Julie Balagny briefs the workforce

Julie Balagny said she simply wasn’t cut out to be a doctor or an engineer, like others in her Parisian family.  Instead, having spent ten years at Terre des Chardons in the southern Rhône, she is renting 3.2 contiguous hectares on the remote, upper slopes of Fleurie, in Beaujolais.  “I love gamay” she says.

Her work companions are Manon the donkey and Boréale the hardy Pie Noir Breton cow, which breed had almost reached extinction by the end of the 20^th century, though numbers are now back up to more than a thousand. These guys pull the plough and help keep the weeds down.  Her other weed control agents are a goat, and a sheep from the Scottish island of Soay.  “They don’t eat the same things” she explained.

Balagny clearly likes to live on the edge.  She arrived here in 2009, needing to work on the sometimes steep, south, south-west facing slopes where the density of one parcel of 90-year old vines is around 14,000 vines per hectare, and where the ground is so rocky that in places vines seem planted directly into the rock. There’s pink granite, and a patch at the top with quartz and with basalt. Then with just a couple of months to go before harvest, she still had no place to make her wine.

Her wines are certified organic “but I’m not a terroirist or extremist” she said, “if I need to add sulphites, then I do.”

Fermentation is by the typical Beaujolais carbonic maceration. The fruit is chilled for a day to 6-8°C which slows the start of fermentation. The bunches go to vat with a covering of protective carbon dioxide for fermentation with natural yeast to start soon after.  The cuvaison lasts about three weeks. “I like carbonic maceration” said Julie “because you don’t have to touch the wine during fermentation.” The blanket of carbon dioxide protects the whole process, though there is less colour extraction than with semi-carbonic maceration.

Balagny changes her labels each year.  In her inaugural year, there were stones; in 2010 women, and in 2011, she said Brazilian carioca dance will feature.

Wine tasting, in situ, December 2011

Julie Balagny, Cayenne 2010, Fleurie ~€18
On basalt, very hard ground with lots of rock, from 30 year old vines. Bottled at the end of April.
Pale cherry colour, has a spiciness and chalky dryness to texture which is coming from the fruit, it isn’t tannin heft. Dark cherry, part dried dark cherry with hints of very dark chocolate, and a violet perfume that arises from the back of the palate.

Julie Balagny, En Remont 2010, Fleurie ~€24
On granite, from 40-60 year old vines. In old barrique for six months “if you want to keep the fruity side of the grape, six months is enough.”
Medium pale cherry colour, gentle fragrance of red cherries and cranberries, hints of dark berries. Lovely sappy freshness, and fresh-sweet fruit. Elegant and focused fruit. Very nice.

Julie Balagny, Simone 2010, Fleurie ~€30
On quartz, from 80-90 year old vines. Will be on the market in April 2012.
Medium pale colour again, fragrant strawberry and redcurrant fruit. Sweet crunchy fruit, elegant and long in the mouth, medium bodied with a rich fragrance at the core, a gentle concentration that creeps up on you. Long finish. Very good.

My research trip to Beaujolais in December 2011 was sponsored by Inter Beaujolais.

Picturesque Beaujolais

No, not a typo, but a special fraction of the pressing from carbonic maceration.  I first came across it during a visit in December 2011 to beautiful Beaujolais.

The whole bunch fermentation – carbonic maceration – typical of gamay in Beaujolais (I’m in the middle of writing a fuller account of this) means that much fermentation takes place inside individual whole berries.

When these are pressed, the first part of the pressing is called the paradis.  Just a small part from the vat.  It has only a few degrees of alcohol and therefore still lots of sugar.  It’s used in specialty recipes of the region.  The rest of the pressing goes to tank to finish (traditional) fermentation, a process that takes a few more days.

Beaujolais cru

Jean-Marc Burgaud started in 1989, the same year he married his wife, Christine. Both sets of parents were winegrowers, so there was clearly something in the blood. They have built up their vineyards to 19 hectares: 13 ha in Morgon, 5 ha in Beaujolais Villages and 1 ha in Régnié, which is “the maximum for me” Jean-Marc said, adding, while “it’s always possible to grow bigger, it’s important to stay precise” and it’s that attention to detail that is reflected in his wines.

In the vineyard Jean-Marc works traditionally, ploughing the soil.  He’s not certified organic, but his philosophy is both traditional and manual.  He hasn’t used chemical insecticide for 10 years, and only once in that time has he been forced by the vintage to resort to using a non-organic product in the vineyard.

The traditional high vine density of 10, 000 bush vines per ha is an important feature for quality, said Burgaud “it is important for gamay to have competition in the soil so you get little grapes with concentration.”  There has been a trend in Beaujolais to reduce planting densities to around 5,000 vines / ha, but, he said “the yield per vine goes up, so you have the fruit, but not the complexity and concentration.”

Vinification is by traditional semi-carbonic maceration, the same method for all his wines, though the length of maceration varies – seven days for the Beaujolais Villages and up to 15 days for his best Morgon parcels in the Côte du Py.

Grapes are put into his cement tanks and the temperature controlled to between 22 and 24°C.  The bunches have been pre-sorted in the vineyard “so we never have perfect bunches and bad bunches in the same box.”

Rolling Beaujolais hills

He takes some of the juice from the bottom of the vat, squeezed by the weight of grapes above, and sprays it over the top of the vat to oxygenate this small amount of juice for the natural yeasts to kick off the fermentation. To keep the mass of grape bunches moist during maceration he pumps over the juice daily, now without oxygen.  He said the grapes “need humidity to have a good fermentation inside the berries.”

A quarter of the harvest from Burgaud’s Côte du Py vineyards finishes off the fermentation in barrel, otherwise he’s using only cement, which helps retain the juicy fruits and floral perfumes of gamay.

Burgaud has made a Côte du Py reserve since 1995.  He explained “Reserve has no legal meaning here, but it is important for me.  I have ten barrels of Côte du Py James and Côte du Py Javernieres, but I use only 5, 6 or 7 for these labels, and the other barrels go into my reserve.”

And while Javernieres is the name of a lieu-dit within the Côte du Py climat, James is named for altogether different reasons. In 2000, a friend particularly enjoyed the taste of the barrels that now go into the James cuvée and he decided to bottle these barrels separately. The fruit in the barrels came from a parcel at the top of the Côte du Py hillside, facing south, about 350m above sea level, a place that’s always windy, which cools the vineyard.

Then after travelling for a week in the USA with his family, he smiled “they said I spoke with an accent, and started calling me James.”  The name stuck for the cuvée, not least because Burgaud is a fan of James Bond.

Wine tasting, in situ, December 2011

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Château de Thulon 2010, Beaujolais Villages
From Lantignié, on hillsides and granite soils. Graphite and plum, with nice straightforward concentration of sappy fruit. Honest, smooth, juicy and light bodied, all very nicely balanced.

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Régnié 2010
Chocolate-dipped cherries on the nose, succulent fruit attack, bit more grip, relatively, than Beaujolais Village. Gentle, smooth, strawberry perfume mid palate, with a bit of crunch. Lovely, perky, fresh.

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Morgon Les Charmes 2010,
Old vines, over 75 years. Hint liquorice spice on nose, more muscle here, with nicely balanced crunchy red berry fruits.

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Morgon Côte du Py 2010
50 year old vines. No oak. Sweetly perfumed, strawberry and raspberry. Perceptibly nearly full-4 bodied, with a round and crunchy tannin texture combo, but really all quite tight and closed.

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Morgon Côte du Py, Réserve 2010
All to barrel at end of maceration, 4-7 years old, for about 12 months.
Smoky nose with notably more grippy tannins – comparatively – and clearly young. Moving to darker fruits with a more substantial frame.

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Morgon Côte du Py, Javernieres 2010
12 months in 4-5 year old barrels. Moving away from immediacy of perfume into dark chocolate and charcoal with roasted plums.  Supple and concentrated fruit, rich and simultaneously fresh. A big wine with elegance to emerge over time. Very good.

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Morgon Côte du Py, James 2010
3-4 years old barrels. Big concentration here with purple and plush plum fruit, and an aromatic core. Texture is still fine-grainy with oak tannins yet to melt in. A huge wine, nicely balanced that will be very good.

My research trip to Beaujolais in December 2011 was sponsored by Inter Beaujolais.

Degraded schist of Bonnes Blanches

Domaine Ogereau is located in the Anjou village of Saint Lambert du Lattay, in the heart of the Coteaux du Layon appellation, nestled into the crook where the small tributary river Hyrome flows north to join the river Layon.

Fourth generation Vincent Ogereau took over the family business in 1989, having worked with his father since graduating in winemaking in 1983. Over the course of those generations the estate has grown to 24 hectares over about 30 different parcels, including two in Savennières. Ninety percent of the vineyard is split equally between chenin blanc and cabernet franc, with the remaining vineyard planted to grolleau, gamay and chardonnay.

Schist underlies all the vineyards in this area. In the Bonnes Blanches vineyard towards the river Layon there are deep, degraded schists which has resulted in a crumbly, white, chalky-textured rock. Nearer the river Hyrome, where the schist is not degraded, it remains a hard, grey rock.

It is the degraded alterite schist of Bonnes Blanches that is good for sweet wines, said Ogereau, “the nature of the earth and the exposure of the terroir can balance out climate extremes. For example, if there is a lot of humidity or rainfall, it is well draining.  If it’s dry, the soil is deep and friable so the roots can go deeper to find water.”  This, he added, allows the vines to mature earlier, which is good for sweet wines.

He uses a mix of passerillé (slightly raisined on the vine) and botrytis fruit, depending on the wine. Passerillé fruit, which starts developing at the beginning of harvest, from the end of September/beginning of October, Ogereau said, “is citrus, grapefruit, fresh, very sugary and very high acid.  You can get up to 30% potential alcohol, and 15 g/l acid (tartaric).” And botrytis fruit, which comes in October/November “has more viscosity, more fat, honeyed, heavy, truly liquoreux. This get up to 20% potential alcohol, and the acidity is lower than passerillé, around 9-10g/l (tartaric).”

On his dry chenin blanc, Vincent is doing his bit to experiment (link to Savennieres) with oak and malolactic fermentation. His Anjou Blanc and Savennières are fermented in 400 to 500 litre oak barrels “not new oak, but recent” he said, “between 1 and 6 years old”. Some of the casks go through malolactic fermentation, which “helps with the unctuousness and fatness of the wine, but I don’t put it all through malo because I like to keep the freshness of chenin blanc.”

Wine tasting, in situ, August 2011

Focused on chenin blanc only.
Domaine Ogereau, Anjou Blanc 2009, En Chenin
Fermentation and maturation, for 12 months, in 400 to 500 litre casks, 1 to 6 years old, on the lees.  Dry, 100% chenin blanc.
Toasted vanilla nose, new oak is overt on nose and attack, but doesn’t dominate. Citrus, lemon toast, and a fatness of fresh texture create a rounded, well balanced wine.

Domaine Ogereau, Savennières 2006, Clos le Grand Beaupréau
On schist and sand. 14%. On lees for 15 months.
Beautiful bright deep lemon with green hints.  Creamy nose, pale toast, steely core, very smooth texture, with gunsmoke and ripeness.  A sophisticated sort of wine, and powerful. It has a good balance of spice and stone fruit,  with just a small nudge of alcohol at the end. Smart wine.

Domaine Ogereau, Coteaux du Layon, Saint Lambert, 2009
100g/l RS. Fresh, tropical, and apricot fruits in focused and linear wine. Clear and clean fruit lines.

Domaine Ogereau, Coteaux du Layon St Lambert,  Harmonie de Bonnes Blanches, 2009
Liquoreux. A new label in 2009 as Vincent has decided to select best parcels and vintages for the Clos des Bonnes Blanches, which he is only making in the best vintages. This is a mix of passerillé and botrytis fruit. 12%.
Quite a deep gold colour. Honeyed, tropical, dense, viscous. Huge wine, immediate flavours, with a defining acid core, and clear freshness. This has big, sweet, honeyed flavours, with just a hint of the button mushroom of botrytis.

Domaine Ogereau, Coteaux du Layon St Lambert, Clos des Bonnes Blanches, 2007
Not made every year. Not in 2008, or in 2009. Fermentation in 500 litre casks; maturation for 18 months in barrel on lees. 200g/l RS.
Deep gold colour. Nose is dense and golden with nectar-like honeyed, tropical, lush sweetness, that is fresh and cleansing. Huge fruit and concentration, with tangerine notes and zest coming through its many layers.  Long and delicious. Vg.

My research visit to the Loire in August 2011 was sponsored by InterLoire.

Mathieu Lapierre

Having returned to the domaine in 2005 to work with his father, Mathieu Lapierre now runs this estate after the untimely death of his father Marcel in 2010.

From 1981, Marcel adopted a less interventionist way of growing his fruit and making wine, under the auspices of Jules Chauvet who is widely regarded as the father of what has become known as ‘natural wine’.  Essentially, synthetic vineyard applications are avoided, as are industrial yeasts, enzymes, chaptalisation, and minimising the use of sulphur dioxide, eliminating its addition altogether in some cuvees.  Mathieu said “we respect as much as possible what the terroir, and the vintage is, without adding anything.  So we don’t kill the yeast before we want to use them”, with chemicals in the vineyard for example.  But he does plough the vineyards, because, he said “vines are lazy.  We make the roots go deep into the rocks to find what they need” to survive, by severing shallow lateral roots with the plough.

As some evidence for his viticultural approach, the 15 hectares of this estate are certified organic.  Mathieu is also testing biodynamics on 3 hectares of this, and he keeps this wine separately to watch its evolution.

His vines all belong to the Morgon appellation. They average 45 years old and include a hectare on the climat of Côte du Py. The soils are all decomposed granite.

Mathieu uses traditional Beaujolais carbonic maceration to make his wines. Whole bunches only, with any individual bad berries discarded. If it’s hot the baskets of grapes will go into a cooling truck.  The level of carbonic maceration “is not the winemaker’s choice” he said, “in 2009, it was 95% carbonic maceration because the fruit was dry.  But you could have 30% juice and 70% carbonic maceration” depending on the conditions of the vintage.

The quality of the vintage also directs the length of maceration, which is anything from two to five weeks for Domaine Lapierre. Wines then go to large oak casks, and fourth fill and older Burgundy barrels, for about nine months.

Mathieu trained as a microbiologist to better understand the non-interventionist opportunities.  He said “my father was one of the first in Beaujolais working on a green revolution in the 1970s.  Marcel wanted to go back to a quality that was lacking, the way that people had done things for ever, using oenology as a tool, or as medicine.” Because he doesn’t add sulphites, acid, sugar, yeast, or use temperature control, “you need to control everything” he said.  A lot of this is done by regular tasting at vintage, as well as knowing at a microbiological level what he’s able to avoid doing.

He makes half his bottling without sulphites, and the other half with around 25mg/l of SO2, and has noticed that “younger wine without sulphites can be better, but after a few years it can be the other way round.”

About 70% of his customers ask for his wines with sulphites, which, he said “make the wine clearer and straighter.”

Tasting, in situ, December 2011

Domaine Lapierre, Morgon 2010 (without sulphites), ~£20
Not hugely fragrant, but nicely smooth and textured. Sapid, graphite notes in a well-structured wine. Fresh with elements of steel.  Delicious.

Domaine Lapierre, Morgon 2009 (without sulphites)
Graphite and dark, fresh, plums, smoky notes, something different, purple notes, fresh core and quite strong. Liquorice stick, savoury-fresh linear element.

Domaine Lapierre, Morgon 2009 (with sulphites)
Notably fruitier, but I don’t find it simpler. Has chalky fine tannin, and is packed with flavour.

Domaine Lapierre, Morgon 2005 (with sulphites)
Fresh, violet, soft-plum and rich fragrance. Sweet fruit.

Domaine Lapierre, Morgon 2005 (without sulphites)
Smoke, lead, graphite, more character, dimension and length. Vg.

My research trip to Beaujolais in December 2011 was sponsored by Inter Beaujolais.

Pink granite and blue volcanic rock

Château Thivin is the oldest estate on the slopes of Mount Brouilly, with part of their cellar dating to 1383.

This excellent property came into the Geoffray family in 1877, when Zaccharie bought the two-hectare estate at the time of the phylloxera crisis.  It is now run by Claude Geoffray, father and son: Claude-Vincent the father, and Claude-Edouard, the son and sixth generation.

They work the two most southerly of the ten Beaujolais crus – Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly. Brouilly is also the biggest of the crus, with 1,327ha. Its vineyards surround one of the smallest crus – Côte de Brouilly, with just 322 hectares, at higher altitude up the slopes of the volcanic Mount Brouilly, which peaks at 483m.

Côte de Brouilly is the heart of these two appellations. The bedrock is hard, blue volcanic plutonic rock that formed beneath the earth’s surface and never erupted. It’s the only one of the crus not to be based on granite, though the lieu-dit Côte de Py in Morgon is also volcanic in origin.  Geoffray said Côte de Brouilly “has more structure, it’s more serious, and will age longer than Brouilly, which is an easier-drinking” appellation.

The broader Brouilly is based on pink granite, and the Thivins “prefer to drink Brouilly in the first five years, to have the fruity flavours” that they express by using concrete to age this wine.  This keeps the freshness and fruitiness more than the oak casks they use for the more serious Côte de Brouilly.

In both their crus, managing gamay’s tannins using semi-carbonic fermentation is a challenging task, so Geoffray said “we taste the juice every day, and if the tannins become too strong we stop the maceration and press.  And with more tannin, we give a longer ageing.”

Three generations of label design

The property, which now comprises 25 ha, has three label designs, from 1946, 1976 and 2004, each almost 30 years apart, created by the last three generations.  The Côte de Brouilly wines keep the 1946 design, while the Brouilly takes on Claude-Vincent’s design.  The more minimalist lines of the new millennium take centre stage for Claude-Edouard’s design.

Chardonnay is a bit of a surprise in Beaujolais, though it represents some 2 to 3% of plantings. The Thivin’s parcel is in Thiezé, in the south of Beaujolais, where the soils are a much better suited clay-limestone mix. Grapes also come from a limestone vein in the village of St-Lager in the Brouilly appellation. The Thivin’s name their chardonnay cuvée after the wife of first generation Zaccharie.

Tasting notes, in situ, December 2011

Château Thivin, Marguerite, Beaujolais Villages Blanc 2010,
Chardonnay from St. Lager, planted in 2000. Vinified and aged in first to fifth use barrel.
Lightest creamy notes, with smooth and supple texture and sweet mediterranean fruits.  Fresh, with deep concentration of fruit. Nice.

Château Thivin, Brouilly 2010
Whole bunches for 8 to 12 days, then to stainless steel.
Fresh, dark cherry notes, with a bit of liquorice stick in a medium-bodied wine with nice gentle concentration and balance.

Château Thivin, Cote de Brouilly, Les Sept Vignes, 2010
Whole bunches for 8 to 12 days, and oak casks for six months. “A blend of our parcels, vinified separately, each with different expositions. The top parcels are more mineral and tense. The bottom parcels are easier, rounder and fruitier.”
Hints of aromatic smokiness, purple and dark cherries, smoothly textured, fresh, with hints of  graphite. This has a lovely fresh backbone and balance, bright, with violet-perfumed concentration. Vg.

Château Thivin, Cote de Brouilly, Clos Bertrand 2010
This parcel is the historic parcel around the estate, with south west aspect.
Rich, concentrated, lead pencil, violet and dark cherry perfume. Very smoothly textured, silkily-smooth, and sweet fruited.

Château Thivin, Cote de Brouilly, Cuvée Godefroy 2010
This parcel is at the bottom of the hill on the east side, a very old vineyard.  Meaning freedom of god.
Smokily aromatic nose, smooth with a bit of fine chalkiness added in. Certainly a bit grippier than the previous, and in a sweet, ripe fashion.  Nice.

Château Thivin, Cote de Brouilly, La Chapelle, 2010
At the top, facing south, on very rocks, blue stone soils.  Whole bunches and destemmed fruit for 2 weeks, and about nine months in cask.
Aromatic in a different way – rose petals and blossoms amid bright, near-crunchy red cherry fruits. Medium weighted and very fresh, with silky concentration and fine-chalky tannin lift. Vg.

Château Thivin, Cote de Brouilly, Cuvee Zaccharie 2009
Made in small barrels, 10% new oak, with a two week vinification.
Dark and chocolately, less perfumed, but with a bit more tannic grip that’s not at all distracting. Full bodied, with huge concentration.

Château Thivin, Cote de Brouilly, Cuvee Zaccharie, 1999
The second vintage of this cuvee.
Smoky and farmyard development, fully mature and interesting. It’s very nicely balanced, and still has freshness and vibrancy, though the fruit has moved to farmyard on the nose, and does come through more on the palate. Has big concentration of flavour.

My research trip to Beaujolais in December 2011 was sponsored by Inter Beaujolais.

http://www.vinsdeloire.fr/SiteGP/FR/Appellation/Appellation/Quarts-de-Chaume

Due south, across the river, of new Loire appellations Roches aux Moines and Coulée de Serrant in Savennières, lies Quarts de Chaume, recently elevated to grand cru status.  Claude Papin of Château Pierre Bise explained its origins.

The appellation is situated on the right bank of Loire tributary, the river Layon, as it wends its way in a north-westerly direction, to join the Loire at Chalonnes-sur-Loire.

The new grand cru is a 43 hectare enclave within the 1,400 ha Coteaux du Layon appellation.  Its peculiarity is that it is an outcrop of carboniferous sandstone and Britanny schist that’s higher than the rest of the slope, and nearer to the river, which means it gets “less wind, more sun and more mists” said Claude Papin. He said Layon “is the geological frontier between Brittany and Anjou, an area where there was a lot of movement.  At the bottom of the slope is Breton schist, which is normally on the left bank, but here is on the right bank.”

Three geological formations influence the appellation. Around 250 million years ago, Papin said “the left bank went down and the right bank came up in a fault, creating carboniferous rifts.  There was a tropical climate at the time as the land was around the equator. Volcanic ash, dust, trees accumulated” in huge hollows, which is now coal.

Between 250 million years and 6 million years ago the Britanny schist was created by compression from the depth of sea above, and volcanic heat.  Finally, from 6 million years ago, when the area was still under the sea, this Britanny schist was fracturing, creating “30 to 50 km deep volcanic fissures, through which lava arrived” said Papin, adding that Pierre Bise is on an epicentre of lava flow.

Papin said a typical Quarts de Chaume expression “shows aromatic finesse, is marked by botrytis and has a balance between the mineral and citrus quality, and botrytis.”  Any concentration should arrive by natural means as chaptalisation, reverse osmosis and cryo-extraction are all forbidden by the appellation.  “Most are vinified in oak” he said, “though not new, and there is no malolactic fermentation in Quarts de Chaume.”

Different expressions are argued to arise from the underlying bedrock, whether on Brittany schist, close to the river, on the carboniferous outcrop, or volcanic soils of the mid-slope. For example, Papin said a ginger note is typical of volcanic soils. A unifying feature is botrytis.

The 14 producers in Quarts de Chaume produce a total of between 5,000 and 8,000 cases a year.

My research visit to the Loire in August 2011 was sponsored by InterLoire.

The Chablis protagonists were Fabien Moreau, sixth generation and son of Christian at Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, representing the ‘oak’ corner, while another sixth generation vigneron, Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel of Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, represented the ‘non-oak’ corner.

In a region with a notoriously precarious climate, climate change was high on the agenda. Among other protection measures, smudge pots are still used in Chablis, albeit infrequently, to offset frost risk to young buds. The risk appears to be lessening. Gicqueau-Michel last used frost protection in the heatwave vintage of 2003 which had had frosts early on in the season. Even then they used it only for one night, adding there was no great addition to their carbon footprint when compared with potential fuel use by tractors.

Combined with an apparent lessening of frost-risk at the beginning of the growing season are advancing harvest dates. In the 1980s harvest began around October 1^st. In the 1990s that date had advanced to the third week of September, and in the 2000s, said George, “a couple of vintages started at the beginning of September”. Gicqueau-Michel added “something is changing over the last 10 years.  We have had to harvest quite early several times.”  This issue, he said, is to keep the level of acid freshness in Chablis, adding “maybe we’ll have to be careful with the amount of leaf-plucking in the future.”

Focusing in on the two recent vintages shows quite different characteristics. Moreau described the 2009 vintage as “a good example of perfect climate. Everything was normal in terms of the average for the past 20 years. For me it was too good, it was a challenge not to harvest too late and to keep a certain amount of freshness.” Gicqueau-Michel added “the wines are more fleshy, and will open quite quickly.”

Chablis vineyards

This freshness was easier to achieve in the more classic 2010, where the acidity was higher. Gicqueau-Michel described it as a “great vintage. The greater acidity makes it more [typically] Chablis. The wines have a nice balance and complexity.”

But the lower yields in 2010 gave Moreau a concentration of fruit that year. Consequently, he didn’t keep much lees in 2010.  He said the amount of lees he does keep is keenly vintage dependent, and he likes “to see how the lees look after alcoholic fermentation because sometimes they’re good, or not so good.” In 2010, he said “the yield was too strong in terms of concentration” so he didn’t keep a lot of lees.

On the contrary, it was in 2009 that Gicqueau-Michel cut the maturation time on lees “because [the vintage] was warm, and we wanted to avoid a heavy wine, and keep the freshness.”

And when he does keep the lees, there is no battonage. On which subject Moreau agreed, saying “in 2002 [when the new guise of the domaine started], I did lots of battonage, and the year after I stopped it.  It’s why we’re using oak, so we don’t need battonage.”

George said battonage generally is untypical in Chablis.

And generally, she estimated that only somewhere between 5 and 10% of total Chablis production goes into oak. And where it is used at all, it is usually on premier cru and grand cru wine.

On their Le Clos, for example, Moreau may use 40% oak, but less than 2% of the total blend is new oak, and, said Moreau “we prefer longer heat at not so high a temperature” for toasting the barrels because “we’re not looking for oak flavour, but for a slow oxidation. Oak adds tannin structure to the wine, and we don’t use it for Chablis or Petit Chablis.”

Gicqueau-Michel remains un-tempted by the oak argument, saying “I want to continue to explore terroir, with its lots of small changes, so we vinify as neutrally as possible, using tanks.” He added “when we work with stainless steel, we try to manipulate as little as possible. There is very little contact with oxygen, so our wines will need more time to open than some other Chablis producers.”

Regardless of whether Chablis has been vinified using oak or not, George said with age “it has the chameleon aptitude of making you think it’s been in barrel, when it hasn’t.” Moreau suggested that with bottle age “acidity gets rounder and softer” which may influence a taster’s perception, while Gicqueau-Michel suggested this trait may be “a character of terroir. The typical aromas of Chablis evolve in bottle to mushroom aromas, humus characters, sometime buttery, nutty” notes.

Tasting, in London, November 2011

Apart from one oxidised bottle (no notes), this tasting was a treat for the palate and the brain.

Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, Chablis 2010
Citrus, meal, smooth, with steel acacia. Persistent palate with fresh, citrus, linear flow.

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, Chablis 2010
Oatmeal and steel nose, with acacia and apple blossom, steely attack and lemon curd. Smooth, refined and with a big depth of flavour and long finish. Very nice indeed.

Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1^er Cru, 2009
Steely allspice nose, hint of ginger and nutmeg complexity. Very smooth with good density of fruit, and tightly focused. Linear and good.

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, Chablis Vaillon 1^er Cru 2009
Fresh lemon toast, lemon curd toast, round and with some almond-gras/weight. Youthful spices of toast and nutmeg. Richness and latent complexity here.

Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2009
Smooth, citrus, steely, lemon zest and pith, with silky texture and rich density of primary fruit layered with steely, flinty minerals. Richness from razor focus, with flesh of ripeness. Good.

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru 2009
Lemon toast, vanilla pods and nutmeg nose in elegant, discreet proportions. Smooth, with fine open-knit ‘grains’ and warm richness of youthful fruit flesh. Long finish.

Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru 2007
Nose a little muted, fruit erring to preserved lemons, still with linear acidity. Seems to be sulking a bit, yet to open up. Hints of fresh-light-cream on the palate attack, pristine and steely smooth.

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, Les Clos 2007, Chablis Grand Cru
Creamy, lemon toast, quite richly spicy, almond, honeyed dry toast with hint of nutmeg and even cardamom. Long length in palate, and long finish. Warm and clearly toasty. And very smooth texture.

Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, Vaudésir 2004, Chablis Grand Cru
Steel magnolias with smooth texture. Heading towards medium-full bodied fatness in a an attractive way. Smooth and rounded, warming and very drinkable. Vg.

Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, Vaudésir 2003, Chablis Grand Cru
Fleshy melon and peachy ripeness. Smooth and succulent, mouth-filling and perhaps not so classic? Rich, round, and not quite rotund. Aromatically spicy.

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, Blanchot 2006, Chablis Grand Cru
Round and fleshy with warm cardamom and aromatic spice. Oak spiciness in a warm, gently enveloping sort of way. Lemon curd on toasty nose, hint of sweet fruit, leesy cream, rich and fat in a Chablis context, i.e. still fresh and linear. Smooth, silky, delicious now.

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, Blanchot 2004, Chablis Grand Cru
Rich, honeyed, some overt nuttiness and open knit character. Full bodied and lush, still with a nice linearity and steel core. Very nice indeed. À point for me. Long finish with rich depth of flavour.

Domaine de Vaudon/Joseph Drouhin, Chablis 1989
Toasted, rich nuttiness and creamy-fat texture with full complement of tertiary, developed aromas, toasty, dry honeyed, fat. Lovely drinking.

Domaine Servin, Montée de Tonnerre 1998, Chablis Premier Cru
No oak, yet honeyed and toasted, with great amount of freshness still, with steely notes and blossom notes intact. Length not huge but, good flavours on the palate, smooth, nutty, floral, silky texture. Good.

Domaine des Malandes, Montmains 1996, Chablis Premier Cru
No oak. Citrus, fresh, indeed quite tart, and erring towards out of balance for me.

Domaine François Raveneau, Forêt 1995, Chablis Premier Cru
10% new barrels every year. Aromatic spice and  nuts on the nose, still tightly and tensely structured. Rich, fat, fresh, linear and taut. Little real sign of age. Huge concentration, finesse, elegance and depth. Long. Vg.

Domaine Laroche, Les Vaillons 1987, Chablis Premier Cru
Smoky, dark, roasted nuts, almost tarry aromatics, big, fat, still with freshness. Full and nicely balanced.

Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils, Valmur 2003, Chablis Grand Cru
Aromatic, youthful nose and palate of honey and acacia. Virtually no signs of ageing here at all. Quite full and ‘rich’ without weight or sweetness. Faintest hint of fresh. Dense, still-perfumed with rounded acidity. Lovely.

Domaine Long-Depaquit/Albert Bichot, Moutonne 2002, Chablis Grand Cru
Pale gold colour. Fat-cream and smooth toasty nose, firm acid core. A big wine.

Domaine de Vaudon/Joseph Drouhin, Vaudésir 2000, Chablis Grand Cru
White-nutty nose, creamed cobnuts. Smooth, round, softer acidity than experience so far this morning. Aromatic spiciness, with rounded acid profile.

Domaine Louis Michel et Fils, Grenouilles 1996, Chablis Grand Cru
Sweet, leesy nose, fresh-honeyed cream, nutmeg and allspice notes on the palate. Full, round, rich, fat mid palate, and with typical fresh backbone, even now. A bit of a warm finish. Good.

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat, Les Clos 1995, Chablis Grand Cru
Tarry, toasty nose, fresh-creamed cobnuts, youthful and delicious. Fresh nuts, still floral, and so young. Fresh, pristine, medium bodied and deliciously proportioned. Long, linear, lovely.

Roches aux Moines

A visit in August to Savennières Roche aux Moines, which is to become an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée/Protegée in its own right from the 2011 vintage, revealed what might be interpreted as something of an identity crisis, with some quite dramatic shifts in philosophy.

Savennières is a tiny appellation just to the south of Angers on the right bank of the river Loire.  It has just 145 hectares, including the 33 hectares of schistous Roches aux Moines (17ha planted), and the seven hectares of equally schistous Coulée de Serrant, solely owned by biodynamic supremo Nicolas Joly. This also becomes an AOP in its own right.

Such ambitious niche production is a long way from the nadir of the 1970s, when Savennières looked to be in near-terminal decline. It emerged from this low point as the Loire’s champion appellation of pristine, dry chenin blanc, where the traditional interpretation meant no malolactic fermentation (malo) and no overt new oak expression.

Over the past half a generation the use of malo and new small wood have evaporated all ideas of a single, unifying style from Savennières. And the seven active producers of Roches aux Moines look set to pursue further experimentation in their new appellation, where using a proportion of botrytised (nobly rotten) fruit and/or leaving a few grams of residual sugar further complicate the evolving picture.

New oak is used in varying proportions with varying degrees of overtness in the wines and without too much apparent controversy among growers. Indeed it is largely the norm among top producers. Views on malo appear more divergent. At Domaine aux Moines there is a laissez faire approach. Proprietor Tessa Laroche said “we do nothing, so it might or might not go through malo. If the pH is 2.8, then there is no malo.  We press then do nothing. We use natural yeast. After fermentation we don’t add sulphur dioxide.  But we do adapt the vinification according to the taste, so we taste all the time.”

On the other hand, the winemaker at Domaine FL said “I don’t think malo is a good thing. Malo is a marketing and economic move. Not to have malo gives length and something crystalline.  It’s better not to have malo for the life of a wine.”

Source: http://www.vinsdeloire.fr/SiteGP/FR/Appellation/Appellation/Savennieres

Are market fads really driving such changes? Some of these growers explained that they’re trying to minimise their use of sulphur as well as working more organically. But when you’re told that malolactic fermentation helps reduce the gap, during bottle ageing, between primary fruit and more developed characters, thus allowing the wine to be drunk sooner, and allowing less sulphur dioxide to be used, one wonders what are the motivations for such noticeable style changes. Does a drive to use less sulphur mean malo is inevitable in order to stabilise the wine? Malo certainly changes the fruit profile and acid balance, two of the recent historic defining parameters of Loire chenin blanc. But it makes the wines more approachable, younger – better for the market.

Charles Sydney, a broker based in the Loire believes the real issue in Savennières is ripeness.  He said “all good chenin producers in the Loire pick by hand in selective tris. A harvest with no rot is very unlikely to be ripe. Given chenin’s tendency to be acidic, it is essential to wait ‘til the grape reaches full phenolic maturity before harvesting – bringing sugar and acid into balance but, as important, also bringing the tannins to ripeness, reducing astringency.”

Perhaps such overt changes are more to do with carving out a unique identity for the new appellation. Roche aux Moines means ‘rocks of the monks’.  Its “south-east to south-west aspect”, just 75m above sea level, said Damien Laureau, of his eponymous domaine, mean the slopes “are very well exposed.”  It’s windy on those outcrops, which reduces the mould risk.  And, we are told, the volcanic schist gives a typical bitter quality to the wine.

At some straitened point in history the Roches aux Moines land had been given to the abbey in nearby Angers in lieu of taxes.  Domaine aux Moines became a second residence of the monks, and home for those who managed the vineyards, which had originally been planted by Cistercian monks in the 12^th century.

With so few growers in the new Roches aux Moines appellation, agreeing appellation regulations may be less fraught than where larger numbers have vested interests. Most growers are already farming organically, biodynamically or in conversion to one of these production systems, so it is no surprise that in the new appellation, no chemical herbicides are allowed.

The growers have also decided that vines should be five years old before they can be used for the appellation, and wines must be bottled at the domaine, though only one producer’s domaine is actually located in the appellation. Yield maxima in both new AOPs will be 30hl/ha versus the 50hl/ha allowed in ‘straight’ Savennières.

As to style, as with many things, it comes to preference. Do you prefer a fatter, creamy pseudo-Burgundy style chenin blanc, or one with racier, more pristine, crystalline lines? On the basis of my brief visit, it seems a small proportion of new oak is both undetectable and even enhancing of the latter style. But malo seems to invoke quite a personality change for chenin blanc.

Savennières Roches aux Moines producers

Domaine Clément Barraut
Domaine Damien Laureau
Domaine aux Moines
Château Pierre Bise
Domaine FL
Domaine des Forges
Château de la Roche aux Moines
Clos Ferrard – Eric Morgat (with a parcel in Roches aux Moines, not yet producing)

My research visit to the Loire in August 2011 was sponsored by InterLoire.

Loire vineyards

A version of this article was first published in Hampshire View, September 2011.

If you’re into sauvignon blanc then Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are the names to conjure with, but France’s Loire valley offers many other opportunities to drink wines from this bright and zesty grape variety.

Outside of these two famous appellations, there are another couple that offer sauvignon blanc, and usually at a more affordable price, because they are ‘humbler’ areas. One is the catch-all Vin de Pays du Val de Loire (the Loire’s equivalent of Vin de Pays d’Oc), and the other is the Touraine Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, which covers 4,500 hectares (ha) stretching east from Tours on both sides of the river Loire.

In both these appellations other grape varieties are grown, but sauvignon blanc will be mentioned on the label. In Touraine, Gamay de Touraine is the most common red wine, while Sauvignon de Touraine accounts for nearly 80% of the white Touraine wines.

Vin de Pays du Val de Loire is even larger than Touraine, covering 5,500 ha, and nearly half of all Vin de Pays du Val de Loire is sauvignon blanc. Other Loire vins de pays are made from the likes of chardonnay, chenin blanc, gamay and cabernet franc.

Fragmentation of production in Vin de Pays and Touraine has long been a challenge to focusing on improving the quality of production, with many growers owning a few hectares here and there. With some 1,700 growers of Loire Vin de Pays wines, it is really only the negociants, who buy fruit from many growers, who can bottle significant volumes of wine under one label. Otherwise it’s a case of searching out attentive and high profile producers, but who won’t make such high volumes of wine.

Recently, to give more emphasis on quality, the organisation that promotes Loire wines created a technical project in 2008, working more closely with growers and helping them to understand what styles of sauvignon blanc are preferred in the UK, whether more tropical fruits, or stone fruits, or citrus and grapefruit styles, or grassier, steelier styles, and how to work differently in the vineyard and the winery to achieve these styles, maybe using different yeasts, or fermenting at a particular temperature. One of the most important things is to keep oxygen away from the fruit during harvest and winemaking, which will keep the fruit expressions fresh, zingy and focused on primary fruit.  Then extra style-enhancing options, especially keeping the wine on its lees for a few months, add varying degrees of weight, intensity, texture and richness to the finished wine.

The beauty of these styles of sauvignon blanc is they’re straightforwardness in delivering zingy fresh fruit flavours. It’s important to drink the most recent vintage available.

Try these:
M&S: Domaine Jacky Marteau Sauvignon blanc 2010, £7.99, Loire.
Sainsbury’s:  Taste the Difference Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2010, £7.99
Domaine Direct: Domaine du Haut Perron, Touraine Sauvignon 2010, £8.70 (per bottle in a mixed 12-pack)

Jacky Blot

Owner Jacky Blot is one of those charming, unassuming iconoclasts of wine whose passion oozes from more pores than he possesses. Almost everything he says makes seductive sense even if you don’t actually quite understand it, and one could easily lose days of fascinating conversation and thesis in his company.

Blot has amassed some 60 hectares (ha) of vineyards in the Loire valley in two estates – 14ha of Domaine de la Butte in Bourgeuil, plus Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, covering the Vouvray and Montlouis appellations.

Just last year he bought the Le Clos de Mosny property in Montouis, with a full 12 hectares inside the walls, and another eight outside, including 1.6km of traditional wall. The 2011 vintage is his first from this Clos, which will eventually come under the wing of the Taille aux Loups domaine. Given that the entire Montlouis appellation is 380ha, his is no mean holding for one inspired individual.

Three quarters of his production is white, from the Loire’s chenin blanc, a grape variety Blot said “which corresponds strictly to the Loire” and on which he does his own massale selection using the many very old vines he has as indicators of the variety in its Loire terroir.

He’s investing €5,000 / hectare in his new vineyard, including planting new vines in the slightly down-at-heel Clos. The plans are to raise the canopy and lower fruit, so that “at the end of the day you get residual heat reflected up” to the ripening bunches.  By taking leaves off the bottom of the canopy and lowering the fruiting canes, you need to go higher with the leaves, without getting too much leaf, Blot explained. And with all this effort, and by pruning in winter for the correct number of future bunches, Blot avoids the need to green harvest. Instead he gets a limited number of aerated bunches. And still he harvests only at around 30hl/ha, in comparison to appellation allowances of 52hl/ha.

Blot is a man passionate about geology too, saying “there is no appellation without geology”, adding that particular geology zones of the late/upper Cretaceous sedimentation are well suited to growing both Montlouis and Vouvray.

The Montlouis appellation fits snugly into the crook of land created where the river Cher flows in north-westerly direction into the river Loire.  The land is only around 80m above sea level, with the river Loire still having around 200km to meander to the Atlantic Ocean.

Montlouis cross-section

Montlouis cross-section

Source: www.vinsdeloire.fr/SiteGP/FR/Appellation/Appellation/Montlouis-sur-Loire

The tuffeau, or tufa, (porous calcium carbonate-rich rock – limestone – laid down here under an ancient lake) so typical of this part of the Loire was laid down in the Turonian age of the Upper Cretaceous some 94 to 88 million years ago.  It is into this tufa that caves were dug to excavate the rock for building in the Middle Ages, and that now form many a grower’s winery/cellar.

Overlaying this is younger yellow chalk of the Upper Cretaceous which contains lots of shells. And above this lies layers of sand, clay and flint in a free draining matrix. The silex/flint and sand “is a particular expression” Blot said.

Though Blot is not certified, he said “you can express terroir only if you farm organically.  If you use chemical fertilisers, you may as well be growing tomatoes.” He hinted at his long term view when he said “my vision of wine doesn’t fit into the here and now.”  And yet he’s a relative newcomer to winegrowing, having been a courtier/broker in the Loire and Burgundy some 20 years ago.

In his pursuit of the freshness, richness and purity that he says define Loire valley wines, Blot is pretty non-interventionist in approach, after the nine sorting tables have allowed him to select the fruit he’s happy to ferment.  He said “after the grape there’s no intervention in the cellar, [though] we can increase the temperature a little to help fermentation.”  Given the ambient 11 to 13°C of the underground cellar, fermentation is slow, even very slow, taking 4-5 months, and often up to nine months.

Flint in Clos du Mosny

Slow settling of juice, use of natural yeasts, fermentation in a cold cellar, fermentation in small volumes – barrels – which usually gives rise to fewer issues. And Blot added “without fertiliser in the vineyard parcels there is very little yeast-assimilable nitrogen [nutrients], in fact there’s so little nitrogen that some chemistry labs have said it’s impossible to ferment.  But it does.” He added that once the first yeast populations have started fermentation, the second yeast populations feed on the nitrogen created by the first set of yeasts.

Blot is aiming for “very dry wines, with very, very augmented minerality.”  But, he added “if minerality is on its own, this makes the wine hard to drink.  The slowness of fermentation gives fatness and roundness to the wine, and the long fermentation is like a permanent battonage.”

All his wines ferment in barrel, with just 10% new, coming from an artisanal barrel maker in Burgundy.

His wines do not undergo malolactic fermentation.  He said “I think a great grape can make great wines without residual sugar or malolactic.  Malic acid gives an accent, and tones in the wine – a bit of relief or contour, and makes the wine agreeable.”  He added the malic acid “is the spinal column of the wine, giving structure, adding relief and vibrancy to the wine [whereas] weight and body, roundness and flesh are coming from old vines, restricted yields, ripe grapes and the long fermentation.” He also said the low temperature of the cellar and the very slow fermentation protects the wine against malolactic fermentation occurring, which is important for him, as Blot doesn’t add sulphites in the cellar (which would help to block the malolactic).

Tasting notes, in situ, August 2011

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Triple Zero, Montlouis Sur Loire, Petillant naturel, €12
Traditional method sparkling, with a twist:  it has zero chaptalisation, zero triage sugars, and zero dosage.  To achieve this, fully ripe grapes are used, to provide all the requisite sugars.  After about a nine month fermentation, the wine is bottled, still with around 12g/l sugars, for around 18 months.  At disgorgement it is topped with wine, but no dosage.
It has a fine-looking mousse, both aesthetically and in terms of size of bubble. The nose is ripe with chenin blanc citrus and apple, the palate rich with almost tropical fruit, and the whole is pure.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Les Dix Arpents 2010, Montlouis Sur Loire Sec €10
The “simplest wine in the house” and delicious at that.  A ‘first tri’ or harvest selection wine, with fresh attack of spiced apples and pears, rich and enveloping, racy with juices. It has lovely intensity and balance.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Remus 2009 Montlouis Sur Loire Sec €12
A ‘second tri’ wine, a blending of parcels closer to the Loire river, on clay soils.
Slight piquancy of citrus toast, lush and sweet fruited on the palate with broad white fruits – chin-dripping melon, apples, poached pears. Sweet texture and mouth enveloping fruit. Vg.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Clos Michet 2009, Montlouis Sur Loire  Sec €14
Also a ‘second tri’ wine. Floral nose, rich and enticing, hints of lemon curd, dry toast amid quince and almost tropicl fruits in a racy frame. Full breadth of palate in seamless quality. Vg.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Remus Plus 2009, Montlouis Sur Loire Sec €16
From one part of the vineyards where vines are nearly 100 years old.
Quince, poached apples, piquancy of acidity offering height and backbone as counterpoint to sweet fat fruit. Life and vibrancy exude along this wine’s huge length.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Clos de la Bretonniere 2009, Vouvray Sec €12
Bretonniere in Vouvray is calcareous with heavy clay that sticks to the shoes.
Blot: “2009 was quite problematic, I didn’t really like it at the beginning.”
Hint tarry and toasty on the nose, then fat and rich, with spiky, sweet leesy notes.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Clos de Venise 2009, Vouvray Moelleux €20
Clos de Venise in Vouvray is silex/flint.
I would say almost  fully sweet. Lush, fat, and fresh, with sweet melon. A dense, huge wine.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Clos de Venise 2005, Vouvray Liquoreux €30
Richly honeyed, with more than 100g/l RS. Tropical, piquant notes and no sign of any ageing. The balance and depth of the whole thing is wonderful and remarkable.

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Romulus 2005, Montlouis Sur Loire Liquoreux €50
This wine is only make it when it’s very sunny, which results in the “great, late harvests being early.”  170g/l RS.
Tropical and spicy with huge depth and succulence. Lush in the literal and the colloquial. ‘nuff said.

My research visit to the Loire in August 2011 was sponsored by InterLoire.

A much shorter version of this article first appeared in Drinks Business, July 2011.

With pioneering icons such as Domaine Leflaive and Domaine Pierre Morey who live and breathe biodynamics, Burgundy has long been at the forefront of green viticulture.  But in a perfect marketing storm where almost everyone says they’re doing sustainable viticulture, even if they don’t really, how do you separate marketing myth from substantive sustainability?

Outside of conventional production, and the biodynamic niche, there are two main ways of producing wine in Burgundy – sustainable development, and organic.  Both can be certified, meaning at least minimum standards have been achieved.

Certified organic is one thing that feels reasonably well understood, and such vineyards in Burgundy have grown rapidly.  In 2001, it is estimated that about 1% of Burgundy vineyards were certified organic.  Jean-Hugues Goisot of certified organic and biodynamic Domaine Goisot, said “In the last year, there’s been an increase of 45-55% of the surface of vineyards certified. By 2011, 9-10% will be certified.”

It’s not just that more producers are certifying organic. There appears to be a sea change in the mindset of producers. Anne Parent of Domaine Parent believes “the next 10 years will be a hundred times quicker than last 10 years” even though her own evolution has been steady, “Before me, my brother stopped herbicides, just ploughed. When I took over 12 years ago I said we need to go further.  We didn’t know exactly how to go, so we did some soil and leaf analysis. We observed each plot, and did what it needs, no more, no less.  In 10 years it was a long process.  In 2005/6 we started to work some plots organically. We did more tests, and in 2009, we decided to go organic.”

The downside she said “is it costs more. You use less quantity especially with an efficient pneumatic sprayer, but have to do more treatments because the efficacy of the product is short.”

But, she added, over and above the organic regulations, she is working this way to “protect the soil and the terroir, and for our health. It’s not a fashion, it’s a long term philosophy.”

At Maison Champy, for winemaking technical director Dimitri Bazas, the proof of their non-certified biodynamic techniques is in his team’s pudding, as it were. He said “the success is that the team finish the products in their own gardens. In the field they are doing an application because they have observed. It is no longer a dogmatic spraying regime.”

Return to traditional practices

Certainly producers appear to be thinking more about what they are doing, and not spraying according to an industrial regime, by the calendar.  Part of this is due to a system of agriculture raisonée (AR) which, for viticulture, comes in the form of a 90-point specification, issued by FARRE, the national association of agriculture raisonée.

Some of the points are obligatory, others not. In addition, producers can be third-party certified in AR, or not, as they choose. And herein lies a serious communication issue.  Denis Fetzmann, director of Domaine Louis Latour said “agriculture raisonée’ is a light control and not generally very successful in France.  Everyone says ‘we are in sustainable development’ but [when it is not certified] no one controls it.”

It’s difficult to have much confidence in a non-certified system which is open to misuse. And, Fetzmann added the standards “are checked every five years. We have had three audits since 2004, and the standards have not changed” so there is, so far, no tightening of tolerances over time, which should be an essential part of any certification, in order to increase levels of sustainability over time.

And while agriculture raisonée allows the use of synthetic chemicals, whereas organic and biodynamic use natural applications, including sulphur and copper, the benefits are that the system considers more than just the vineyard plot: it sits on the tripod of economic viability, human health and protection of the environment.

“It’s not just for the winery, but for the whole estate, and for the safety of the workers” said Jérôme Sordet, of agriculture raisonnée-certified Domaine Coste-Caumartin, adding “before I was certified, on average I did 12 sprays, spraying when it was easiest, about every 10 days. Now it’s about 8 sprays, taking into account the weather, and I use about 15% less. I have been taught how to read the leaves, so I see if treatment is needed or not.”

But Sordet spends 15-20% more time in the vineyards on his 12 hectare property. And he and his team now meet twice a day. “It’s an optimisation of work” he said, “it doesn’t cost any more.  My labour cost has not come down, I still have the same four people, but they are doing more diverse things.”

Essentially AR measures are common sense, though the approach requires a pre-existing or learned environmentally-protective mentality. Some people were already doing them, and now it is part of a programme. And sometimes a lot of small changes can add up.  The system also includes traceability protocols.

Taking some aspects a little further is the private organisation Terra Vitis, which is a member of FARRE.  Its members must adhere both to the AR specification, and to the third-party certified Terra Vitis specification, which was created in 2009.  Their viticultural advisor, Jean-Henri Soumireu-Lartigue said “we integrated new commitments dealing with biodiversity, energy use and water quality.”

Given that synthetic chemicals, and systemic rather than contact products, are permitted under AR, he also said “the association selects synthetic chemicals based on their toxicity. The more toxic chemicals are forbidden” adding “we generally use about 30% less chemicals. But we also use less toxic chemicals.”

Chemical build up in the soil or not, a return to terroir and typicity is a driving force for some to adopt a less synthetic approach to their winemaking.

Jean-Hugues Goisot, organic since 2000 and biodynamic since 2005, said “between 1990 and 2000, I had an impression that we lost, little by little, the typicity of our wine. We were more  chardonnay and sauvignon blanc rather than Cote d’Auxerre and St Bris – chardonnay from our domaine and from Australia and Chile were getting closer and closer.”

In 1996, they tested a four hectare parcel under organic.  Goisot said “in blind tastings, we knew each time which was organic, it was more typical of the region. We preferred the organic wine every time, therefore we took the decision to make everything organic.“

It’s also such a return to terroir that has driven Maison Champy, the oldest negociant in Burgundy, towards organic.  Their technical director, Dimitri Bazas, said “It’s a return to the experiential, it’s a re-questioning.  It’s good to be awake. It’s about terroir wines – wines from Champy must be Pommard before they are Champy.”

He said “you cannot do this in conventional farming. When you use synthetic fertilisers, the same fertilisers in Pommard and Volnay, the roots stay 10 to 15cm in the soil. If you don’t have microbiological life, if you don’t have roots in the subsoil there is no terroir.” And he added “the sustainable thing, terroir, is here for long time, but we are here for short time.” Pragmatically, he added, the idea is to produce better grapes.

Maison Champy was certified organic from the 2010 vintage. Joseph Drouhin has also recently completed the paperwork to convert, even though an organic way of working has been in place for over 20 years. Fourth generation estates manager Philippe Drouhin said “in 1988, fresh out of viticultural school, I was convinced the synthetic way of managing vineyards was risky and might be a dead end. In 1988, yellow and red mites were a big problem. The beginning of the discovery for me was Typhlodromus pyri, a small mite that eats the other mites. The new chemicals [at the time] had to avoid damaging the pyri; and no-one now uses chemicals against yellow and red mite.”

Of their recent organic certification Drouhin said “we wanted the organic certificate, even though it’s never used commercially. Now it becomes a selling point for some estates, and there is a tendency for some estates to let people think they were organic when they weren’t.  I felt in 2006 it was necessary to ask for certification.  It changed nothing but the paperwork and expense. It was just to be able to prove we are actually doing it.“

Such a quiet approach is not unique in Burgundy. Maison William Fèvre doesn’t shout that they are certified AR, plus half their 50 hectares of vineyards are certified organic. Didier Seguier, their winemaker said “it’s difficult to manage organic viticulture quickly. We want to be all organic, maybe it will take another five years.” But he added “the other 25 hectares have only three chemical treatments.”  Fèvre have not decided if they will put organic on the label.  Seguier said their aim was “to use less and less chemical product.”

Without the certificate though, accurate and comprehensible communication remains a challenge, as Drouhin found. Ironically, Christophe Chauvel, the head viticulturist at Albert Bichot, who practise aspects of AR, but are not certified, said the way we work “is not a marketing thing, it’s a philosophy.  It’s better for me to practise it, but not talk about it,” which seems to be the position Drouhin were at a few years ago.

Hill of Corton

A significantly louder line in the sand is being drawn in Aloxe Corton, where Domaine (not Maison) Louis Latour, certified ISO 14001, and certified agriculture raisonée, launched the ‘Paysage de Corton’ initiative in July 2010.  For Domaine director Denis Fetzmann, “the argument is not synthetic versus organic” For him, the “new challenge is the protection of territory – the hill of Corton”, encouraging all producers to think of the whole appellation and its wider environment.

The Paysage de Corton project aims to cover the 100 domaines on the hill of Corton in three villages – Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton and Ladoix-Serrigny – covering a thousand hectares of vineyard and non-vineyard land.

Fetzmann said, with organic, “you are chief on your little plot. Everything is your choice. But we have questions which are not for one plot, for example, erosion – it needs controlling, there are some steep plots. We decide among several domaines to slow the water flow, or to build some stone walls.”

Also, he said “biodiversity is not just about your plot. We have made traps everywhere, working for 10 years to understand if the way of viticulture in Burgundy is compatible with life in the soil, air, insects etc.”

Fetzmann’s mantra is “terroir and territory. This is the new way of viticulture” he said. The 1,000 hectares of the hill comprises 550ha of vineyards, the rest is roads, forest, buildings etc, but the initiative aims to get the whole working holistically.  He said they are working “to manage a territory intelligently, and not alone. For example we want to create more hedgerow corridors from high to low points to help life circulate” on the hill of Corton, to aid biodiversity, and they have two research students working to this, and other, ends, one financed by Louis Latour, the other by the BIVB.

He added, “I’ve already worked for one year on the project … though the work is for the next 30 years”, so he’s not expecting too many quick wins.  But at the first meeting in July 2010, 40 domaines, including Drouhin and DRC have already signed up to the initiative, as have all the organic growers in Corton. This shows there is a collective will to change attitudes and practices for the environmental better.

As with Burgundy’s biodynamic icons, the Corton Hill project could be a beacon of biodiversity for Burgundy.

My research trip to Burgundy in July 2010 was sponsored by the ‘Discover the Origin‘ campaign.

At the announcement, some 190 wines were available to taste, and below are the notes of the wines I tasted during a couple of hours at the session.

Themes across the piece included plenty of new oak flying around, sweet ripe fruit erring to lush fruit on occasion, supple, ripe tannins with nothing hard or edgy. From the list of blends, there seems to be plenty of petit verdot being used in this vintage.

Tasting notes, London, September 21, 2011.

Château Bessan Ségur, 2009, Médoc
50% cabernet sauvignon, 48% merlot, 2% cabernet franc
Sweet new oak amid bright red fruits. Smooth and sweet berry fruit, with a high kick of spice.

Château Blaignan, 2009, Médoc
60% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon
Gently spiced and toasted forest berries, quite lush medium body in nicely proportioned wine, which has some muscle. Good.

Château Chantemerle, 2009, Médoc
60% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 3% petit verdot, 2% cabernet franc
Spiced blackcurrants and cream on the nose, smooth, charming and gentle oak support; elegant proportions, and nicely balanced.  Good.

Château les Grands Chênes, 2009, Médoc
55% merlot, 42% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc
Toasty and faintly oily whiff (not negative) on the nose, followed by rich, sweet fruit. Quite fat and broad in style, so lacks a bit of backbone for me. Lush, round, supple, very ripe style.

Château Greysac, 2009, Médoc
58% merlot, 38% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot
Spiced blackcurrant on the nose, smooth, fine-grained texture with sweet-ripe black fruits and faint cinnamon spice. A little more than medium bodied in a very nicely balanced wine that feels quite classic. Good.

Château Haut Barrail, 2009, Médoc
70% cabernet sauvignon 25% merlot 5%malbec
Bit of raw new oak on the nose in an ambitious wine, that may be also a bit rustic, still with sweet berry fruits in a clearly ripe and ready vintage.

Château Livran, 2009, Médoc
merlot, cabernet sauvignon
Deep black fruited nose, blackcurrant and vanilla-spiced cream palate in nicely proportioned wine, quite harmonious feel to this wine. Good.

Château Loudenne, 2009, Médoc
55% merlot – 40% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 1% malbec
Youthful, fine grained new oak tannins beginning to soften into sweet blackcurrant fruits in a wine of some attractive refined profile. Good.

Château Les Ormes Sorbet, 2009, Médoc
65 % cabernet sauvignon, 30 % merlot, 5 % petit verdot
Piquant vanilla spice on nose, with rustic, youthfully-grained tannins. Heading towards a fuller body of red-focused berry fruits, in nicely balanced wine. Good.

Château Patache d’Aux, 2009, Médoc
60 % cabernet sauvignon, 30 % merlot, 7 % cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot
Nose a bit subdued, then palate quite big, rustic and toasty. Plenty of sweet red berry fruit which should settle in.

Château Preuillac, 2009, Médoc
67% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc
Warmly aromatic nose of perfumed summer berries. Dark berries emerge on palate in smooth, youthfully crunchy texture. Nicely balanced and proportioned. Good density and intensity of dark berry and currant fruit. Good.

Château Rollan de By, 2009, Médoc
70% merlot, 20 % cabernet sauvignon et cabernet franc, 10% petit verdot
Spiced bramble bushes and blackcurrant, amid new oak spiciness and toastiness.  Fresh structure to the medium body in a sweet-fruited whole.

Château Saint Christoly, 2009, Médoc
55 % merlot, 45 % cabernet sauvignon
Less interesting than I might have hoped.

Château Tour Prignac, 2009, Médoc
57% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, 2% malbec, 1% cabernet franc
Gentle spice and supple, not quite sweet tannins, erring to purple fruit. Smooth texture with some intrigue, good density of sweet fruit. Good.

Château Vieux Robin, 2009, Médoc
55% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot, 3% cabernet franc 2% petit verdot
Bright cherry fruits, but not much else here of interest for me.

Château d’Agassac, 2009, Haut-Médoc
52% cabernet sauvignon, 48% merlot
Sweet bramble fruit in very smoothly textured palate of blackcurrant, nutmeg infused cream. Elegant and attractive. Good length.

Château Barreyres, 2009, Haut-Médoc
55% merlot, 45% cabernet sauvignon
Crunchy red fruit spectrum. Palate a bit subdued and less interesting than I might have hoped for.

Château Bibian, 2009, Haut-Médoc
60% merlot 40% cabernet sauvignon
Sweet blackcurrant cream nose and palate. Smooth with integrating splurge of new oak softening in. Heading towards a fuller body with sweet balance and freshness. Good.

Château Caronne Ste Gemme, 2009, Haut-Médoc
60% cabernet sauvignon, 37% merlot 3% petit verdot
Smoky red fruited nose, textured new oak streak to the core, plentiful sweet ripe tannin. Moving up a gear to bigger, more concentrated wine than those tasted thus far. Rich density of fruit in youthful profile.

Château Cissac, 2009, Haut-Médoc
67% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot, 8% petit verdot
Darkly smoky nose, dark, black fruits on the palate, smooth and finely grained.

Château Devise d’Ardilley, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50 % cabernet sauvignon, 45 % merlot, 5 % petit verdot
Red fruits nose, sweet and fully textured. Fully lush and round, richly fruited, with decent length. Good.

Château Larose-Trintaudon, 2009, Haut-Médoc
60% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot
Smoky red aromas, smooth and finely structured. Elegant with some nice class and a bit of sophistication appearing here.

Château la Lauzette-Declercq, 2009, Haut-Médoc
cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc
Full and rustic-crunchy.

Château Liversan, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50 % cabernet sauvignon, 40 % merlot, 5 % cabernet franc, 5% petit verdot
Gently roasted forest berries, smooth attack, quite lush and sweet, rounded and full bodied. Definite high fruit-sweetness factor here, and lacks a bit of backbone, and tone round the middle, for me at this stage.

Château Paloumey, 2009, Haut-Médoc
55% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 40% merlot
Spiced sandalwood, a hint raw still at this stage. Medium weight, has lift and definition, needs to mellow a little more. Less succulent that some.

Château Puy Castéra, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50 % cabernet-sauvignon, 35% merlot, 14% cabernet-franc, 1% petit-verdot
Smoked berries, mid palate a little loose and lacking structure.

Château de Sainte-Gemme, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50% cabernet sauvignon, 50% merlot
Smoky black fruit, smooth textured attack of blackcurrant and loganberry, good sweetness and density in smooth profile, but lacks a little refinement.

Château de Villegeorge, 2009, Haut-Médoc
56% cabernet sauvignon, 44% merlot
Toasty and blackcurrant nose, full of roasted fruits and cinnamon, dark berries and black fruit. Smoothly textured, erring to full body in nicely balanced, rounded whole. Wholesom lush style, with some good length. Good.

Château Fonréaud, 2009, Listrac-Médoc
52% cabernet sauvignon, 45% merlot, 3% petit verdot
Spicy red fruits, lush and sweet fruit still with defining freshness, and depth of fruit. Nicely proportioned, with rich depth and level of seriousness.

Château Lestage, 2009, Listrac-Médoc
56% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, 4% petit verdot
Rustic nose,  chewy palate. Aspirational rather than delivering, on this tasting, for me.

Château Vieux Moulin, 2009, Listrac-Médoc
65% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 5% petit verdot
Toasted fruits and chewy oak. Sweet red fruit focus comes through on the mid palate, which will round out and soften in the tannin. Just a bit unintegrated now, though balance is not out of kilter.

Château d’Arsac, 2009, Margaux
67 % cabernet sauvignon, 33 % merlot
Smooth dark berry fruits, lush and with some sophistication here. A different class really, integrated with attractive concentration and future.

Château Deyrem Valentin, 2009, Margaux
50% merlot 48%, cabernet sauvignon, 2% petit verdot
Dark black fruits in crunchy tannin of fine grainy texture and firm backbone. Smooth textured, enticing, tasty. Very good.

Château Paveil de Luze, 2009, Margaux
70% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot
Red spicy stuff on the nose, full and toasted with integrity to mature nicely in bottle. Medium weight with elegant lifted fruit throughout profile. Good.

Château La Tour de Bessan, 2009, Margaux
60% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 10% cabernet franc
Nose a bit closed. Palate fine grained with rich red berry fruits, elegantly structured, lovely depth of fruit and integrity. Nice.

Château la Fleur Peyrabon, 2009, Pauillac
67 % cabernet sauvignon, 26 % merlot, 7 % petit verdot
Big, crunchy, smoky nose, bit of rawness still on palate attack, plenty sweet fruit to subsume the oak in time.

Château Plantey, 2009, Pauillac
55% merlot, 45% cabernet sauvignon
Crunchy, black hints of dense oak in a big wine that should soften. Quite huge now, but not unbalanced.

Château Beau-Site, 2009, Saint-Estèphe
70% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 3% cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot
Muscley brambles on the nose, sweet and almost succulent black berry fruits on palate attack. Full and sweet, with fresh core. Serious, harmonious balance here. Nice wine with big concentration.

Château Le Crock, 2009, Saint-Estèphe
58% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 6% cabernet franc, 6% petit verdot
More in the red fruit spectrum. Lifted and upright, with fresh backbone and toned fruit flesh. Elegantly proportioned with readily ripe red fruits.

Château Lilian Ladouys, 2009, Saint-Estèphe
cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc
Crunchy toasted oak nose, sweet red fruits, smooth fruited profile, erring to full body, muscley in a smooth gentle way.

218 of the 2009 Crus Bourgeois were also classified for the 2008 vintage.
164 of the 2009 Crus Bourgeois were also classified in 2003.
126 of the 2009 Crus Bourgeois were part of the original 1932 list.
101 of the 2009 Crus Bourgeois were part of both the 1932 list and the 2003 classification.
95 of the 2009 Crus Bourgeois were classified in 2008, 2003 and 1932.

Source:  Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc

Given the long ageing requirements of the communal crus, their evolution has been going on for some years, since the 1990s, so it is no surprise that stylistically, they are beyond anything the Nantes region was previously known for.  The height of appellation quality in Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine used to be a ‘sur lie’ label – meaning the wine had been aged on its lees, and had been bottled between March 1^st and November 30^th in the year following the vintage.

But the communcal crus are aged for much longer, which means they are excluded from using ‘sur lie’ even though the wines have been on lees for much longer, at least 17 months ageing, sometimes up to 36 months or more.

The three, of an identified seven, communal crus that have been approved are Clisson, Gorges, and Le Pallet. All the crus are predicated upon particular bedrocks.  Clisson is on granite; Gorges on clay and quartz, and Le Pallet on gabbro (similar to basalt, but with coarse-grained crystals), gneiss and sandstone.

It is expected the other communal crus will also be recognised.  They are:
Goulaine – on schist
Mouzillon Tillières – on gabbro
Monnières Saint-Fiacre – on gneiss
Château Thébaud – on granite.

In addition to coming from specific areas, production rules are tougher than the regular Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine appellation – among other things, as well as spending much longer on lees, yields are limited to 45hl/ha, 10hl/ha less than Sèvre-et-Maine.

Tasting notes, in Nantes, July 2011, a very brief, three-wine introduction to the style

Les Vignerons du Pallet, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Le Pallet, Jubilation, 2007, €12
This is a group of winemakers, who blend the best of their production to make a cru.
Aged two years on lees, with malolactic fermentation.
Creamy, leesy in a tight Bugundian style, full, quite fat and rich, all savoury, fresh creamy with a fine salted caramel tang to it.

Les Vins Drouet, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Gorges 2005, €10.80
Smoky note on the nose (apparently typical of the Gorges cru), with tropical fruit coming through some steely peaches and magnolia. Silky smooth texture, super, fresh intensity and depth. Long and very good.

Domaine R de la Grange, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Schiste de Goulaine 2005, €12.70
Hints of quince amid a smooth, silky texture. Rich and unctuous in dry fashion, (texturally something like a cross between reserve/smaragd gruner veltliner and white Burgundy), full, sweet fruit, lush-but-dry, moreish and long, with a dry tang at the finish reminiscent of Muscadet! Very good.

My research visit to the Loire in August 2011 was sponsored by InterLoire.

Generally new blood brings new initiatives, even if the properties themselves have an ancient lineage. And often the initiatives involve the most fundamental unit of location, of site specificity – the soil. 

So it is at Château de la Dauphine in Fronsac, which was established in 1747.  Though it has been owned by the Halley family since 2000, Guillaume Halley recently took the reins. 

In that first decade, the family invested over €10 million restoring the château and the cellars, and installing new equipment, but it was only in 2010 that a soil study was done across the 31ha domaine. The results of this are forming the foundation of better matching the merlot and cabernet franc grown to the 14 different soil types the survey identified.

In a separate initiative, the Halleys have introduced a second wine, which ensures the best selections are kept for their Château label. Guillaume said “between 2004 and 2007 we sold to negoce because we didn’t make a second wine. Now we make about 100,000 bottles of grand vin and 60,000 bottles of Delphis.”  The first vintage of Delphis was in 2006, and the family continues to sell up to 30,000 bottles’ worth to negoce of wine deselected from the first and second wines, though in the excellent 2009 and 2010 vintages the Halleys kept all their fruit for themselves.

Eric Monneret

Another property coming under the soil and geology microscope since Eric Monneret recently took over as managing director is Château La Pointe, one of the largest wine estates in Pomerol, with 22 hectares.  As a result of the study, the drainage system has been upgraded in the third of the property that collected water, on sandy soil overlying clays and gravel.  This third also happened to be the third that was planted to possibly the least adapted of the available grape varieties, cabernet sauvignon, so that has all come out.  The estate is now planted to 85% merlot and 15% cabernet franc, making it a much more classic Pomerol property.

Since Generali France bought La Pointe in 2007, other investment has included a new vat room which was in position for the 2009 harvest, complete with solar power and a rain water collection system.

It’s not just unclassified properties that are waking up to the demands of a globally competitive marketplace. Château Marquis de Terme, a fourth growth in Margaux, has been owned by the Sénéclauze family since 1935. Since Ludovic David (ex-Fombrauge) was employed as oenologist in time for the 2009 vintage, he has changed much, such as increasing the number of vinifications made by individual plot, and changing vineyard practice to promote extra ripening.  He said “the date of harvest is later than before, by 7 to 10 days. The winemaking is different and we’ve changed the management of the vineyard, winemaking and ageing” without making huge financial investments in the immediate term, in order “to show the potential of the terroir.”  

Ludovic David

For example, David said “we changed the vineyard because we want to respect the environment, so we plough and have grass in the rows.  We changed winemaking to extract tannins more softly, by reducing the temperature of the fermentation, and reducing the number and length of remontages.” 

Such properties as these are fully aware that laurels cannot be rested upon. Even being a lower classed growth offers no protection or right of sale, as David explained “in the past Marquis de Terme was strict and classical. Now we have more global competition, we have to show that Bordeaux is one of best places in the world to produce good wine.”

Bordeaux soils

While everyone’s been busy with the en primeurs in Bordeaux, here’s a snapshot from three producers who came to London in March 2010 with a sneak preview of their wines.  What these three said is being repeated by the specialist Bordeaux writers after their week of tasting and interviewing – 2010 is looking classically classy.

Ludovic David, the oenologist and agronomic engineer at Château Marquis de Terme in Margaux said “2010 is a great vintage. We had good weather, some millerandage on the merlot. June and July were dry with sunshine [making] grape evolution smooth and slow. We had fresh nights in August and September, and good weather in September and October. It’s a more classic vintage than 2009 – ripe grapes with lower alcohol and better acidity, while 2009 was like 2005 – rich, tannic and strong.”  He added that he made better wine at Terme in 2010 than 2009.  

It was a similar story from the two producers on the right bank. “It’s not easy to put into words” said Eric Monneret, the managing director of Château La Pointe, in Pomerol, “we used a lot [of words] on 2009. The 2010 is a classic, pure, Bordeaux vintage, the style is pure, mineral, precise, whereas 2009 was more charming.  It’s a bit up over 2009, but not in the same style.” Adding that maybe the 2010 might keep a bit longer.

Guillaume Halley

“It will be a difficult vintage to communicate” agreed Guillaume Halley, owner and director Château La Dauphine, in Fronsac, adding “the main problem of 2010 is 2009” out of which long shadow the vintage must prove itself. But Halley said “it is a great vintage with everything in it: tannin, alcohol, acidity and freshness.

And as to pricing, we’re now soon to find out.  Halley said “the global economy is better than one year ago, and China is still dynamic.”  

Read here (soon) for more information about how these châteaux have been working to improve quality for the longer term in their affordable estates.

Tasting notes, London, March 2011

Château de la Dauphine 2010, Fronsac,
90% merlot, 10% cabernet franc
Dark and brambly nose. Succculent fruit of juicy intensity. Balanced now with plenty of promise.

Château de la Dauphine 2009, Fronsac, ~£16
80% merlot, 20% cabernet franc
Dark, bitter chocolate nose, firmly crunchy fruit with upright tannins of fine grain, more muscle here, bit more structure and notes of fresh red meat. Youthful and muscley, in classic medium bodied weight, suggesting it will settle in nicely.   

Château de la Dauphine 2008, Fronsac, ~£14
90% merlot, 10% cabernet franc
Blackberries and plums on the nose, soft and gentle. Sweet dark cherry attack, very smooth texture, youthful and fine grained. Supple and nicely balanced, with rich and intense sweet dark fruits. Good.

Château la Pointe 2010, Pomerol
85% merlot, 15% cabernet franc
Bramble and balsamic oak. Rich, sweet core, lush and fresh, mouthfilling, dark chocolate. Intense dark cherry, black currant, blueberry flavours and long. Vg

Château la Pointe 2009, Pomerol, ~ £30
85% merlot, 15% cabernet franc
Smoke, aromatic tar, rich sweet dark berried fruit attack and core. Tannins already integrating smoothly and in supporting fashion, giving lush, seductive texture. Enveloping dark fruits with layering hints of fresh biltong. Complex and with sophistication. Vg.

Château la Pointe 2008, Pomerol, ~£25
85% merlot, 15% cabernet franc
Hint of smoke and tar, bramble and undergrowth. Supple and nearly full bodied. Young and chewy, plenty of ripe tannin, dark chocolate and liquorice notes. Nicely balanced. Big back palate and long.

Château Marquis de Terme 2010, 4ème grand cru classé, Margaux
60% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 5% petit verdot
Deep colour, not too aromatic on this day. Palate attack is rich and dense with dark-berried fruits of the forest. Lush and sweet fruit. Plentiful supple supporting tannins. Delicious and enchanting, with medium weight, already showing harmony amidst the early balance.

Château Marquis de Terme 2009, 4ème grand cru classé, Margaux, ~£30
60% cabernet sauvignon, 34% merlot, 6% petit verdot
Bramble crumble nose, tarry and youthfully chewy fine-grained tannin, medium weight and fresh, linear palate, long in the mouth, and sweet-cored red berry fruits with fresh frame. Lifted and good.

Château Marquis de Terme 2008, 4ème grand cru classé, Margaux, ~£25
65% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot, 10% petit verdot
Roasted cherries on the nose. Palate medium weighted, with chalky dry tannins, typical for more cabernet sauvignon. Lifted blackcurrant mid palate with fefreshing tannins that are youthful and sandy-grained. Ripe fresh/crunchy fruit and lifted aromatics in the core.  Refreshing and good.

The Guigal name is one of the most famous names in French winemaking, despite the family firm being founded as recently as 1946, in Ampuis, at the heart of the Côte-Rôtie appellation in the Rhône valley.

Guigal's Côte Blonde

The Guigal family story is one of hard graft, as well as poetic circles of life.  Third generation Philippe took over as general manager when he was just 22.  Such youthful responsibility is a hallmark of the Guigal family. Philippe’s grandfather Etienne, the company’s founder, started work at 14 as a vineyard worker for Rhône merchant Vidal-Fleury.  He only set up his own business fifteen years later, having worked his way up to be the general manager of Vidal-Fleury.   

Many years later, in 1984, the Guigals bought Vidal-Fleury, which had latterly fallen into something of a decline. That company now is run as a separate and independent company, with a completely different team.

Philippe’s grandmother, Marcelle, also started work as a young teenager, as a housemaid at Château d’Ampuis, which was at the time the summer residence of wealthy silk traders.

Even more years later, in 1995, the Guigals bought the Château d’Ampuis. By then the Château was run down, and had been empty for five years. The family spent the next 11 years painstakingly restoring the house.

The origins of this once-again impressive building date to a 12^th century fort, which was subsequently expanded into a Renaissance château in the 16^th century.  Fully restored, it is now an historical monument.  

Being able to use the word Château on the wine label proved quite tricky. Philippe said “the notion of château is very restricted. We looked for the original archives of Château d’Ampuis. In the 16^th century the Château was producing wine using some vineyards. Today we own the same vineyards and the Château.  We wanted to rebuild the link with the building and the vineyard.

“The vineyard parcels had never changed their names. There is almost eight hectares, a mix of Côte Brune and Côte Blonde [in Côte-Rôtie]. Three vineyards are touching La Turque, one is touching La Landonne and three are close to La Mouline.” Because the family proved the link between vineyard and Château they were given permission to use the term.  

The wine Château d’Ampuis has notably less ageing than the Guigal’s uber-famous Côte-Rôtie cuvées of La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque, 38 as opposed to 42 months. Philippe said Château d’Ampuis “has a mix of terroirs. Because Côte Blonde are delicate, seductive, we consider the oak impact is greater than in single vineyard, so the ageing is a little shorter. We don’t want oak to overpower the wine.”

Philippe and Marcel Guigal

Château d’Ampuis also houses the Guigal’s cooperage, which the family started in 2003, when Philippe’s father Marcel turned 60. It had long been a dream of his to have a cooperage.

Philippe said “starting a cooperage by ourselves would have been very difficult. We were helped by [prestigious coopers] Seguin Moreau. We were sourcing 100% from Seguin Moreau, but now we do have other sourcing as well. For example we went directly to the forest to buy Tronçais [oak], and are using this now.”

A lone cooper works in 15^th and 16^th century buildings of the Château crafting five barrels a day. This provides the 750 to 800 new oak barrels needed by the Guigals. Philippe said “we use them all for our own vineyards. We sell only second hand barrels.”  He added “we will need more barrels in the future, maybe also for Vidal-Fleury, so we may have to think about a second cooper in the winery.”

The family wanted more control of the oak they use.  Philippe said “we dry [the staves] for three years. It’s a natural drying, without watering.  If you water, [the seasoning of the staves] goes faster. If you wait for natural rain, it takes more time. There’s already a change in the wine.  We’ve noticed it on the quality of the whites, the oak touch is much more gentle.”

The Guigals use only the traditional 228 litre pièce of the region.  A barrique, as is traditional in Bordeaux, is 225 litres. Philippe explained “in barrique the width of the stave is smaller, in pièce they are bigger.  It is better for syrah to have larger staves.  We think the oxygenation through the staves is slower in pièce than barrique.” 

Eve and Philippe Guigal

They prefer to handle the reductive tendencies of syrah through precise rackings.  Philippe said “we do two to three rackings in the first year depending on the malo, which we do in the pièce. Two rackings in the second year; one racking in the third year.” And for the wines that have 42 months’ ageing, there is no racking in the final year.  These wines are bottled without fining or filtration.  

As if all this were not enough, another circle of life is beginning for the Guigals.  Philippe and his wife Eve are the proud new parents of twin boys Charles and Etienne, born at the end of 2010. Sometimes it can be as well to keep your own parents close at hand…

For the unloved years of decline following the second world war, Auguste Clape was a lone pioneer, benchmark and flag-carrier for the small appellation of Cornas, at the southern end of the northern Rhône, the best of which wines are said to rival those of Hermitage.

Family Clape

It wasn’t until the 1990s that the Cornas star started rising again, with the likes of Jean-Luc Colombo and Thiérry Allemand helping to put the cor back in Cornas. But Domaine Clape remains the appellation’s flag bearer. Having steadfastly held true to the family’s traditional way of making this 100% syrah wine, the reputation of this estate remains impeccable.

Auguste Clape became a grower in Cornas when he married, as his wife’s family owned five hectares in the appellation. Their first vintage was 1949. Forty years later their son Pierre-Marie, then 40 years old, joined Auguste. Now, third generation Olivier, 31 years old, has been ensconced in the family business since 2003, working with his father, while his grandfather, now 85, has at least ostensibly retired.

Nothing is big scale in Cornas, the only one of the northern Rhône appellations to stipulate it must be made solely from syrah. With 116 hectares planted in total, and 40 to 45 wine businesses – negociants, domaines, winemakers – operating, the average plot size is not great. Part of this is because vines are planted on steep, east, south and south-west facing granite slopes and terraces, so everything pretty much needs to be done by hand.

The Clapes own 5.5 hectares, which Olivier said is big enough for a small family “I like to be in and work in the vineyard, and we don’t want to lose the contact with the ground. If you grow too much you have to delegate and then you stay at the office and do a lot of papers, you lose a bit of the real job of winegrowing and making.”

Unusually for Cornas, Olivier’s grandfather started ageing his syrah in foudres. These are 1,200 litre, oval casks, more commonly found in Alsace. Olivier explained “there is a bit less oxygenation in the foudre. It’s maybe more true to the wine, it doesn’t touch the wine too much. My grandfather liked them, so he kept them. They’re probably 50 years old now.”

After this length of time, big old casks can start leaking a bit, so the Clapes have started to replace some of the casks, but still with the foudres. Olivier said “we bought four new foudres in 2004 and 2006.”

But the family does not want the flavour of new oak in their wines, so they send their new foudres to be ‘broken in’ by Domaine Ott in Bandol, southern France. Ott are happy to make a white fermentation in the new foudres. Olivier said “After a year they come here to the winery for the Cornas. And after 4-5 years they are almost neutral. You really can’t taste oak in the wine.” 

“We don’t do too much winemaking, we let nature speak”

The foudres are for maturing the new wines. That little bit of oxygenation helps to round out the tannins. The rest of the winemaking is just at traditional, said Olivier “we don’t do too much in the winemaking, we let nature speak. We use 100% whole bunches [no destemming], a little bit crushed before going into cement tanks.” The fermenting must gets a “light punch down and pump over twice a day for 12 days”, but they “always try to get the best maturity in the vineyard, then do very little in the winemaking.”

Using stalks or not in red winemaking is often a point of debate, but Olivier explained “We have a short, for the region, fermentation and maceration, because we don’t want to go too far with the stalks. They give a bit of tannin and also some freshness and acidity. It may make the wine a bit tighter, but it enables the wine to age.” He added if they were to destem, the wine would be heavier, whereas they are looking for elegance and a certain lightness in the naturally full-bodied syrah variety.

Four wines are made by Domaine Clape, all of them made from syrah. Vin des Amis comes from just one hectare of vines that lie outside the appellation. It is now labelled as the new ‘vin de France’ category. The Clapes make it the same way they make their Cornas, with whole bunches, and with a few months’ maturation

Next up is another single hectare of Côtes du Rhône, which also lies outside the Cornas appellation. This has up to 10 months’ maturation.

Cornas

Then two cuvées are made from the 12 different parcels of vineyard they have scattered over the Cornas appellation. Cornas Renaissance is made from young vines “12, 15 and 20 year old vines. The wine is a blend of those different young vineyard parcels” said Olivier, and is the most recent addition to the portfolio – it’s first vintage was 1997.  Olivier said this cuvée is more fruity, more exuberant, but it won’t age as long as their top wine.

This top wine, labelled just Cornas, is an old vineyard cuvée, from 30, 50 and 60 year old vineyards, where some individual vines are over 100 years old.  As the Clapes replace each vine as it dies, it’s quite tricky to give a precise age of a vineyard parcel.  This is the more austere, tight blend, with most structure and complexity, a long palate and long age-worthiness. Both spend up to 20 months maturing. Though the winemaking for the two Cornas blends is the same, what’s being expressed, said Olivier, is the different terroirs.

Top Cornas can be muscular and powerful, and the best retain an elegance, a purity of fragrance balanced with a firm structure. Olivier explained that Cornas “is a wine to be aged. It’s a full bodied wine with structure, and usually you need to know a bit about wine to understand Cornas.” 

Of his own wines, he said “we try to make wine with structure and finesse, with fine tannins, as well as fruit. We try to have an elegant wine, with a lot of body and not just big tannins. And the granite gives minerality to the wine.”

There’s excitement in France at the new Vin de France category, in effect from the 2009 vintage, which means wines started coming on the market about six months ago.

South of France vineyards

The new category has been created as a result of massive wine sector reform in the European Union, which is seeing large-scale voluntary uprooting, and the phasing out of subsidy support mechanisms which have contributed to overproduction. 

In France, underneath the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée wines (which are to become Appellation d’Origine Protégée) and Vin de Pays (which are to become Indication Géographique Protégée) lies basic table wine. Until the 2009 vintage, table wine could give no details of its grape variety composition or its year of harvest, which it has been argued, makes it difficult to create and market strong wine brands effectively. Thanks to the innovative marketing techniques of the new world in the 1980s and 1990s, many of the wine world’s consumers buy their wines by grape variety rather than appellation such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Côtes du Rhône or Ribera del Duero.  

The new category is a major change at the price-fighting end of French production. Not only can grape varieties and vintage be incorporated as part of the label and brand proposition, but blends can be put together from a mix of French regions (and the same rules apply in other European Union countries).  Chris Skyrme, who represents the organisation promoting the new Vin de France, said producers using “sauvignon blanc have already taken advantage of inter-regional blending” adding the new Vin de France category “has a level of flexibility which  new world countries have had forever, and there is more competitivity, which needs to happen at this quality/price level.” 

He added “the category will help build and promote brands in France.”  If France is to compete against strong new world brands, it certainly needs such extra flexibility and labelling possibility.   

One of those sauvignon blanc producers whose already taken advantage of the inter-regional blending opportunity is Lacheteau in France’s Loire Valley, which produces a wine called Kiwi Cuvée, so named because a New Zealand winemaker put the original blend together from Loire fruit. The brand has been around for about a decade. Tim North, the managing director of the brand’s owner, Les Grands Chais de France, said the new Vin de France category has given them “the ability to produce better blends that are more consistent vintage after vintage. Some years in the Loire it’s a bit lean, we can blend in fruit from Gascony [in south west France] or even from the south in some years, and make better quality.” 

He added “for commercial brands it’s a real opportunity to improve quality and do exactly what Australia has been doing with ‘South East Australia’ for several decades. At the volume branded level it gives us a more level playing field with the likes of Australia.”