15th November: 2009 tasting

We will be showing the following wines this evening at the tasting of 2009 Loires:

Aperitif

2009 Touraine Sauvignon Vincent Roussely

White:

2009 Quincy, Domaine des Ballandors

2009 Anjou Blanc, Château de la Roulerie

2009 Savennières Clos de Coulaine Claude Papin 

Red:

2009 La Cerisaie, Anjou Rouge, Domaine de la Bergerie, Yves Guegniard,

2009 Saumur Champigny, Domaine des Roches Neuves

2009 Chinon, Baudry- Dutour

2009 Les Coutures Frederic Mabileau

 

2009 Loire: Christophe Daviau happy with result

Christophe Daviau checking Chenin Blanc in mid October 2009

I caught up with Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut, Brissac-Quincé) on the phone this evening:

Christophe: "We finished on Thursday 29th October when we were still enjoying the summer weather. I'm very glad that we finished then as we have subsequently had quite a lot of rain. On the Friday it was still fine and summery but it got very humid on Saturday and we had rain on Sunday 1st November and we continued to have rain during this week.

Domaine de Bablut, Grandpierre Chenin Blanc 2009

Although we will obviously have to see what the wine is like once it has finished fermenting, I'm very happy with the Coteaux de l'Aubance. The last tri of Grandpierre was 19% potential. I'm also happy with the Anjou Blanc sec. For the reds the quality is good but it would have been good to have had about 10hl/ha more. I haven't done the calculation yet but I estimate that the yield for the red was around 30hl/ha."

Cabernet Franc destined for 2009 Petra Alba

Developing noble rot@Domaine de Bablut

Botrytis developing: some rains dorée and pourri plein (purple grapes). Skins are very thin and fragile at this stage

Christophe Daviau looking at his Chenin in the Grandpierre vineyard

Spent a fascinating morning with Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut) looking at his Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc that is yet to be picked.

We started with in Chenin in his vineyard called Grandpierre that produces a very characterful and mineral sweet wine – a favourite of mine. Christophe has already done a tri here. Not enough of the bunches are ready for a second tri, although they might be ready for Monday if rain is still threatened for Tuesday. Once the botrytis gets established, it can develop very quickly given the right conditions.

Christophe explaining Chenin Blanc and the stages of botrytis developing

Bit further along plus some sundried berries

Well spread out bunches allowing the air to circulate around them (above and below)


Still needs a little more time to the botrytis to develop and the sugars to concentrate

A bunch of Chenin Blanc tends to have big variations of maturity – here some golden grapes others becoming shrivelled and raisin like.

Harvest reports: Château de Villeneuve, Domaine Ogereau and Domaine de Bablut

9th October 2009

The church at Souzay-Champigny and Château de Villeneuve

Florence Chevallier, Château de Villeneuve, Saumur-Champigny

"We are well advanced now and I expect that we will finish on Tuesday. We started on Wednesday 30th September with the white – the Chenin was magnificent – and the Cabernet Franc on Friday 1st October. The Ban des Vendanges was for Monday 5th October but as our degrees were already high we were able to start early. Both the Cabernet and Chenin are between 13%-13.5%.

As the weather forecast was uncertain at the beginning of this week we decided there was no point in waiting, so we harvested quickly with a big group of 35 pickers. Normally we do two tris (selective pickings) with the Chenin but the grapes were so good that we picked everything in one go. Had we done a tri then the degrees in the second picking would have gone too high."

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Vincent Ogereau, Domaine Ogereau, Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay

Vincent and Catherine Ogereau

I was delighted to learn that Vincent has now made a full recovery from his operation in May.

Vincent: "Our Chenin is really good – golden yellow. Last week we did a tri for the Layon and the grapes came in a 20% potential. The juice has very pure fruit flavours. This week I have been worried by the tropical conditions we have had – warm and humid – bringing the danger of rot developing in the Cabernet Franc. We picked for the Anjou Rouge yesterday – 12.8% potential and 4.4g acidity. it should be quite soft. Then we'll start the Cabernet Franc for the Anjou Villages on Monday. I'm out every midday in the vines tasting the grapes and the ripeness is now starting to change very quickly with the acidity dropping. We need to get on picking now – it is too risky to wait.

We've picked some Cabernet Sauvignon to make rosé, which should be superb, but I'm not sure whether the Cabernet Sauvignon will get ripe enough, so that we can make red with it. At the moment the tannins are not ripe. The very dry weather we have had since the beginning of June has slowed down the ripeness. We have a small yield for the Cabernet this year."

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Christophe Daviau

Christophe Daviau, Domaine de Bablut, Brissac-Quincé
"I think my Cabernet Sauvignon may well be riper than my Cabernet Franc. We've picked for the Anjou Rouge, which will have short time macerating on the skins so that it is soft and easy to drink. The Cabernet Franc on the limestone (AV Petra Alba) could potentially be very good, so I'm going to leave that for a while. For the Chenin we've finished the sec for Petit Prince and Ordovicien. The juice is 'super-beau' and very aromatic. We've also done a tri for the Coteaux de l'Aubance, which was at 19%-20% potential.

I'm a little bit disappointed by the yield but that's due to the dry weather, although the small amount of rain we've had in September and October has plumped the grapes up a bit. "

Vincent Roussely: harvest news

Vincent Roussely: Clos Roussely

Tom has been very pleased by how well the wines of Vincent Roussely, our new find in Touraine, have been selling. The Gamay has already sold out, although there are still some stocks of the Sauvignon Blanc, albeit depleted, left.

I spoke to Vincent this evening about when he planned to start picking:

"I'll be starting next Thursday with the Sauvignon, which is at 11.8% potential alc and 6.7 g of acidity – still a bit high. I think that while the dry weather in August ripened the grapes it also concentrated the acidity. Most of my Sauvignon is at Angé, where some of my vines were hit by hail. I think the hail damage caused stress to the vines and stopped them from developing and ripening for about two weeks, so I'll be starting a little later than people who weren't hit by hail. In parcels damaged by the hail I have probably lost about 40% of the crop. Taking the Sauvignon overall I guess I have lost about 20%.

The Gamay is looking good but I'm in no hurry to pick as I want to let it get properly ripe."

We will be touch with Vincent and our other producers during the harvest will be posting updates as we get them.

2009 Loire harvest has started

2008 harvest@Domaine Luneau-Papin: September 2008

The first grapes in the Loire were picked on Monday (6th September). They were harvested in Anjou-Saumur and are destined for sparkling wine – Crémant de Loire, Saumur and Anjou. Some producers in the Cher Valley are starting in the next few days – the Clos Roche Blanche starts tomorrow. Many Muscadet producers are expected to start next Monday. The 2009 harvest is a good 10 days ahead of last year.

Further details on Jim's Loire here.

Claude & Joëlle's Decanter Award and other news

Claude and Joëlle Papin (Château Pierre-Bise) were in London last night to collect their 2009 Decanter World Wine Award – Sweet Loire Regional Trophy for their 2007 Quarts de Chaume. They were over for a flying visit – arriving yesterday afternoon by Eurostar and leaving early this morning. They have to be back quickly for on Friday they are off Brittany to celebrate, somewhat belatedly, Claude's 60th birthday – his real birthday is 21st August – with a three-day extravaganza. After all if the monarchy can have several birthdays why not Claude, especially as he makes such good wine!

It was good to hear that Vincent Ogereau is making a good recovery from his operation.

More details on Jim's Loire.

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2009 vintage prospects

Pierre Luneau trying to find more of his very small 2008 vintage

Pierre Luneau (Domaine Luneau-Papin, Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine)
When I spoke to Pierre he was very happy with how the grapes are looking at the moment – very healthy, ripening well and a normal sized vintage – particularly important after last year's severely frost affected harvest. He expects to start picking around 14th September, although he thinks some of his neighbours may well start picking around the middle of next week.

Frédéric Mabileau

Frédéric Mabileau (Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Bourgueil and Anjou)
Frédéric told me that the grapes are looking very good, although they are short of water and that this is slowing the ripening. He is worried that the grapes will be very small with very concentrated juice and thick skins. A little bit of rain would be good. According to Météo France there is some forecast for the middle of this week followed by a return to fine weather. Clearly some rain will be welcome but not a downpour that might mean that the grapes take up too much water too quickly causing the skin to split and invite rot in.

The other news from Frédéric is that Thomas Meunier, who used to be their export director, left in July following this American girl friend to the US. He is now living in North Carolina and is setting up a wine agency business.

More details on Jim's Loire.

2009 in Touraine

Vouvray: small bunch of ripening Chenin Blanc

With over two thirds of August gone, this has certainly been a far better high summer than either 2007 and 2008 and so far has been the warmest since 2003. Last Friday I visited Laurant Bonneau, a promising new Vouvray producer whose first vintage was 2006. Vouvray has escaped the hail that has devastated some vineyards in the Cher Valley and also Menetou-Salon.

Vouvray: another small bunch of ripening Chenin

Bonneau's Chenin Blanc was looking good with the veraison beginning with the grapes being to turn translucent. There is still just over a month to go before the vintage starts and it is very much crossed fingers' time. As it has recently been very dry, a little rainfall would be beneficial but not a downpour.

Burnt grapes – sun damage

Although you need sunshine to ripen the grapes, it can be too fierce and burn unprotected bunches. This damage is probably very recent when temperatures have hit over 35˚C in the last week. Deleafing is now popular practice, especially on the side facing the morning sun which is less fierce.

Esca claims another vine

Sauvignon Blanc tends to be more prone to esca, the vine disease, but Chenin like other varieties is not immune as the dying vine above shows.

Brief Loire weather report

Hail damage in the Cher Valley: bunches smashed, canes marked.

The weather during this year's growing season seems to have been rather patchy – patchy in the sense of frequent variations but also in the sense of variations between place.

Parts of Anjou have been very dry with virtually no rain since early June, whereas the Cher Valley and the Central Vineyards have seen quite frequent storms. A cycle of a couple of days warm weather ending in storm and then it starting again. Some of the storms have been violent with hail causing significant damage in places, especially Menetou-Salon – twice in May and also in July. Parts of the Cher Valley hhave also been hit by hail.

Ripening bunch of grapes (5.8.09) with very slight hail damage, which should cause any problems

Mildew has been a problem in the Cher Valley and also in the Central Vineyards but not in parts of Anjou as it has been so dry.

More details on Jim's Loire here, here and here.

2009 Loire vintage (1st May)

It is, of course, ludicrously early to attempt to make any judgment on the possible quality of the 2009 Loire vintage. However, it is possible to say that things looking better at this stage than they did last year. Today sees the start of May and, so far, no part of the Loire has been hit by a devastating frost – unlike the Pay Nantais and other regions last year. This may be tempting fate as frost can strike in May but generally the risk decreases rapidly in May. Over the past 20 years the devastating frosts have always been in April. Furthermore the forecast on Meteo France for the next week showing night-time temperatures well above freezing.

On the other hand the very cold spell of weather right at the beginning of the year with temperatures as low as -13/14˚C was good news for the vines as a cold snap helps to kill off vine pests and illnesses. Since then it has been pretty dry, especially through February, March and April.

So a long way to go but, so far, a reasonable start.

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Report here on Loire wines at Les Caves de Pyrene tasting