eye to all non Sauvignon Loire wines in only the hottest and "easiest" of vintages must be consigned to history. The quality of many 2010 Chenins, Pinots and Cab Francs is excellent. This was obviously helped by the late season drying wind and bright sunshine, together with a very small potential crop owing to coulure, but I feel it is just as much testament to the effort the growers are making in their vines - be it de-budding, de-leafing or overall excellent management of soils and vine canopy.

Chinon and Bourgueil were particular successful appellations, the 2010s from Joguet, Amirault and Domaine de la Butte were outstanding and for their poise and balance I prefer them to 2009. Pinot Noirs from Sancerre chez Pinard look remarkable, it could be their best red vintage yet, great ripeness and intensity without surrendering Pinot delicacy and Loire freshness. They really would not look out of place in a blind tasting of the Cote d'Or's finest.

In Coteaux de Layon it is an exceptional vintage, very concentrated and distinctly zesty. Sweet wines of that quality and price are virtually impossible to find anywhere else. In Vouvray and Montlouis vintage conditions were more challenging, but, again, the startling quality of Jacky Blot's Domaine de la Taille aux Loups wines really show how far the Loire has come in the last 10-15 years. Difficult conditions no longer means difficult wine.

Sancerres and Pouilly Fumes are much more classic than in 2009, no doubt some of the more commercial entities have made lean and aggressive wines but for top growers beautiful, ripe, intense and classically vibrant wines are very much the norm.

Overall its a very impressive but small vintage, with losses being up to 40% on the average. There may be quality in 2010 and a shortage of it, but so far there is no indication of heinous price increases, it should prove the value region of 2010.

photo - Valerie Dagueneau of Domaine Serge Dagueneau gets stuck into to some ploughing.

Vincent Pinard upgraded to two stars in the Revue de Vin de France

France's historic Revue du Vin de France has been published monthly since 1929 and is cited by Jancis Robinson as "France's only serious wine magazine". It carries no little weight amongst the wine making and wine drinking fraternity of France. So it is with delight that we announce the entirely deserved upgrading of the Vincent Pinard domaine to a two star estate. The revue goes on to say amongst other glowing praise, that “progress has been more impressive than in any other cellar in Loire’s central vineyards (Sancerre & Pouilly.)”

Sancerre praise indeed...

Loving the Loire!

A trip to the immensely diverse Loire valley provides a welcome respite to the rife speculation surrounding Bordeaux 2009 prices and England's chances in the World Cup. I am here to taste the new red white and rose 2009s and take another look at some of the red 2008s in bottle. My (already very great) admiration for some of the Loire's top growers has just got greater. Not only does their fervent passion see them produce excellent wine in even the most challenging of climactic conditions but they also have a distinct awareness of market realities and the standard of competition that exists in the form of Bordeaux Burgundy and the new world. I can't think of any other region that has so many growers who know so much about the top wines from the Cote d'Or or the Cru Classe of Bordeaux!

Much ground has been covered already: Coteaux de Layon, Saumur Chanmpigny, Bourgueil, Chinon, Montlouis, Vouvray and some Touraine wines in Noyers sur Loire, so it makes picking out highlights difficult. One of them has to be the first day with the large and charismatic Jo Pithon (pictured.) After a rogue bat briefly interrupts our tasting in Jo's cellars I taste one of the Loire's great but unknown whites, 2008 Anjou Coteaux des Treilles, a vineyard with volcanic soils that has a strata of coal several metres below the surface. Seek it out. For me it is one of the Loire's top dry whites along side Taille aux Loups Remus and the Pouilly Fumes from Didier Dagueneau.

Another high point has been the reds, namely the 2009s,(surprise surprise!) but also the 2008s. The 09s are intense ripe and suave, dense but with finesse and what's more there is no talk of raising (already very reasonable) prices by 50 or even 15%! Yannick Amirault, Domaine de la Butte and Joguet have all performed extraordinarily well. Even all of their 2008s were showing quite brilliantly - all ripe fruit and silk - not as massive as the 09s but they are certainly no weaklings and are beautifully refreshing to boot. So 2009 is one of the "greats" for Loire reds like 2005 or 2003. It also looks very promising for the sweeties, too, the best since 1989 according to Huet's Noel Pinguet.

So much pleasure its almost exhausting, and I haven't even got to Vincent Pinard, Lucien Crochet, Francois Cotat and Didier Dagueneau yet, thats for tomorrow.

I'm putting my head on the block here, but what I have seen over the last few days underlines the huge strides the Loire has made in the last 5-10 years. The valley is the source of some of the world's great red and white wines whether from perceived "great" vintages or not, its now becoming foolish to ignore them.

Loire unveils 2009

The Angers wine fair drew to a close yesterday. An annual event to showcase the Loire's newly-released vintages, Angers comprises over 500 growers from the length and breadth of this huge river valley and as such provides an excellent stage to show off the region's great progress in quality and its thrilling diversity. The event reinforced how much more there is to the region than Sauvignon Blanc. At a table of over 100 of the Loire's top wines, including prestigious producers of Sancerre and Pouilly Fume, it was two Chenin Blancs that absolutely blew away the rest of the field, Remus from Domaine de la Taille aux Loups and the even more intense Anjou Les Treilles from Pithon-Paille. Those looking for the next big thing in the world of fine white wine, look no further than here.

The show's main event, however, was of course 2009, and yes they think its great. In Sancerre and Pouilly Fume they generally consider it to have the ripeness of 2003 with the freshness of 2006 and 2007. Also further west in the Touraine there are some glorious dry and off dry Chenins. The reds are perhaps even more impressive, summer heat and drought conditions were similiar to 1989. Growers talk of an "Outstanding" Cabernet Franc vintage, Jacky Blot of Domaine de la Butte in Bourgueil rates it more highly than 2005. I will be heading to the Loire again towards the end of April to taste more extensively and assess in more depth just how good these really are.