Three Musketeers' tasting and dinner: Emmanuel Ogereau

A week last Saturday we – Nigel Wilkinson and Tom King of RSJ Restaurant, Chris Kissack and myself – had an excellent tasting with three Anjou domaines. Domaine de la Bergerie, Domaine Ogereau and Château Pierre-Bise make up the trio of domaines we have dubbed the Three Musketeers.  

There has been a two-year gap since the last Musketeers tasting. During this interval the younger generation have moved increasingly to the fore. The format for the event remains the same – presentation and tasting of the latest wines from all three domaines following by dinner at La Table de la Bergerie.      

Emmanuel Ogereau, Domaine Ogereau

Emmanuel with a cask sample of their first vintage 

of Quarts de Chaume (2015) 

The generational change was immediately underlined with Emmanuel Ogereau presenting the wines of Domaine Ogereau (23 hectares) rather than Vincent, his father. Vincent and Catherine Ogereau did, however, claim the right to dinner over Emmanuel!

It was impressive to see Emmanuel do an assured presentation in English – before returning to the family domaine at Saint Lambert-du-Lattay he worked in New Zealand and Oregon. 

Highlights from the tasting of the Ogereaus' latest wines included: 

2014 Anjou en Chenin  

From vines planted on grey schist in Saint Lambert du Lattay and picked in several tris selecting golden Chenin. Wild ferment in 500-litre oak casks. Good weight and texture, honeyed with attractive acidity in the finish. Aging potential.   

2013 Clos Grand Beaupréau, Savennières

From two parcels. Mid-yellow colour, textured, some honey, clean, precise, good length and balance.  

2014 Clos Grand Beaupréau, Savennières  

Richer and fuller than the 2013 with good weight, texture and citric character.  Lovely wine. 

2014 Vent de Spilite, 
From eight rows of old Chenin vines. Just one barrel – richly textured, attractive length and bright acidity in the finish.

2014 L'Enthousiasme Savennières
From a vein of sandstone, richly textured, honey and citric notes.  

Reds
2013 Anjou Rouge   

85% Cabernet Franc, 15% Grolleau. Juicy still youthful, slight greeness but good for this difficult year. 

2014 Anjou Rouge
Blend the same as in 2013 but naturally richer and fuller with attractive red fruits and some potential to age, although really made to drink young. 

2013 Côte de la Houssaye, Anjou Villages 

100% Cabernet Sauvignon from an especially warm site. This cuvée is only released in good vintages. Given the difficulty of the 2013 vintage this has surprisingly soft blackcurrant fruit. The Ogereaus only released a small amount of the 2013 Houssaye.    

2014 Côte de la Houssaye, Anjou Villages 

100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Ripely textured black fruits, mouthfilling, big structure with ripe tannins, nicely balanced although needs more time.

Sweet wines
Conditions in 2014 made it impossible to make very concentrated sweet wines in this vintage. The 2014 Coteaux du Layon Saint-Lambert is delicately sweet and nicely balanced with fresh acidity making it a more versatile wine, if less impressive than the very concentrated cuvées. There is certainly a trend towards this style of sweet wine in Anjou. 

2014 Harmonie de Bonnes Blanches, Coteaux du Layon Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay 
Lovely 100% botrytis, rich but delicate freshness from the acidity. The Ogereaus look for concentration but also pick early to keep freshness.  

2010 Clos des Bonnes Blanches, Coteaux du Layon Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay
Just lovely balance of sweet fruit and acidity from a great sweet wine vintage.    

No Clos des Bonnes Blanches was made in 2015 as the Ogereaus wanted to concentrate on their first vintage in their parcel of Quarts de Chaume. We tasted their very promising and exciting 2015 Quarts de Chaume, which is still fermenting.  

 

To come: René Papin (Château Pierre-Bise)  

René Papin, Château Pierre-Bise

Yves Guegniard (Domaine de la Bergerie)

 

Dinner at La Table de la Bergerie 

Events@RSJ Restaurant: Spring 2012

RSJ Restaurant

Wine Tastings with Dinner  Start 7.15pm

Monday 27th February  ‘The Wonders of Anjou ’   £48.65

This famous region which has great historical links to this country through the Plantagenets, is home to some of the most exciting and innovative growers who are producing terrific wines. It is fascinating to see how far they have come and the changes we have seen since our first visit in 1981.

We will be tasting reds, dry whites and sweet whites and featuring wines from such luminaries as Claude Papin, Vincent Ogereau, the Lebretons and Guegniards as well as a couple of Vignerons you may not be familiar with.

Monday 26th March RSJ’S 32nd Anniversary Dinner  £55.00

It will be 32 years in March since the doors opened at RSJ for the first time and Nigel is still maintaining all his old energy levels – but for how many more years?

We will be looking at many interesting wines that have spanned this era to accompany a 4 course dinner.

For event reservations please contact:

tom.king@rsj.uk.com      Tel: 020 7928 4554

RSJ Restaurant   33 Coin Street     London     SE1 9NR          www.rsj.uk.com

Monday 30th January: Bourgueil and Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil: wines for the tasting

2011 harvest@La Butte (Jacky Blot) grapes arriving at the sorting table 

Wines to be tasted on Monday evening:

Aperitif:

Crémant de Loire, Domaine de Nerleux

Then to taste:

2010 Chenin des Rouilleres, Frédéric Mabileau, Anjou

2010  'Les Rouilleres', St Nicolas de Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

2008  'La Coudraye', Bourgueil, Yannick Amirault

Starter [to be advised] with:

2009 'La Mine, St Nicolas de Bourgueil , Yannick Amirault

2010 'La Pied de la Butte', Bourgueil, Jacky Blot

Then to taste:

2009 Eclipse, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Frédéric Mabileau

1989  'Les Perrieres', Bourgueil,  Pierre Breton

Main Course with:

2008 'Le Grand Clos', Bourgueil, Yannick Amirault

 

October 2011: Frédéric Mabileau in his winery with a very young 2011 wine 

Christophe Daviau: Domaine de Bablut: Tuesday 9th March

 

Some of the Daviau vineyards (foreground) in the Coteaux de l'Aubance 

There are still a few places for the tasting dinner on Tuesday evening with Christophe Daviau. Christophe is one of the leading growers in Anjou and his vineyards are now run biodynamically. 

We will be tasting a range of Christophe's wines including a rare 1989 white Anjou plus starting with his 2009 Sauvignon Blanc – an early opportunity to look at a 2009. Full details here.

To reserve your place, please contact Tom King on 020-7928 4554 or tom.king@rsj.uk.com

Christophe Daviau, Domaine de Bablut – changed from 8th to 9th March

Due to opera-rational reasons the tasting - dinner with Christophe Daviau, Domaine de Bablut has been changed from Monday 8th to Tuesday 9th March.

Christophe is one of the leading growers in Anjou. He is an acknowledged authority on sweet wines – a walk in the vineyard with Christophe at harvest time is fascinating as he explains the various stages of noble rot. The Daviau family has been involved in wine in Brissac-Quincé since 1546. Under Christophe the Bablut estate has embraced biodynamics.

Details of this special evening will be sent out as soon as possible.

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

Anjou tasting and dinner: 19th October

Notes from the tasting:

Aperitif
2008 Anjou Blanc Sec Domaine Ogereau, Vincent Ogereau £8.25
Made from 70% Chenin and 30% Chardonnay, this is the least convincing wine in the normally exemplary Ogereau portfolio. Not that it is badly made, it is just that a Chenin/Chardonnay blend works tends to work better as sparkling rather than still. I fancy that this would be a more successful wine if it was pure Chenin.

Whites:
2007 Château de la Roulerie Chenin Sec, Anjou Blanc Philippe Germain 2004 £10.75
Savennières Clos le Grand Beaupréau Vincent Ogereau n/a
1991 Anjou Blanc Sec Chauvigné Didier Richou n/a
replaced by:
2005 Les Rogeries, Anjou Blanc Sec, Domaine Richou

Served with roast skate wing, cod brandade, crab bisque

Philippe Germain's 2007 Anjou Blanc was the preferred wine in this series both by itself and with the skate wing as its clean mineral character, typical of 2007, showed well. I should probably give Thierry Germain, Philippe's elder brother, the credit for this wine as he is the winemaker. I thought Vincent's Savennières showed well with considerable complexity. Both wines illustrate that Loire whites are often as good from difficult vintages as they are from hotter, more acclaimed years.

1991 Chauvigné, Domaine Richou

Unfortunately the 1991 Chauvigné was completely stuffed – oxidised. It would have been fascinating to taste this as 1991 is now very rare because a single April frost reduced the overall crop to a third of normal. It was swiftly replaced by the 2005 Les Rogeries, which perhaps needed time to open up. On this occasion the 2005 was rather dumb – very much in contrast to the 2004 which I drank in May, which was then sensational – rich, complex and balanced with clean acidity.

1997 Anjou Gamay, Château Pierre-Bise – sadly corked

Reds:
2007 Gamay, Anjou Gamay, Château Pierre-Bise
Replaced the 1997 Gamay, Anjou Gamay Château Pierre-Bise, which was unfortunately corked.
2007 La Croix de Mission, Domaine des Rochelles, Jean-Yves and Anita Lebreton
2006 Anjou Villages Vincent Ogereau 2005 Les Jeunes Vignes des Gelinettes, La Ferme de la Sansonnière, Mark Angeli

Served with: Roast saddle of English lamb, French beans, Chantenay carrots, fricassée of wild mushrooms, new potatoes

2007 La Croix de Mission, Anjou-Villages Brissac, JYA Lebreton

This was a very interesting range of reds unfortunately again disrupted because of a problematic bottle – this time the cork. Possibly, of course, that the oxidation of 1991 Richou was due to a faulty cork but difficult to establish. The 2007 Papin Gamay was attractive on its own – soft red fruits and quite marked acidity but without sufficient concentration to partner the lamb. Had the 1997 not been corked I think this would have fared better with the lamb.

I thought the 2007 La Croix de Mission was showing extremely well – not a heavyweight but good ripe red and black fruits and well balanced. Yet another example of how having a good site in a difficult year can make all the difference, especially where Cabernet Sauvignon is concerned in Anjou. The concentrated and powerful 2006 Anjou Villages Domaine Ogereau was the favoured wine in this series, although less clear cut than the white trio. Ideally the 2006 need another couple of years or so to further soften up. Drink the 2007s while you wait.

Mark Angeli's 2005 Gelinettes is certainly a petit bête – almost opaque, very concentrated, quite toasty and very tannic. It needs a lot of time and I have to wonder whether Mark didn't push the extraction too far or may be it just needs time. If I didn't know mark reasonably well I might accuse him of making a wine to attract the attention of a certain US wine critic but I'm sure that wasn't in his mind. To be fair to Mark his 2005 showed much better with the lamb.

Sweet:
2008 Coteaux du Layon Rochefort Château Pierre-Bise, Claude Papin
Served with: pear and almond tart with saffron ice cream

2008 is a difficult or perhaps unfulfilled sweet wine vintage in that everything was looking promising until the end of October and then frequent rain took over in November. Wines from grapes picked early have a lot of charm and purity but they don't have the complexity or concentration of a good Layon vintage. Enjoy them as an aperitif or with a variety of rich dishes but not with dessert. Also drink them young. 2007 in contrast is a lovely sweet wine vintage. There are wines here that really will go the distance.

Anjou tasting and dinner tonight

Autumn view across the Layon towards Beaulieu

Here is a list of the wines to be tasted tonight:

Aperitif
2008 Anjou Blanc Sec Vincent Ogereau

Whites:
2007 Château de la Roulerie Chenin Sec Philippe Germain

2004 Savennières Clos le Grand Beaupréau Vincent Ogereau

1991 Anjou Blanc Sec Chavigné Didier Richou

Served with Roast skate wing, cod brandade, crab bisque


Reds:
2007 Gamay, Anjou Gamay, Château Pierre-Bise
Replaces the 1997 Gamay, Anjou Gamay Château Pierre-Bise, which was unfortunately corked.

2007 La Croix de Mission, Domaine des Rochelles, Jean-Yves and Anita Lebreton

2006 Anjou Villages Vincent Ogereau

2005 Les Jeunes Vignes des Gelinettes, La Ferme de la Sansonnière, Marc Angeli

Served with: Roast saddle of English lamb, French beans, Chantenay carrots, fricassée of wild mushrooms, new potatoes


Sweet:
2008 Coteaux du Layon Rochefort Château Pierre-Bise, Claude Papin
Served with: pear and almond tart with saffron ice cream

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. "

Autumn at RSJ Restaurant

We have put together the following programme of wine tastings and Italian Sunday lunches for Autumn 2009.

Wine tastings with dinner – 3 courses – start 7.15pm

Monday 21st September ‘The RSJ dinner party’ £55.00

Specially selected wines and menu with discussion around the food and wine – we will be tasting 2005 Chinon Coteau de Noire from Philippe Alliet, 2005 Cuvée d’Antan Sancerre (Henri Bourgeois), 2006 Bourgueil Haute de la Butte (Jacky Blot), 1989 Vouvray Marigny Moelleux from Bernard Fouquet as well as other interesting wines from our archives.

Monday 19th October ‘Anjou’ £50.00

A special look at the historic Anjou region, sited on the lower western extent of the Loire. We will be looking at wines from the top growers in this region including Claude Papin, Christophe Daviau, Vincent Ogereau and Jean-Yves Lebreton.

Monday 23rd November ‘The 2008 Vintage’ £45.00
Reduced yields but producing wines with great maturity and breadth, 2008 can be considered a overall better vintage than 2007, except for sweet wines from the Layon. Why not come along and introduce yourself to the delights of the 2008 vintage and taste some stunning Chinons from Christophe Baudry as well as Jean Tatin’s terrific Quincy, the Champaults' delicious Sancerre and various other delights.

Final wine selections for these events will be posted on both our website www.rsj.uk.com and RSJ news blog two weeks before the event.

Club discount applies to wine events. Don’t forget to mention your club discount when eating in the restaurant!

For reservations please contact:
tom.king@rsj.uk.com or tel: 020-7928 4554
RSJ Restaurant 33 Coin Street London SE1 9NR

•••

Italian Sunday Lunches at RSJ

Our autumn schedule of lunches with the passionate Italian cook, prolific food writer and personality, Ursula Ferrigno continues with the following dates at the RSJ Restaurant. Ursula, as usual, is positively brimming with enthusiasm!

Starting at 1.00pm these events will include a glass of wine on arrival.

Sunday 20th September ‘Italian Autumn Favourites’ £30.00
Tomato Risotto & Panzanella salad
Pizza Bianca with zucchini flowers
Stuffed courgettes
Mixed seasonal salad
Chocolate & hazelnut torta with chocolate sauce
Formaggio

Sunday 18th October ‘The Italian Classics’ guaranteed to inspire! £30.00
Pizette – miniature pizzas from Naples – deliciously light and served with tomato and parmesan
Pasta e fagiole – Tuscan classic with fresh pulses and pasta
Gnocchi di patate - delicious light potato dumplings with a fresh walnut sauce ‘The reason that Ursula is married!’
Caponata di melanzane insalata - a very tasty aubergine salad
Torte della nonna - Tuscan pinenut & lemon tart – each family has its own style of this glorious dessert.
Formaggio - Cheese will be chosen a week before the event from our artisan producer to marry with our menu

Sunday 20th November ‘In and around Italy in six courses’ £30.00
Enjoy the Italians’ well loved dishes covering the length and breadth of Italy – full of diversity and a great taste experience!
Crostine alle olive - Umbrian Olives are famous and full of flavour – with Porcini mushrooms they make a delicious combination.
Rotolo di spinaci – Emilia Romagna is well known for its pasta and as a gastronomical capital – fresh handmade pasta rolled with spinach & ricotta.
Polpetti di melanzane – Roman aubergines are special and this is a great example – herbs & pineuts with an infusion of mozzarella and tomato.
Costaletti di tonno – Sicilian Tuna with capers, marinated with lemon and herbs, this has a classic sweet and sour flavour.
Cipollini alla Fontina – from the Val d’Aosta – little onions with parsley.
Torino ‘home of chocolate’ – this luxury desert chocolate salami served with homemade ice cream using of course, Italian eggs.

•

We have a few places [strictly limited] for anyone who wishes to assist Ursula during the morning, making bread, pasta soup and sauces associated with these lunches.*

This will cost each person an additional £30.00 for this cookery tuition.

For reservations please contact:
tom.king@rsj.uk.com or tel: 020-7928 4554
RSJ Restaurant 33 Coin Street London SE1 9NR

••

Have children and thinking about eating at RSJ Restaurant ?

We have now introduced a children’s menu – please refer to our website: www.rs.uk.com

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.

Nigel in the Loire during the 2005 harvest

Here are a couple of photos from Nigel's trip to the Loire in early October 2005 to see the harvest. The weather was particularly good, the vignerons very relaxed as they could wait to pick their grapes at perfect maturity and the grapes were wonderful.

Nigel with Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Babut). Christophe is explaining the various stages of botrytised Chenin

First stages of botrytis developing

Now all the wines from the vintage are in bottle, 2005 has been confirmed as a very good vintage virtually across the board, although 2007 and 2008 are more classic for lovers of minerally, dry Loire whites. Some of the sweet wines are very good and the reds have the potential to age beautifully – if they are allowed to!

Nigel's recommendations for 2005s on the restaurant list include:

Whites
Henri Bourgeois: Cuvée d'Antan, Sancerre
Domaine Ogereau: Clos du Grand Beaupréau, Savennières, Vincent Ogereau
Clos du Portail, Vouvray, Didier and Catherine Champalou
Le Volagre, Montlouis, Stephane Cossais

Reds
Les Gelinettes, Anjou Rouge, Mark Angeli
Coteau du Noire, Chinon, Philippe Alliet
Le Grand Clos, Bourgueil, Yannick Amirault


2005 was the last time Nigel was out in the Loire for part of the vintage. The region hasn't had such a good vintage since then. Coincidence? May be but there are hopes that we can put this to the test as Nigel is hoping to get himself organised to get out for a few days in late September/early October............

2008 harvest: further updates

Most of the harvest is now finished with the exception of the Chenins for sweet wines, especially in Anjou. From Nantes to Pouilly-sur-Loire the quality is a lot higher than everyone feared it would be in early September. Once again, as in 2002 and 2007, the vintage has been saved by a fine September and October. Volumes, however, are certainly sharply down throughout the Loire with Muscadet particularly badly hit by the sharp frost of April 7th.

Here three more of our producers report on the 2008 vintage:

Jean-Hubert Lebreton

Jean-Hubert-Lebreton, Domaine des Rochelles: 28th October
The 2008 vintage looks very interesting thanks to the fine autumn weather which concentrated the Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grolleau, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenins. We have high alcohol degrees but small quantities.

We picked the Chardonnay and Sauvignon in the first week of October. Then we waited until the third week of October to first pick the Cabernet Franc followed by the Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chenin is still on the vine as we are waiting firstly for the rain that is forecast for this week to clear away and then for the grapes to reconcentrate and for the botrytis to develop. At the moment the Chenin is golden with botrytis slow to develop, so the rain should be very beneficial. We just have to be patient.

In short: 2008 is good but small.

Philippe Germain

Philippe Germain, Domaine de la Roulerie, St. Aubin de Luigné, Anjou: 28th October
2008 is a very special vintage. Right until the end of August the situation was very worrying but we had the luck to have two very good months – September and October. So the quality is there but not the volume. At La Roulerie I’m between 35%-40% down on a normal year’s production. In contrast we have degrees that vary between 12.8˚ and 13.2˚ for the Chenin with an acidity of between 5.5 and 5.8. As far as the Coteaux du Layons are concerned we are making the premier tri (first selective picking) with grapes between 12.5˚ and 18˚ and we will be continuing next week. For the reds production is even more limited with degrees between 12.5˚ and 12.8˚, which I’m quite happy about.



Champalou (Vouvray) 2008 vintage report: 31st October
We finished the harvest a week ago and are pleasantly surprised by the finesse and the richness of the grapes that we have pressed. After the poor summer we weren’t very optimistic. However, our work in the vines – deleafing and severe debudding as well as the sunny months of September and October gave us a healthy harvest with a very interesting potential: degrees from 12.5˚ at the lowest to 17˚-17.5˚ for the most concentrated. There was very little noble rot this year but had a significant concentration through passerillage (drying through sun and wind). The structure and the texture of the juice indicate that the wines will be fruity with an interesting potential to age. 2002 is the closest similar vintage with perhaps greater complexity. I think this year we will see the range of Vouvray will be from sec-tendre (off-dry) and sweets that are delicate with an emphasis on freshness and fruit – fine wines not too sugary.

Didier Champalou

More news of the 2008 harvest

Harvesting Sauvignon Blanc

Christophe Daviau: Domaine de Bablut, Anjou

Went round the vineyards with Christophe on Thursday. They were harvesting the Sauvignon Blanc for the vin de pays de la Loire. Despite the poor summer the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are looking promising, especially with this current spell of generally fine weather. “It will be another 10-14 days before we can start harvesting them,” said Christophe. “At the moment they have about 10˚ potential alcohol and the acidity levels are high.” Next Monday they will have the Grolleau Noir, a local variety, to make Topette, Christophe’s easy drinking, screwcapped red, which is sold in the French market.

Catherine Roussel and Didier Barouillet, Clos Roche Blanche, Touraine
Picking started on Monday 22nd. When I saw them yesterday they had finished the Sauvignon Blanc – unfortunately a tiny harvest this year. Friday morning they started on the Gamay. “The Gamay is really good – very healthy and almost no rot,” said Catherine. When Didier sorted through the grapes he only found five bunches that were rotten.” On Monday morning they will be again be picking Gamay – I hope to get some shots of them harvesting.

Frédéric Mabileau, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Saumur Blanc
Fréderic and Thomas are both very optimistic. “For the Chenin at Le Puy Notre Dame we’ll do the first picking on 6th and 7th October and then the second through the vines 10-14 days later. We’ll start picking the Cabernet Franc on Wednesday 8th October."

Jean-Marie Bourgeois, Henri Bourgeois, Sancerre
“The weather is great at the moment. We will be starting in earnest on Wednesday/Thursday of next week.”

Look out for further updates soon.