The Last Wine Tour of the Season

As the starlings start to swoop in on the last grapes left on the vines we close another chapter on our 5th year of Wine Tours in the Loire Valley. Our last group left yesterday morning on the high speed TGV train from Angers to London and will leave behind fond memories of the many colourful characters they have met on their visits behind the winery doors.

Jean-Paul generously gave our group an opportunity to taste the Domaine de Mihoudy Anjou Red 2008, still fermenting and straight from tank.
The Coteaux de Layon 2008 was vigorously fermenting away at Domaine de Mihoudy. The strong fermentation odours took our breathe away.
Back in the Saumur appellation in Brossay, Guillaume at Chateau de Fosse Seche filling the oak barrels with the white “Tri de la Chapelle”, their late harvest Chenin Blanc.

We are now taking bookings for our Wine Tours for 2009 - the season starts again in mid-March so click on the link to see the Wine Tour & Stay Packages at La Grande Maison for 2009.

The Mushroom Collectors of Brain

Brain Sur Allones just north of Saumur is the place to be in early November for identifying all things fungi. The yearly Fete de Champignon (Mushroom Exhibition) is held in the Salle de Loisirs (Village Hall) and foragers are asked to bring in all their mushroomal finds from the woods and forests around the area.

The highly skilled mushroom identificaton panel then thumb through their mushroom library to identify whether they might be edible, barely edible, toxic or WILL CAUSE DEATH!

Three forks are awarded to the most edible.
Although these little inky looking fellows don’t really look that tasty.
The Tricolome Sourfe are highly toxic thus warns the exclamation mark!

And you would be best steering well clear of anything a skull and cross bone for fear of poisoning if not indeed death.

Throughout the year you can also visit La Cave Vivante du Champignon close to La Grande Maison in the village of Le Puy Notre Dame. The humourous if not a tad eccentric Jacky Roulleau will guide you around his caves and tunnels whilst explaining the history of mushroom production in the area. The Champignon de Paris used be grown in tunnels around Paris until the Metro moved in and so the production was moved to the Saumur area. For an online visit go to : troglo.champi.free.fr

WARNING DO NOT EAT ANY WILD MUSHROOMS YOU MIGHT FIND UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS SAFE

Bouvet Ladubay Ar(T) Cheval 2008

At the Contemporary Art Gallery of Bouvet Ladubay (Saumur Sparkling Wine Producers) this week until the 9th Nov you will find a fantastic exhibition of art work related to the equestrian tradition of Saumur and the "Cadre Noir" the National Military Riding School of France. On arrival don't forget to take a look at the hand crafted bridles and the handmade horse shoes. The craftmanship is just so magnificent and the artisans are so proud of their trade.
In a similar horsey mode. The French Dressage Masters was on this weekend at the Ecole and we took some time out to watch some of the events at the immense indoor stadium at the school. A little more low key than the usual "spectacles" that they show here but pretty mesmorising none the less.

Loi Evin - The Wine Makers around Le Puy Make their Point

The wine makers of Le Puy Notre Dame demonstrate their case against the future law banning the advertising of their wine on the internet. They ask what future there is for wine if they are not able to talk about it!

Sign the petition today and protect the right to freedom of speech!
www.findawine.com/soutenirlevin/petitionEN.php

Loire Landscapes and Loire Floods 2nd November 2008

The Loire River from the bridge at Gennes 10:30 am Sunday Morning...

....and that same evening the sunset over La Grande Maison

October Harvest & Loire Wine Tours - News

Today 30th October 2008 French wine producers are protesting about the 1991 "Loi Evin" which prevents the placing of wine advertising in or on certain media. It remains unclear whether French wine makers can promote their wine on the internet or not! Why ? Because the law was created before the internet. So the internet was never listed as a media that the wine producers could advertise on. So there remains today a discrepancy as to whether producers can advertise on the internet or not. Puts into question freedom of information and speech and is without doubt another example of archaic french bureaucracy.

In the meantime here are some highlights from our own “non-commercial” harvest and some goings on during the month of October at La Grande Maison.

Hand harvesting and the first to be picked were the whites - chenin blanc. After the machine harvester has been through the vineyards we are allowed to go and hand harvest what is left. Call it gleaning, call it what you like, the result is about 80 kg’s of sweet white grapes that we then press on the stem by foot to produce about 40 litres of juice which is currently fermenting nicely in our caves.

A week or so later after the reds have been machine harvested we pick about the same quantity of cabernet franc. This time the grapes are de-stemmed and crushed gently under foot. The grapes are then left in contact with the skins to macerate. We use a tiny amount of sulphur just to prevent oxidisation and a little yeast to get the fermentation going. The legs aren't bad either.

Yet another week into October and we join Jacky and Veronqiue for their family harvest at Domaine des Noades. Here we are having a break after picking late harvest chenin “botrytis” for the Coteaux de Saumur. This is then machine pressed in a Vaslin pressed back at the domaine and followed by a large four course lunch and lot’s of wine. If you would like to join the harvest for a day next year just let us know.

Earlier in October Sue and her Wine Tour group found Eddie Oosterlink in his winery in Faye d'Anjou with a basket press exuding chenin blanc juice. At 13.5% potential alcohol this is destined to become on of Domaine de Juchpie's dry chenins.It flowed continually during our rendez-vous, tasting within earshot of the sound of running juice was a constant reminder of the patience needed to produce wines of this calibre.

On the south to south-west facing slatey hillside where there is always a westerly breeze the botrytised chenin are yet to be harvested. In 2004, for Les Quarts, the vendage wasn't completed until November 11th, the numerous successive pickings resulted in a yield of just 10-15hl/ha. Le Passion 2004 was an incredible low 5-10hl/ha.The range of noble wines are all honeyed and luscious with sufficient grapefruit zest acidity to leave a refreshed palate. There is also a delicious passerillage 2003. The two dry wines are produced from low yields, just 30hl/ha.With only 6ha under vine and a mere 800 cases produced per annum these are wines well worth the hunt.

La Grande Maison Wine Tours B&B Blogspot is back Online!

Highlights from September 2008

The vines are now heavy with grapes and it is a wonderfully colourful time to come to the Loire Valley Vineyards. By mid-September the harvest has started and it will go on until early November when the late harvest “botrytis” grapes will be hand picked. The machine harvest around Le Puy Notre Dame started this year on the 19th September. Hand picking of the chenin blanc and chardonnay also started for the Cremant de la Loire.


The AOC white grapes of the area are the Chenin Blanc which makes excellent whites ranging from the sparkling methode traditionelle through dry whites to the great sweet wines of the area.


The AOC red grapes of the area are the Cabernet Franc known also as the Breton and brought to the region in the 1920’s by Antoine Cristal. The grape is deeper, darker and richer than cabernet sauvignon but also has a delightfully mouthwatering perfume. Usual characteristics are a flavour of raspberries and blackcurrant.

A good indication that the grapes are ready (along with using the refractometer) is that Willow will start to nibble them! So I guess these must be good....

A visit to Domaine aux Moines in Savennieres with Tessa Laroche who takes us out to the vineyard to test the potential alcohol in the grapes and then back to the winery to do a vertical tasting of their whites from 1992 to 2006. You can read Richard Kelly’s review of the Domaine and his vertical tasting by following this link :

www.richardkelley.co.uk/auxmoines.htm

Onwards to Bordeaux, Biarritz & Beyond...

The early morning skyline of Bordeaux looks like it's going to be another fine day.

A day of exploring coastline and beaches, long dogs walks and finally a perfect sunset over the beautiful bay of Biarritz.

St Jean de Luz – now officially our second next best place be to next to La Grande Maison and the Loire Valley. A beautiful fishing village with sandy bays at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains.
We stayed a The Madison - now our all time favourite cranky hotel, a room with the sun shining in from two sides and a view over the square below, a little lift that fits only two at a time and an art deco salon. They have a great pets gratuit policy which meant that Humble and Willow were happily accepted. It's always fun taking two lively springers on holiday they don't go for the cultural highlights or the eating out - it's beaches, swimming in the sea and chasing around in rockpools that they love - so we do that too!They weren't even especially impressed with the large puppy we took them to see outside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

The Guggenheim Museum a surreal experience of titanium, steam and rain.....

......and yet more dog walks.

TO BE CONTINUED...........

Off to Spain and back again.....

It was raining today, a torrential downpour with no sign of ever ending. So as we have always wanted to visit the Guggenheim in Bilbao we threw some clothes in a bag, packed the pups in the car and set off into the sodden beyond to Spain. First stop Royan at the furthest most tip of the Gironde, north of Bordeaux. A hidden seaside resort town with beautiful beachside properties. Houses from the Belle Epoque line the beach intermingled with contemporary dwellings straight out of Architectural Digest. Onwards to Pauillac on the “BAC” a sort of roll on slide off type of ferry that crosses the Gironde in high winds and removes the parting from your hair. Mission to taste the “enchantillon” (work in progress) vintage 2005 at Chateau Mouton Rothschild a 1er Grand Cru Classe.

Stunningly clear blue skies and Bacchus ready to greet us at the entrance.

At Chateau Mouton Rothschild and a peak at the Baroness’es Private Cellars – of which there are several. One for every bottle of Mouton Rothschild produced since 1859. This vinoteque contains, for each year of growth, 24 bottles, 6 magnums and 3 jeroboams – never to be drunk but kept as a historical record forever! The second cellar contains 60,000 bottles of 1er Grand Cru Bordeaux the oldest being an 1897 Haut Brion. The final cellar contains 30,000 bottles of wines from all over the world. The Museum- an astounding private collection in a hidden gallery underneath the winery. You are greeted by an enormous tapestry depicting the friendship between Queen Victoria and Napoleon (The Treaty of Commerce – A further proof of our friendship it states). Certainly helped the Bordeaux wine trade grow with the UK. It is here that the original Picasso is also housed. Painted on 22/12/59 to be precise it was used on the 1973 label which was also the year of Picasso’s death. No photo of this one as it is INTERDIT!

The Labels – now it here that the love of art and wine truly mingles. I won’t list all the artists and the stories behind each label here but if you come to La Grande Maison ask and we will show you our own collection! The first label in 1924 sadly failed to sell the wine as it was far too controversial and too futuristic for its time. So from then on until 1945 the estate used a very traditional sit up straight type of label until 1945 when the first artist was commissioned. Prince Charle’s is the most recent artist to be selected for the 2004 (just released!) but in between artists such as Miro, Dali, Warhol, Picasso, Klee have graced the bottles each contributing their work in exchange for a few cases of their vintage. The Tasting – if you want to know exactly what is meant by structure and complexity in a wine then go no further. We tasted three of the 2005 sample vintages still in the barrel. I was prepared to be impressed but not to have my socks blown off at this early stage in it’s production!
The Chateau d’Armailhac 2005 is to be bottled in April. Harvested between late September – early October, dry harvest giving good concentration. A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon, 29% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Powerful nose red fruits, spicy and peppery, soft and elegant smooth tanins and good length. Can be drunk in 5–6 years or kept for 15 years. Already delicious.

The Chateau Clerc Milon 2005 is to be bottled in May. A blend of 48% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot, 1% carmenere. Nose still closed tobacco on the palate from the barrels. Good length chewy tanins black fruits, ruby red. Can be drunk in 7 – 8 years or kept for 25 years. Big structure, long legs and high alcohol. One to keep a while.



The Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2005 is to be bottled in June. A blend of 85% cabernet sauvignon, 14% merlot, 1% cabernet franc and produced in 94% new french oak. Open fresh nose of blackfruits and black pepper, tobacoo and licquoirce. Deep ruby red, soft tannins, powerful and spicy. Can be drunk in 15 years or kept for 40 years. 13% alcohol with great length. The yield 45 hectolitres per hectare. WOW – need I say more.

I now also know why the wine is so expensive. So much care and attention is given to the prodution. All grapes are hand picked and sorted. New French oak barrels are used from a range of tonneliers (barrel makers) each giving it’s own special characteristic to the wine which are then blended together adding complexity and depth to the wine. Each barrel is fined using 4 fresh egg whites and fining is still done by holding a sample glass of wine up to a candlelight to check for it’s clarity.

We didn’t want to leave but our travels beckoned and the pups needed a good walk.


TO BE CONTINUED........

Salon des Vins de Loire 2007

Met up with Sarah Amhed - Wine Writer and Journalist at the Salon des Vins in Angers today and introduced her to our neighbouring winemakers in Le Puy Notre Dame. Here we are tasting the stunning whites of Fosse Seche with our good friend Guillaume, the winemaker.



We also tasted wines from La Tour Grise and Domaine de la Paleine who won four medals at the show which included a gold for the 2005 Domaine Paleine Rouge. Thanks go to Francoise Gourdon who was very helpful in explaining the history of the new appellation Saumur - Le Puy Notre Dame which they have been battling for 30 years to obtain. From June 2007 they will have the right to use this AOC name against their red wines.

Over to Saumur Champigny and we were pleased to see that Chateau du Hureau one of our regular visits on the wine tours was receiving the accolades it deserves with five stars from Decanter Magazine for it Lisagathe 2005.

Lucky enough to taste the early releases from Roche Neuves too. The Marginale red and the Insolite white are the wines to look out for here.

Other tastings also included the fabulous sparkling from Baumard made by the Methode Ancestral. Domaine de Sauvete with it's Sauvignon Blancs and Gamays from Touraine region and a re-visit to taste Catherine & Pierre Bretons biodynamic wines from Bourgeuil - the Nuits d'Ivresse - produced naturally without the use of any sulphur is one of our favourites.

A Wine Renaissance in Angers

Our friends Francoise and Phillipe Gourdon at La Tour Grise invited us to an exceptional wine tasting today. We made new friends, discovered new winemakers and tasted some early release 2006 wines (still too young to review).

Held at the Grenier St Jean in Angers the “Renaissance des AOC” are a group of winemakers from all over France that adhere to a chart of quality that controls the method of agriculture. They don’t claim (as a group) to be organic or biodynamic but no pesticides are used, only organic composts, all products used are natural and there is no use of chemicals.

That is only stage one however. To progress to stage two you must also harvest by hand, have a natural fermentation i.e. use no chemicals in the fermentation and manually select future vines and respect the biodiversity. The results are evident in the clarity and natural nature of all the wines we tasted.

I’ll only mention a few of note here that we got excited about:

La Ferme de la Sansonniere – Marc Angeli Anjou

2005 Coteaux de Houet – Wow ! Amber in colour. Partially fermented with the grapes dried out by over maturation i.e no botrytis (raisins passerillage) . Luscious but with a good acidity.

Domaine Jo Pithon – Anjou

Tasted 4 of his 2005 Anjou whites, 2 coteaux du layon and a quart du chaume. All exceptional and definately a vineyard we’ll be spending more time at this year. Especially loved the gravelly minerality of the anjou whites and the marmalade sugar of the sweets. The 2005 Les Bonnes Blanche is to die for.

Chateau de Coulaine – Etienne & Pascale de Bonaventure Chinon

Oh goodness we’ve found a deliciously fruity chinon in the 2005 Cuvee Bonavenutre – black fuits and liquorice and not too high in alcohol at 12.5%

All the Chinon reds we tasted here were exceptional and will definitely be on en-route to Bourgueil.

Sebastien David – St Nicoals de Bourgueil

2005 Vin de Patrimoine – tons of blackcurrant fruit, high in alcohol and great length

Knock on wood...

Wood delivery today and as you can see this involves a bit more than just nipping to the local petrol station to pick up an overpriced bag of kindling. Should keep us going until next winter though. The wood is ordered here in a cordes and steres, three steres make up a corde an a corde is equal to 3 square metres of wood.

The wood is literally dumped in the driveway, we avoided having it dropped over the caves this year because of the vibrations. Then comes the task of re-filling the empty wood store.

Some hours later a beautifully re-filled woodstore and two happy dogs that have spent the enitre day sniffing each piece of wood as it made its way onto the stack!