Pouillé-sur-Cher, Loire
The weather was nice and with spring almost there (for a few days at least) I reconnected with the wine people in the Cher valley. Everyone is busy pruning, trying to finish their surface in march. The surprise encounter
of the week was Marie Rocher, the publisher of several books focused on natural wine and respectful viticulture. You may remember how she and her father Jean-Paul (who passed away in 2012) published many books on natural wine including Alice Feiring's (this linked story was in 2010). She continued the work of her father with the publishing work, she joined the Éditions de l'Épure where she published for example Vins à la Carte, a book centered on Jules Chauvet's tasting notes.
But Marie decided to make a decisive step and get on the other side of the screen, sort of, and make wine herself as well. She published wine people, wrote about them, loved the wines and now she is going to make her wines after training with Bruno Allion (good mentor !) : She buys grapes and after a first micro trial in 2017, she vinified her first wines in 2018, so be ready for another player in the vibrant Cher valley....
What's wonderful in this milieu of artisan vignerons is the support and solidarity from same-minded actors, they're there when you need assistance, like here Didier Barrouillet (who retired from winemaking a few years ago) helping Marie attach a tap at the bottom of the fiber vat she just purchased second-hand (she was in the vat helping holding the tap while Didier was tightening the nuts. Marie had time to tell me that this type of vat is not her ideal vessel but for her first years it will make the job (and we have all experienced terrific wines made in this type of tank). Having experienced vintners near you when you start making real wine is very important because working without sulfur can make you fearful, they'll help you check the wines and reassure you when you're worried.
Now you may recognize this place, this old farm which belongs to Catherine Roussel was used by Clos Roche Blanche of course, then Noëlla Morantin and Laurent Saillard, as well as for such festive events like the one for Arnaud Ehrart's birthday, and now Marie for a while probably before she finds her own cellar. Look at the walls, it's a library of wild yeast and true-wine energy, should make a goo start...
And you can see here one of Marie's cuvées, this is as you can guess a natural-sparkling rosé on its riddling racks with the lees progressively moved to the bottle neck. Marie didn't show her wines in Angers recently, she was not in hurry. The volumes will increase in the next few years, but by focusing on the winemaking only, she'll keep enough time for her other passions, among which publishing.
I rode my motorbike to the plateau above Clos Roche Blanche (pictured on right), the vineyards in the middle of the woods there have been purchased like you may know by Laurent and Julien Pineau, each
having half of the whole
surface, and both are busy doing the pruning. Here Patricia who works for Laurent was finishing a parcel of middle-aged Sauvignon if I remember. She's a biker too and works for two growers, in the past she did garden maintenance but kind of switched to vineyard work which she finds more rewarding and more diverse. I watched her at work, I'm always fascinated by the art of pruning, seems to me very difficult because you have to read the vine and understand the sap flow and the energy push, I guess it takes time to get that. tHe weather, while cooler than a few days before, was pretty mild for this time of the year (Winter in this part of France is often humid which makes for colder temperature feel).
They're well advanced actually for the pruning, most of the plateau has been pruned, they'll soon have only the Cabernet to prune near La Tesnière (near where Marie now makes her négoce wines), it's a rented parcel that still belongs to Catherine. This winter was not cold enough, they'd have needed minus 5 to minus 8 C (23 to 16 F). The risk, beyond the fact that pests haven't been hit hard enough by the cold, is that buds may go out too soon, with the tricky period of frost late april taking a heavier toll then.
Then I went with Laurent Saillard to his wine farm taste a few wines (I love this job...), the chai was full of bottles waiting for their labels. All these bottles had been waxed, by Thierry Puzelat's wife by the way, she is pretty skilled for that (not as easy as it seems). Laurent bought this facility a few years ago to Japanese importer/vigneronne Junko Arai (this story dates from the early years of Wineterroirs and Noëlla was then working for Junko, both in the vineyard and the cellar). Laurent improved a bit the bulding's amenities but it had been already very well arranged by Junko.
Laurent takes a jug sample of Lucky You 2018, a pretty turbid white yet, it finished ferment very recently but the yeast cloud is still hanging, it will sediment soon probably, after a few cold nights (he'll open the doors at night if needed). This is 60 % Sauvignon and 40 % Chardonnay, still feels like grape juice in the mouth, but only 1,5 gram of residual sugar (almost dry), that's the fruit and the generous vintage (13,5-14) that gives this sweet feel you can mistake for sugar. Enjoyable gras in the mouth. Shouldn't be filtered, he'll see in time, should clear by itself. It got 1,5 gram of SO2 during the vinification because there was a worry at one point but it reasonably shouldn't get anymore. Vinified 100 % in stainless steel (he prefers steel to fiber vats), he made 60 hectoliters of this. Bottled somewhere in 2019 when it's ready.
__ Blank 2018, 100 % Sauvignon, from a tronconic wooden vat (Grenier, bought from CBR) Laurent makes this cuvée since 2016. this wine unlike the former completed its fermentation swiftly, in november (it's not turbid at all), there's maybe 0,5 gram sugar left. Nice rich mouth also, this is the vintage. This cuvée is made from old vines of Sauvignon and the wine will have a longer élevage.
Laurent invested in a new pump, a peristaltic pump, these pumps are known to be much softer on the wines, to trepidation or shocks. This one is made in Italy by Costruzione Enologiche Padovane, a company making all kinds of winery tools (here is the peristaltic-pumps page). This kind of pump is expensive but it makes a big, positive difference on the wines. The vertical stainless-steel cylinders on the left do the job of shock absorbers at the entry and exit of the pump, making the pumping even softer.
__ Blank 2018, same wine, but from a 400-liter barrel or demi-muids, on the adjacent cellar room. Not new barrels, the wine has still a bit oak imprint but will blend into the larger volume. Tastes good at this point.
__ Blank 2018, same wine, it's a first trial for this cuvée with a 160-liter clay amphora. No skim maceration (Maïlys did a skin contact in one of these vessels), just juice (the same juice that went in the tronconic and the demi-muids. He'll probably not blend it withthe rest though, tastes very different and he wants to keep this character and preciseness apart, maybe he'll just keep the wine for himself and friends. Nice mouth feel indeed, super character ! I think he could find more such vessels, the result is so intertesting. These amphora are made in the Languedoc, i like their design, hand made each seems because of that slightly different (the volume may be approximative), very humble but work well on the wine. They're made by Terres d’Autan at Mas Saintes Puelles in the Aude département (Languedoc).
__ Scarlette 2018, Pineau d'Aunis, bottled february 16, he makes this cuvée since 2014. Laurent still has this very small surface of Pineau d'Aunis, 50 ares, but good news, he's replanting some, step by step, adding soon 20 ares of the precious (but disregarded by the appellation authorities) variety. Samely, he's in the process of replanting Gamay, pushing its surface from 1,7 to 2,4 hectares. And later, the plan (when the young Gamay will have reached production age) will be to uproot part of the old ones to further plant more. He can't do it straight because of other investments, so he makes it gradually.
Very promising nose for this Aunis. Mouth : Nice chew with clafoutis, cooked cherry notes. Tastes great even though the bottling is very recent Laurent says he's also happy because the alcohol is pretty low in spite of the vintage. No filtration, zero SO2. 2200 bottles total, sells for 9 € without tax. Tastes great but you feel it'll get so much better with a couple years aging in bottles.Mostly sold out (reserved) except for a few bottles which he'll bring at the Salon de Villebarou (this is the first place this Aunis will reach the market, don't miss the opportunity, there'll be no others in France I guess) where he has been invited this year (march 16-17, just outside Blois). In 2017 the volumes were very small for all the wines and there were strict allotments; in 2018 with more comfortable volumes it's more like first arrived first served, and he saw many buyers and importers at the Dive for that.
__ La Pause 2018, a 100 % Gamay (Vin de France also) it samely fermented easily, the grapes were picked early september, there was a 15-day maceration in open-top tronconic fermenters, then pressed and dispatched in barrels. I asked if in 2018
because of the drought the grapes
lacked juice, he says no, the vines didn't suffer from drought, the foliage was nice, the grapes were fully ripe but with good acidity, that makes a good vintage when you can keep both. It was easier to vinify the reds than the whites because with the maceration the wild yeast have it easier than in a direct press. He says it's rare for him indeed to have whites in february with still some residual sugar, even if low. Bottled february 16 also.
Nice chew also with a good grip on the tongue. Very supple, fruity wine, goes down well. Unfiltered, zero SO2 like the Aunis. Sells for 8 € without tax. Laurent used to sell directly in New York (where he was a chef and managed a restaurant in a previous life) but he now imports through Selection Massale (but he still manages to have his favorite restaurants in New York get their allotment).
__ Joyfull, Cabernet Franc, vin de France 2018. Laurent bought second-hand (3-wines old) from the Tonnellerie Sylvain these large capacity barrels (500 L) last august, they're very convenient for maceration with the large opening at the top. For the Cabernet Franc he put the destemmed grapes to macerate in
there about 2 weeks, then pressed and put the juice back in there (he had other cab juice to complete for the smaller volume after pressing). Doing maceration in a regular barrel needs more work, Christophe Foucher doest it, he says, he needs to take away the bottom and put it back if I remember. He bought the barrel from the cooperage and doesn't know about the domaine who used it before but he cleans it seriously to be sure no sulfites residues remain.
The nose is already very appealing. Mouth : The wine is gorgeous, so good ! Before he used these recently-purchased barrels, he vinified this cuvée (since 2015) in open-top fermenters using whole-clustered grapes. He made 10 hectoliters of that wine. He shares the rented parcel (near La Tesnière) with Julien Pineau and this is the parcel where they picked the least grapes this year. They used part of the grapes to make a pink sparkling (not ready, he says, we'll not taste it). It's a 00 % Cab Franc, las year (2017) because of really low volumes they had blended the Cabernet Sauvignon with it, but not this year. Super good wine, will be bottled probably in june, will sell for 9 € without tax.
Before leaving, Laurent showed me the herb dryer cabinet that Maylis and a friend have built in the attic of
an outbuilding. There they'll manage their various herbs
used through sprayings on the vineyards. Very nice job, very professionnally-built cabinet ! These herbs will end up macerating and later sprauyed on the vines either like here the prep 501 or with the tractor. I saw the chamomile and horsetail, they keep the dry herbs in boxes in the chai for now.
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