Organic, Biodynamic…….let’s be reasonable!

It’s only natural.

I am often asked to take clients to a “boutique winery” and it is so easy to oblige; in the Loire Valley there are very few major producers. The average vineyard holding is just 10Ha (less than 25 acres) producing around 70,000 bottles of wine. Often they are third, fourth or even fifth generation family affairs, passionate about their wines and concerned about the quality of the environment in which they live and work.

Most growers recognise the importance of nurturing and protecting the environment and a number of those who do not use organic methods subscribe to systems of cultivation which use only a minimum amount of pesticides and fertilisers.

Interestingly, only about 15% of French vineyards are currently registered organic – Bio in French – but the trend is an upward one, with large numbers of growers under conversion.

 

Why is this important?

The vine suffers from a large number of pests and diseases and in the 18thC European vineyards were nearly wiped out by the devastation caused by the Phylloxera insect and Mildew diseases, both imported by accident from the United States. Since then, vineyards have been subjected to regular and heavy chemical spraying to keep them pest and disease free.

These days many of our foods – including wine – contain detectible levels of pesticides, some of which have known harmful effects, while the health impact of others are not yet fully understood.

In reaction to this increasing reliance on chemicals in agriculture, many growers are choosing alternative, low-input methods to reduce or avoid using them. Research into the effects of agrichemicals on our health suggests this is an important change.

 

Certification of environmentally friendly wines.

There is was no legal definition of organic wine In Europe until 2012, although grapes could be grown organically and labelled as such.  Since then the framework on organic wine production has been adopted throughout the EU and an AB (agriculture biologique) symbol adopted.

Agriculture biologique

Organic and Biodynamic wines are now certified. To be a producer with the ability to place the word “organic” on the label the wine maker must use only organic farming techniques for a minimum of a three year period. Certification may be granted from any of the French Ministry of Agriculture regulated agencies: Ecocert, Qualite France, ULSAE, Agrocert, Certipaq and ACLAVE. Once they are certified as Agriculture Biologique vineyards they can use either the EU or the official Organic logo.

 

Biodynamic Certification is granted to estates that for a minimum of a three period farm their vineyards utilizing the techniques proposed by Rudolf Steiner. The same bodies that certify organic producers also certify Biodynamic estates although additional or different certification is available via the Demeter organisation. Producers with SIVCBD – Biodyvin on their label are members of The Syndicat International des Vignerons en Culture Biodynamique.

 

Natural wine.

There are a number of different views about the best way to produce fine wines with low environmental impact – natural wines. According to “More Than Natural” a web site promoting such ideas, most good winemakers see themselves as non-interventionist, or natural. They try to use as few additives as possible and as little manipulation as they can.

Often they have to compromise at some point. Where and why they make that compromise depends on what they are trying to achieve and how much they are prepared to risk in order to achieve it.

More Than Natural tell us a natural wine is a wine made –

• in small quantities,
• by an independent producer,
• on low-yielding vineyards,
• from handpicked, organically grown grapes,
• without added sugars or foreign yeasts,
• without adjustments for acidity,
• without micro-oxygenation or reverse-osmosis.

Most natural wines are neither filtered nor fined. The few that are will either be filtered extremely lightly or fined with organic egg-white.

A natural wine contains no more than,

• 10 mg/l total sulphur if red,
• 25 mg/l total sulphur if white.

If sulphur dioxide is added, it will be only at bottling and only in the tiniest quantities. Many natural wines are made without the addition of sulphur dioxide at any point.

In a perfect world all natural wines would be unfiltered, unfined, and completely unsulphured. In reality this is not easy to acheive. The perfectly natural wine is  seen as the goal towards which the natural winemaker is striving. Sometimes he will get closer than others. Just occasionally he will achieve it. The winemakers that interest us are those who get closest most often.

Exactly how a wine is made is not something that can be decided in advance. Each year, and each wine, is different. The winemaker has to improvise. There will always be times when, however reluctantly, he has to intervene to prevent it from spoiling.

 

Natural wine types.

 

Terra Vitis

Terra Vitis. Proponents of “viticulture raisonnée” or sustainable viticulture. According to this organisation of over 500 growers, all Terra Vitis certified estates are committed to observing nature and deploying natural vine defence mechanisms (e.g. :  the introduction of typhlodromus, a vine pest predator).

The Terra Vitis approach includes a full range of measures to maintain and enhance biodiversity, the beauty of our viticultural countryside and a living earth:

Measures to safeguard fauna : counting grape berry moth larvae to avoid any unjustified insecticide treatment,  the use of products that cause no or little damage to the fauna is mandatory (the list of products prohibited by Terra Vitis is updated every year), no use of herbicides on tracks, ditches, walls, water sources, hedges and woods is allowed;

Measures to safeguard flora : grassing between the rows of vines,   it is forbidden to fully clear the vineyards of grass and wild plants as well as to destroy tracks, ditches and hedges;

Measures to safeguard viticultural countryside : sorting and recycling of waste in approved areas (plastics, oil, waste fluids), upkeep of the outdoor areas of the business, water sources, walls and woods and the reduction of doses applied compared to recommended dosage are included in the requirements.

 

Organic. At its most basic level, organic wine is made from grapes that have been grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.

Winemaking techniques should be organic as well; little or no manipulation of wines by reverse osmosis, excessive filtration, or flavour additives (such as oak chips). Many organic winemakers also prefer wild yeasts for fermentation.

Certification requires a producer to study the organic standards, which cover in specific detail what is and is not allowed for every aspect of farming, including storage, transport and sale.

Compliance – farm facilities and production methods must comply with the standards, which may involve modifying facilities, sourcing and changing suppliers, etc.

Documentation – extensive paperwork is required, detailing farm history and current set-up, and usually including results of soil and water tests.

Planning – a written annual production plan must be submitted, detailing everything from seed to sale: seed sources, field and crop locations, fertilization and pest control activities, harvest methods, storage locations, etc.

Inspection – annual on-farm inspections are required, with a physical tour, examination of records, and an oral interview.

Fee – an annual inspection/certification fee (currently starting at $400-$2,000/year, in the US and Canada, depending on the agency and the size of the operation).

Record-keeping – written, day-to-day farming and marketing records, covering all activities, must be available for inspection at any time.

 

Biodynamic. Biodynamics takes organic farming to a new, higher, spiritual level. The father of the movement is widely regarded as being Rudolf Steiner who gave a series of agricultural lectures in 1924 setting out the broad principles.

Nicolas Joly

His best known follower since then has been Maria Thun (1922-2012) who published an annual biodynamic gardening calendar.

Nicolas Joly was one of the earliest French vigneron proponents of the biodynamic movement, since when the idea has spread widely in Alsace, Burgundy and many other parts of the world. Joly studied at Columbia University and subsequently started to work for J.P. Morgan in New York as an investment banker. He was later posted to London, but in 1977, he left banking to take over his family’s wine estate Château de la Roche aux Moines in Savennières.

Dementer rules require the conversion of the entire farm (incl. secondary crops, animal husbandry, areas producing products for home consumption, etc.) Ruminants must be present in arable enterprises – the minimum requirement is 0.2 livestock unit/hectare.

At least one application per year of cow horn manure and horn silica is required, as well as the spreading of prepared manures on all areas of the enterprise. All organic manures (stable manure, compost etc.) are to be treated with the compost preparations. A composite preparation (such as cowpat prep, barrel compost, prepared 500 etc.) may be spread as a substitute on all areas of the enterprise which receive no prepared manure in the course of a year. Chicken manure may only come from certified organic farms. GMO free declaration is required for all inputs at risk from genetic modification.

Vine plant material quality has to be to Demeter standard if available and, if not, then of organic quality. Conventional quality may be used only with prior written permission of Demeter-International. Treated seeds are strictly forbidden and crop imports are restricted to a prescribed list.

Clear separation of product flow in all steps of production is required to trace a product back to the farm at any time. This includes transport, processing, storage and export, with the introduction of a lot number system.

It usually takes three years conversion time to achieve Demeter certification. The conversion time can be shortened if it can be proven that previous farming methods were organic or extensive. A valid certificate from an accredited organic inspection body is a precondition.

Biodynamic farming incorporates ideas about a vineyard as an ecosystem, and also accounting for things such as astrological influences and lunar cycles. Key to biodynamics is considering the farm in its entirety as a living system. To this end, biodynamic farms are supposed to be closed, self-sustaining systems. Biodynamics also sees the farm in the context of the wider pattern of lunar and cosmic rhythms.

In this holistic view, the soil is seen not simply as a substrate for plant growth, but as an organism in its own right. The idea of using synthetic fertilizers or pesticides is thus an anathema to biodynamic practitioners. Instead, they use a series of special preparations to enhance the life of the soil, which are applied at appropriate times in keeping with the rhythms of nature. And disease is seen not as a problem to be tackled head-on, but rather as a symptom of a deeper malaise within the farm ‘organism’: correct the problem in the system and the disease will right itself.

Dementer

While they tend to agree on the big details, each grower can and will develop biodynamic methods to suit their own particular situation. Winegrowers drawn to this philosophy tend to be inventive types, always experimenting and refining their practices to see what works best for them. As a result, there are many different flavours and variations around this common theme, and it’s hard to define biodynamics in any sort of rigid way.

The benefits.

For the consumer, all this concern and attention to detail can only be a good thing, which ever flavour of culture takes your fancy. While pseudo-scientific apologists complain of lack of scientific proof, wine lovers are increasingly enjoying the fruits of the labour of growers and winemakers – organic, biodynamic and culture raisonnée.

These trail-blazing producers risk much to protect the environment and give us wine of this quality – yields are generally much lower and the danger of pests and disease far higher. 100% crop failures are not unheard of, when a grower refuses to spray to control Mildew in a wet summer, for instance.

Is the risk worth it? For these growers it is, and with the market for their wines rising alongside the awards they win, there are plenty of supportive anecdotal observations backing them in their effort to produce fine wine without destroying the environment in the process.

The Sauvignon Blanc trip

This week we enjoyed two days of visits with an American couple wanting to explore the Sauvignon Blanc wines of the Loire Valley. We were delighted to put together this custom tour featuring one of our favourite grape varieties, in the region where it originated and has its finest expression.

Sauvignon grapes awaiting picking

In France, Sauvignon Blanc is grown in the maritime climate of Bordeaux as well as the continental climate of the Loire Valley. The climates of these areas are particularly favourable in slowing the ripening on the vine, allowing the grape more time to develop a balance between its acidity and sugar levels. This balance is important in the development of the intensity of the wine’s aromas. Winemakers in France pay careful attention to the terroir characteristics of the soil and the different elements that it can impart to the wine. The chalk and Kimmeridgean marl of Reuilly, Sancerre and Pouilly produces wines of richness and complexity, while areas with more compact chalk soils produces wines with more finesse and perfume. The gravel soil found near the Loire River and its tributaries impart spicy, floral and mineral flavours while in Bordeaux, the wines have a fruitier personality. Vines planted in flint along the Cher tend to produce the most vigorous and longest lasting wines.

Our clients selected a fine hotel in Amboise as their base and we collected them each day to begin our discovery of the region. First stop was Francueil, where we were able to witness the grape harvest arriving and tour the wine-making facilities of the growers co-operative. As we were to hear throughout our trip, quantities are cruelly low, while quality is above average this year. The combination of frost, hail and mildew during this growing season has not been seen since 1991, and crops are down to 20-30% of normal.

This co-op has been in operation since 1926 and is now the largest in the Loire. We were introduced to the recently retired winemaker who still comes in to help out for the pleasure of it, after working at the cellar for 42 years.

The labeling machine at La Gourmandiere, Francuei

We were able to taste a range of interesting wines at Francueil, several with awards to their names. One of our favourites was their “Tete de Cuvee” AOP Touraine Sauvignon which has a silver medal in the World Sauvignon Wine Competition this year. We were also interested to taste the brand new appellation Touraine Chenonceaux and enjoyed this very much. Although 27 villages either side of the river Cher are allowed to produce wine under this name, there is currently only a tiny area in production and the growers are determined to produce wines of the highest quality here.

After a lunch at a restaurant in Montrichard we moved on to the famous  Monmousseau wine cellars outside the town where more Sauvignon was tasted, both local and Sancerre from the eastern edge of the region on the river Loire. Their Cheverny contains 70% Sauvignon & 30% Chardonnay and made an interesting comparison. We were allowed to go off on our own and explore the tunnels where they store their sparkling wines but with around 15km of passages we were lucky to find our way back in one piece!

From here we went on to the co-op at St Romain sur Cher where their three Sauvignons cannot help but please and have won a clutch of awards. Our journey back to Amboise was through delightful countryside and ancient stone villages.

The next day we drove an hour and a half up the Cher, passed Vierzon to Quincy, an appellation of 240 Ha growing only Sauvignon and a hidden gem producing high quality wines. We spent the morning tasting many of them, both traditional still wines and those produced from vines 40 years old or more. The growers have invested in windmill-like fans which start up automatically and, in theory at least, protect the vines from frost. This year was extreme and much damage was done, but perhaps they were protected in part by this system.

Visting the Touraine cellars

Lunch was taken in Valençay, where we also took a look at the stunning chateau and its walled, soth facing vineyard. Tastings of Valençay wines were made at the co-op and at Chateau de Quincay, who produce both Valençay and Touraine wines, making an interesting direct comparison.

Our final breathless visit was across the river at a favourite vineyard where we saw the grapes coming in and were invited to help with the hand picking. My clients had a train to catch however, but we were able here to add the last piece to the Sauvignon puzzle, tasting late picked, sweet wine from last year’s crop.

Sweet, dry, still, sparkling; Sauvignon Blanc has it all and in a range of styles dictated by the nature of the soil and climate, in addition to the desires of the winemaker. This was a fascinating trip and a deep insight into the heart of a single grape variety.

Vouvray and other fine wines.

A small group of clients recently asked for a very special tour via their American travel agent and we were pleased to oblige. Staying at the Chateau de Fontenay near Bléré, a lovely home dating from 1780 complete with its own 10Ha of vineyards, they were hoping to visit and buy wines at some of the best producers in the Loire Valley.

We started our tour at Chenonceaux to taste Touraine and Touraine Chenonceaux wines with the patriarch of the appellation, Alain Godeau of Caves du Père Auguste. Six generations of the family have produced wine on this site, situated on a low ridge facing south down to the river Cher and the famous chateau de Chenonceau. They cultivate 42 acres of land, including the vines owned by the chateau (which can be tasted and bought there).

All the wines produced here display a delightful fruitiness, nicely balanced by an acidity typical of the region. My own favourite is the Chenonceaux Sauvignon blanc, but many clients talk highly of the rosé, the slightly sweeter Chenin blanc, or any of the other wines in their range. Tour and tasting completed and purchases made, we moved on.

Next stop was Montrichard, with its castle constructed in the 11^th C by Foulques Nerra, Count of Anjou, rebuilt in the 12th century but dismantled in 1589 on the orders of Good King Henri IV. Paul Buisse has his cellars in the limestone cliffs above the river Cher and just along from the castle, where a range of fine wine are aged in the caves.

A fourth generation winemaker, Paul Buisse himself has recently retired but the company has been taken over by Pierre Chainier, another local company who themselves come from a long line of Bordeaux and Cognac winemakers dating back to 1749.

With the joining of these two companies the range of Loire Valley wines offered is very wide and includes both local Touraine’s and wines from further afield: from the far west of the Loire comes a dry Muscadet, made with 100% melon de Bourgogne, while Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé wines (Sauvignon blanc) are produced at vineyards four hours’ drive up the river to the east. At the halfway point on the Loire, delightful fruity and tannic reds are made in Chinon, Bourgueil and St. Nicolas de Bourgueil. Their Vouvrays are also rather good. It’s a big region, as I’m always telling people!

The tour here includes underground production facilities cut into the limestone cliffs, storage and aging cellars and a charming troglodyte room used for group visits and tastings. One of their cellars slopes steeply up through the cliff and is used to store a reference collection of ancient vintages.

Wines at Paul Buisse never let you down and we had the opportunity to taste a wide selection before my clients bought a number of cases, including some of those lovely reds, in particular a Chinon from 2003 produced for the one hundredth anniversary of the company in 2005.

We had hoped to go next to Jackie Blot in Montlouis sur Loire but they were unable to receive us on this occasion. The highlight of the day was yet to come however and in order to be in position for our next appointment we made our way through the countryside and down to the Loire Valley for lunch at Vouvray. At le Grand Vatel restaurant we were able to taste a rather fine Bourgueil from Jackie Blot to accompany our meal, which itself was rather lovely. Unfortunately we were watching the clock and hurrying throughout, so we really did not do it justice.

Our afternoon appointment was at the Domaine du Clos Naudin and we were treated to a wonderful tasting deep in the caves. The cellars are located in the same road as Domaine Huet, one of the other great Vouvray producers, but while Huet have over 30 Ha and is owned by an American businessman, Clos Naudin is 11 Ha and still in family hands.

Owner Phillipe Foreau greeted us and took us into the caves carved out of the rock by his Grandfather and Father in the 1920’s, just across the road from their house. Do not expect to be able to drop in here for a casual tasting without an appointment; they are busy people, but very welcoming to serious buyers and wine enthusiasts.

This is a very busy period on the vineyard. Cultivation of the soil is by machine and by hand as no weedkillers are used here. It is also the period when foliage is removed to reduce vine vigour and allow more light and air to get at the fruit. No insecticides, pesticides or artificial fertilisers are used on the property although they will spray against mildew if necessary, so they are very vigilant at this time of the year.

The large majority of Vouvrey’s are sparkling wines and these can be very fine indeed, as we were soon to find out. In the case of Clos Naudin, and of Huet, still wines, ranging from (relatively) dry whites through to luscious sweet wines, account for 60% of production. The sweetest are produced only in the best years: no sugar is ever added.

We started our tasting with sparkling wines and found their 2007 Brut Reserve (€17.60 a bottle) simply superb. Very fine bubbles from long cellar aging, a taste of white fruit, biscuits and butter, to drink on its own, with salmon or scallops.

The still wines were also much appreciated and we admired the hundreds of oak barrels against the limestone walls of the cave, holding and aging the stock of this gorgeous liquid. Purchases included a dry 2012, ideal with fish and shell fish, and a selection of increasingly sweet wines from 2010, 2009 and the quite remarkable, luscious 2003. I love these sweet Chenin blanc wines; never sickly, they are real wines with delicious overtones of pear, apricots and other fruits. They are produced by late harvesting of hand selected grapes, which in some years are affected by the famous “noble rot”. These are wines which will age and keep for decades. If you do not like sweet wine – try these and expect to be converted.

Our Domaine du Clos Naudine selection.

Phillipe proved to be passionate about his wines, keen explain the qualities and characteristics of each of them and to suggest appropriate dishes to pair with them. He is a perfect ambassador for this elite level of the Vouvray appellation.

We left the Domaine du Clos Naudin with some reluctance but drove around the vineyard lanes to get a feel for the place. Large areas of land close to, but well above the river Loire are planted with vines. Sadly, not all the wine sold is of the quality of that which we sampled today. The top quality growers are undoubtable worth seeking out and continue to fly the flag for some of the best wines that this fine wine region can produce.

Large format wine

Magnums.

Mostly when we think of wine, we think of a bottle holding 75ml, made of glass, with a natural cork. It’s the standard format and one which has been with us for centuries. In fact, this size was only adopted in the US in 1979; prior to that the “standard” in the Sates was 1/5^th gallon, 757ml.

In my daily travels and wine tours I sometimes come across half bottles – a Demi, 375ml – mostly in motorway service stations and airplanes. Sweet wines, which may be drunk less often and in smaller quantities, are generally offered in 500ml bottles. In larger sizes I regularly buy Magnums of 1.5L and of course, wine boxes of 2L, 3L, 5L or 10L.

Many large bottle sizes, with delightful Biblical names and volumes of 3 – 30L, are still available in Champagne but also sometimes found in Burgundy and Bordeaux.

One reason people love large-format wine bottles is that they look so impressive on the table. If you have a few guests for dinner you are likely to open a couple of bottles, but a single magnum impresses more! Good looks are merely a happy side effect of these super-sized wines’ real advantage however: they also allow the wines inside to age more slowly.

A few magnums on sale at our local supermarket.

For most of wine’s long history, aging wasn’t an issue. Wine was consumed young and this is still the case for many – perhaps most – of the wines we drink today. Cylindrical wine bottles with cork stoppers did not become commonplace until the end of the 18th century. Among their many advantages was the fact that they allowed wines to be laid down—literally—for aging, with the wine inside keeping the cork moist and the seal tight.

The origins of the magnum, which holds twice as much as a standard 750-ml bottle, is disputed, but magnums soon came to be prized by collectors because of their superior aging qualities. In fact, thanks to their aging advantage, as well as their relative rarity, magnums of older outstanding vintages often sell for far more than double the price of standard bottles at auction. “Length of life, speed of maturity, and level of ultimate quality are all in direct proportion to bottle size,” writes wine authority Hugh Johnson.

A key virtue of any of these larger bottles for ageable red wines is that they offer better defences against some of time’s less positive effects. For example, exposure to air will eventually oxidize wine, causing losses of colour and flavour. The larger the bottle, the smaller the surface-to-volume ratio, because less of the wine is exposed to the small amount of air within the bottle. It therefore keeps better.

In addition, wine in a large-format bottle is cushioned from the outside environment by its own volume. The thermal mass of the larger bottle means that it is relatively better protected against small temperature fluctuations, vibrations, and other disturbances. Of course, even a large-format bottle must be stored under proper conditions, away from light and vibration, with constant temperatures in the 13-18°C (55-to 65F) range. Within that range, the cooler the wine, the more slowly aging will occur and natural cave cellars in the Loire Valley are generally 11°C all year round.

But when conditions are right, larger bottles are an ideal way to allow age-worthy wines to reach their full potential. Our own cellar, built in the 16^th century,  currently contains storage racks for around 1300 bottles and we are gradually accumulating a selection of magnums down there –  few from Bordeaux, from Rioja in Spain, down in the Rhone and the south of France and several sparkling wines.

Bag-in-box.

This format was an Australian invention from back in the 1960’s when their main market was for cheap wine sold to unsophisticated clients. It involves putting wine into a heavy plastic bag contained in a cardboard protective box. The advantages of this system are many, with low packaging cost and subsequently lower retail cost, being a major factor.

A small selection of around one hundred different bag-in-box wines available at the same supermarket.

The primary benefit that bag-in-box packaging offers to consumers, apart from cost, is that it prevents oxidation of the wine during dispensing. After opening, wine in a bottle is oxidised by the air which has displaced the wine poured. Wine in a bag is not touched by air and thus not subject to oxidation until it is dispensed. It is not subject to cork taint or spoilage due to slow consumption and can stay fresh for weeks after opening. This makes it ideal for the drinker of the occasional glass.

Despite having an image problem, especially in the US where it is synonymous with the cheapest of cheap wines, serious winemakers around the world are increasingly packaging this way. We have tasted a number of Bag-in-Box wines since our arrival in France and now have a list of many we are very happy to drink. I am sorry if this horrifies some of you!

The best we have discovered offered in this format are rosé and white wines, but one or two easy-drinking reds are also to be found on the Elliott kitchen shelf on occasions. In that perhaps 80% of wines bought are consumed within a week or two, expensive bottles and corks serve little purpose.

Some wine makers do put inferior wines in their boxes, but others do not, offering a great bargain to purchasers of bulk wine. The only way to find out is to talk to the producer and taste his wine and we have been valiantly doing this research for several years.

Over the hills to Sancerre

As I have said many times before, people tend not to realise just how big the Loire Valley is. The longest river in France, from its source up in the mountains of the Massif Central to the estuary on the Atlantic at St Nazaire is a distance of 1,012 kilometres (629 mi). Its main tributaries include the Nièvre, Maine and the Erdre rivers on its right bank, and the Allier, Cher, Indre, Vienne, and the Sèvre Nantaise rivers to the left bank. Between them they drain more than a fifth of France’s land area.

Vines are not grown along the whole of its length, but they are for a very significant portion and many of the tributaries are also Loire Valley wine production areas.

Aqueduct de Briare

We live in a village on the river Cher and have easy access to the whole of the central wine growing region and many of the thousand or so chateaux which adore its river banks. Nevertheless, it is a three hour drive west to the Muscadet vineyards near Nantes, while Sancerre and Pouilly Fume are two hours to the east.  Visits to these outlying districts normally involve an overnight stay.

Cayeux iris

I small gap in our bookings schedule allowed us to do exactly that recently, driving through the dense woodlands of the Sologne to the ceramic district of Giens.  Our first day was full of non-wine events including a viewing of the Iris fields and display gardens of Cayeux (whose staff were busy winning awards at Chelsea Flower Show at the time). We were able to walk the dog over the world’s second longest canal bridge, the aqueduct de Briare, which carries the Canal latéral à la Loire 662 metres across the river Loire. A picnic was arranged by the river and within sight of the bridge.

After spending the night at a country B & B we moved into the wine-hunting phase of the trip, eventually finding ourselves in Verdigny-en-Sancerre, with nothing but vines in all directions and where we had an appointment with Michel and Benoît Girard. Actually two sons are involved in the Domaine, with one running the business side of things while the other is out in the fields. Michel rushes about and helps wherever help is needed. Their 12 hectare estate is made up of 40 parcels of vineyard where the average age of vines is 15 years.

Vineyards of Verdigny-en-Sancerre

The vines of the Domaine Michel Girard et Fils cover all three Sancerre soil types –Terres Blanches, composed of limestone-clay soils including the famous Kimmeridgian marl found on the western hills, pebbly-limestone soils or Caillottes nearer to Sancerre and flinty-clay soils found on the eastern slopes near the Loire. Fermentation is in stainless steel using naturally occurring yeasts and the resulting wines are blended to achieve the balance they are seeking.

Girard, Pere et Fils

We tasted both white and red wines and after indulging ourselves with the full range bought a few cases of deliciously fruity, un-oaked Sauvignon and some serious-tasting, oaked Pinot Noir. We passed a very pleasant couple of hours discussing their wines and life in general before stomachs started to rumble and the church bells rang 12 noon.

Time for lunch, and we dropped back down to the river to eat at Saint Satur, at the Le Bord de Loire restaurant. The first course for us both was Salade de crottin de Chavignol grillé et jambon de Sancerre and while I selected a fine filet of beef with a Pinot Noir sauce, Marie-Chantal had local fish: Dos de sandre emincé d’artichaud étuvée de legumes. Wines were local of course, but in all the excitement I forgot to note their names!

Colin at Maison de Sancerre

Next stop was Sancerre itself, perched on its limestone and flint hill over 300 metres above the river Loire, a natural fortress given its first castle in the 12^th C.  Through the narrow streets and in a restored 14thC house, the Maison de Sancerre is a great venue to discover the Sancerre wines and vineyards. The centre provides an overview of the geography of the wine region, its characters and winemaking techniques. A 7 Euro visit includes a glass of wine which can be enjoyed indoors or, as we did, on a sunny terrace overlooking the vineyards.

The view from the Maison de Sancerre towards Chavignol.

A final glimpse of Sancerre

Hardly believing how quickly time had passed, we hit the road again and headed back towards home, discussing what we had seen and tasted and planning another trip very soon. We would like to introduce ourselves to several more winemakers both in Sancerre and in neighbouring Pouilly-Fume and Menetou-Salon, neither of which we saw this time round. Then there’s Pouilly-sur-Loire wines made from Chasselas grapes and Coteaux du Giennois, which looked promising as we drove past on our way to the Pont de Briare.

Perhaps we should allow for a longer stay next time!

Kir – Loire Valley versions

When we are touring and tasting in the Loire Valley we might treat ourselves to a little cocktail before lunching at our chosen restaurant.

In Montrichard, the ancient town on the Cher which is often our midday venue when visiting Touraine vineyards, we will sip on a Kir made from Sauvignon blanc and crème de cassis. Relaxing in the sunshine in the old market square below the romantic ruins of the 15thC castle, nothing could be finer. On the Loire Sauvignon blanc may be replaced by Chenin blanc.

In Bourgueil, further down the Loire in fine red wine country, the Kir is made from a light Cabernet franc and is called a Cadinal or a Communard.

Of course, if we are really going to spoil ourselves, we could ask for a Kir Pétillant – made with local sparkling wine – or a Kir Royal – using Champagne. And the variations do not end here; in the south of France you may be offered a Kir made with peach, raspberry or even Fig liqueurs, while here in the ancient French region of the Berry, Kir Berrichon is made with red wine and blackberry liqueur (Crème de mûres).

A selection of Kir ingredients

Originally called blanc-cassis, the drink is  named after Félix Kir, mayor of Dijon in Burgundy from 1945 until his death in 1968. Kir, an ordained priest and Second World War resistance fighter, was a pioneer of the town twinning movement, intended to foster friendship and understanding  between former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation.

He is said to have popularised the drink by offering it at receptions to visiting delegations. Besides treating his international guests well, he was also promoting two economic products of the region: crème de cassis and white Burgundy wine.

Recipes for Kir vary according to taste with between 1 part in 5 and 1 part in 10 liqueur to wine being the normal range. Here in the Loire Valley, in addition to a choice of suitable white (and red) wines, we have a local liqueur maker in Distillerie GIRARDOT, located in Chissay en Touraine, on the banks of the river Cher between Montrichard and Chenonceaux. This company, dating from 1900, produces a range of fruit Crèmes  of around 20% alcohol, liqueurs (30%) and eau de vie (40%).

Seeking out the award winning winemakers

Domaine de Bellevue

In last year’s World Sauvignon awards, local wines from the Touraine came away with 16 Gold Medals and a huge number of lesser titles – but I have probably already mentioned that in these pages.

This should come as no great surprise, the Loire Valley being the home of Sauvignon blanc, but we are very proud of the growers who made the effort to have their work internationally recognised.

Bellevue wines

I recently constructed a map for Google with the names and locations of all these gold medal-winners; you can find it here: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zpMMM5WEoIG0.kek7djwCKIzk

The canal close to Bellevue

Armed with this map and a list of names and addresses, the family and I went out on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon to find one of the growers. The one we chose – Domaine de Bellevue – is close to our home and on a beautiful slope above the Canal de Berry and the river Cher at Noyers-sur-Cher.

A fourth generation wine maker (we met the fifth generation as well, two strapping young lads pleased to be following in the father’s footsteps), Patrick Vauvy is passionate about his wines. He has vines in several plots giving him a variety of soils and growing conditions to work with. In the case of Sauvignon, he likes to pick and vinify separately and blend the resulting wines to create the balance and complexity he looks for in his product. His best soil looks down on the river, faces directly south and has a sand/flint soil.

Frost protection fans at Bellevue

Spring frost can be a problem here and he was the first in the region to borrow an idea from the growers of Quincy, installing a huge fan in the centre of his vines in 2004. This moves the cold air and allows warmer air to drop down and protect the flowers and delicate buds. Patrick likes to pick ripe berries resulting in wines of lower acidity; when they are at the perfect stage he picks day and night for a week to get the crop in. Another particularity of this winemaker: he prefers to use no commercial yeast, relying on the wild yeasts found naturally on the fruit. Only if the wine fails to ferment completely does he add commercially produced yeasts; the result is a wine that more closely reflects his own particular vineyard.

Recently pruned vines at Domaine de Bellevue

Domaine de Bellevue Sauvignon 2016 – the one with the gold medal – has completely sold out now but we tasted a very lovely 2017, bottled on Christmas Eve. We also sampled, and bought, a Chardonnay, labelled Vin de Pays, because this wine grape cannot be called an AOP Touraine, and a rose made from Gamay, Cabernet franc, Cot (Malbec) and  Pineau d’Aunis. They produce a sparkling Cremant de la Loire using the Chardonnay as base wine and a whole range of reds, but these we did not taste.

After this experience we will try to visit all of the growers on my Concours Mondial du Sauvignon list and report back.

Organic is good; biodynamic is better?

Call me old-fashioned, but when given the opportunity I always like to give organic wines a try. At Maisons des Vins, those wonderful establishments in the heart of French wine districts where a huge range of local wines can be freely tasted, I will invariably sample one or two organic wines to compare with the others on offer and I am rarely disappointed.

Greniers St Jean tasting of organic wines

I was delighted to hear therefore, that on the weekend of the huge Loire Valley wine trade fair in Angers, there were also two or three side events featuring organic and biodynamic wines.

Biodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches in that it emphasizes the use of manures and composts rather than artificial chemicals and pesticides on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include an emphasis on integrating farm animals, the cultivation of crops and the care of the land. It values local production and distribution systems, the use of local breeds and varieties and the astronomical calendar to guide cultivation timings. The philosophy of biodynamics extends from the field into the wine cellar and beyond.

At the tasting in the beautiful old building called the ‘Greniers St Jean’ we were lucky to bump into Nicolas Joly early in the proceedings. Joly is a leading proponent of biodynamic viticulture and he marked up our exhibitor list with a few “must-see” suggestions from the 125 winemakers at the show. The show featured a good forty Loire producers, including Jolys’ own Coulée de Serrant, now principally run by his daughter Virginie. We tasted a number of his truly splendid white wines: the sublime Coulée de Serrant, minerally Les Vieux Clos, old vine Clos de la Bergerie; these are astonishingly good Chenin Blancs.

Colin hard at work at the Greniers St Jean tasting

We talked at length with organic and biodynamic growers about their principals and their wines and could not fail to be impressed by their passion. Joly felt that the consumer had the right to know what was in his wines and deplored the use of flavourings and artificial yeast, all used perfectly legally by many wine producers, both large and small.

Of the dozen winemakers from Burgundy we were directed to Pierre de Benoit of Domaine de Villaine in the village of Bouzeron. Here, they uniquely grow the local variety called Aligoté d’Or, quite a treat, especially if compared to thin and acid Aligoté Gris, which is most often served with a generous dash of blackcurrant liqueur as the popular aperitif called Kir.  This was a different beast altogether. Both the terroir and the cultivation conspire to reduce yields and highlight the qualities of this grape, producing delicious wines with floral, mineral and pastry flavours.

Around 12% of wines in the Alsace are organic and we very much enjoyed a tasting of Sylvana, Riesling and especially Riesling Grand Cru Pfingstberg at the stand of Domaine Zusslin. Alsace Grand Cru wines maycome from one of over 50 villages, but represent only 4% of the total production of the region. They are well worth seeking out.

From the Minervois in the Languedoc-Roussillon we tasted white wine from another rare grape, Terret bourret, while we were delighted to see Clos du Joncuas representing the Rhone, having bought several of their wines while in Gigondas last year.

Wine humour

A little light relief from the Humour & Vigne event this year reminds me of the joys of communication in a foreign language:

Humour & Vigne  JONZAC-Charente Maritime
Christine TRAXELER (TRAX) Prix de la Forme.

Loire shows off Sauvignon

Loire Sauvignon Blanc came under the spotlight at Vinexpo this week as Jamie Goode presented a masterclass to highlight the region’s growing expertise with this grape variety.

The event featured a 14-strong selection of wines chosen from this year’s medal winners at the Concours Mondial du Sauvignon, which saw the Loire awarded 45% of the total medals from a field of 16 Sauvignon Blanc-producing countries.

“Sauvignon Blanc is a variety that can deliver precise wines with very good concentration of flavour,” recalled Goode of the qualities that he and the rest of the international judging panel rewarded. “You’re looking for the usual things of balance and definition and also wines that are commercially relevant.”

As for the refined selection on show at this Vinexpo masterclass, Goode explained: “We put together a range of styles and wines with unique expressions that together told a story.”

These included examples from across the region, including Pouilly-Fumé, Sancerre, Quincy, Touraine and the IGP Val de Loire, all from the 2012 vintage, which Goode summed up as “a very good, precise vintage in the Loire.”

Having written his own book on the variety, The Science of Sauvignon Blanc, Goode described the grape as “fascinating”, noting: “of all the grape varieties in the world, more scientific work has been done on Sauvignon Blanc than any other.”

Among the benefits of this research has been a greater understanding of compounds including methoxypyrazines, which are responsible for the variety’s characteristic grassy aroma; monoterpenes, which contribute its floral expression; and polyfunctional thiols which create the passionfruit character that is particularly associated with Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

Summing up the effect of these combined influences in Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, Goode remarked: “What the Loire seems to be able to do is wines that have ripeness while retaining some of that greenness as well.”

Goode also highlighted the important work carried out in the Loire by consultant Sam Harrop MW as he pointed to the steady “fine-tuning” of viticulture and vinification seen across the region, which is resulting in a consistent level of high quality wines.

In short, he concluded: “The Loire can produce wines that are the best expression of Sauvignon Blanc you can get. Even at the bottom end you get really characterful wines at prices no-one else can match.”

Goode is due to host a further masterclass on Loire Sauvignon Blanc in London later this year.