This tasting fair of Les Vins Anonymes (or Les Anonymes) in downtown Angers earlier that month was also very exciting, it lasts only one day (this year sunday 2 february) and given the long list of participating vignerons you'd need at least two days (I'd need a week...). Imagine that the first year there was a salon in Angers was 1987 when the Salon des Vins de Loire opened,
this was then the first regional wine fair. Then, after what seems to be ages later in 1999, La Dive Bouteille was launched (in Bourgueil then, by Catherine Breton) with barely more than 10 vignerons. La Dive was thought as a competing wine fair centered on real wines, then, as opposed to the Salon d'Angers where mainstream wineries were the large majority.
Then soon all hell broke loose and this was the (welcome) avalanche of alternative tastings in and around Angers and visitors were flocking from all over the world. And in the early 2010s came Les Vins Anonymes. The last time I attended it, it was taking place in a church, that was eerie and exciting, only natural wine could honor a temple...
The fee for the tasting was very affordable : 5 € with glass included.
Now I had only made a few steps in the lobby that I spotted a familiar face, this was Ben Nerot who was chatting with a young vigneron, a newcomer named Thomas Puechavy (with the hat on the picture). He trained with Lise & Bertrand Jousset and started his own thing in Vouvray. 2019 will be his first vintage, he found 3 hectares of Chenin to rent, among which 1,2 hectare of 80-year-old vines.
Ben proposed to taste his own Pineau d'Aunis and brought back a bottle, I think beginning a tasting with a Pineau d'Aunis is wonderful and a very good omen for the rest of the day... This Aunis comes from the 80-year-old vines of Clos Roche Blanche now owned by Julien Pineau. the wine is not really official so don't try to buy that ! Elevage in stainless and not oak, unlike what Julien does but Ben only had a stainless-steel tank and the result is pretty nice indeed, very neat. Ben says it may not have the little plus of charm brought by an old barrel but the juice fermented smoothly without any alert whatsoever, he just kept the last bottles that may have lees on the side but with the racking there wasn't much sediment. Such an enjoyable mouth !
Jacky Ripoche comes from the Saumur area and more precisely from the area of Puy Notre Dame where a vibrant group of vignerons has its micro climate for organic farming & natural vinification. The domaine was created 20 years ago after training and travels, Jacky's parents were farmers in another region, he ended up buying this small domaine from a retiring grower. His Domaine des Noades has a vineyard surface of 6 hectares which is small enough to be farmed by himself and his wife Véronique.
__ Brut de cuve (vat sample), Le Clos Des Gars, Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame 2018, Chenin Blanc. One year in barrel and 6 months in fiberglass vat. Nice generosity & energy. Some oaky notes.He says the calcareous soil brings this tension and freshness here. When he picks, the grapes are mature with a firm yellowish color. 15 €.
__ Grolleau 2019, brut de cuve (vat sample), will be bottle this march. Surprising bitterness in the mouth. Semi-carbo for 6 days in fiberglass vats.
__ Cabernet Franc, Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame 2018, one year in barrels plus 6 months in fiberglass. Bottled this april. A bit harsh in the mouth at this point.
Jacques Broustet of Chateau Lamery was there as well, always a pleasure to have his wines.
__ Sémillant, Vin de France 2018, a dry and fruity white made of course with Sémillon pressed and bottled a year later after staying put on its lees without any further intervention. Nice expression in the mouth with what seems to me empyreumatic aromas. I like that. 16 €.
__ Autrement 2015, the iconic red cuvée of Lamery, a Vin de France made with Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. 15 months in a cement vat. That's good ! It shines all along the throat and my stomach noisingly approves, Very nice wine ! Refined, well-integrated tannins even if marked. 16,5 €, super deal.
__ Autrement 2014. No Cabernet Sauvignon in this blend (because disease). Stayed 2 months in barrels without topping up nor racking Jacques says also that his surface cellar is not insulated and the temperature arouind the year goes from minus 2 C (28,4 F) tp 29 C (84,2 F) and the wines are thus vaccinated when they're bottled !. He for example just shipped 500 bottled from each cuvée to Garagiste (Seattle), China and also Japan... Beautiful, silky tannins, milky texture and bright freshness, very beautiful !
__ Bulles d'Or, a bubbly 2011-2012, a wine that refermented in the bottle. Quite strange wine with a hydromel style in the mouth, lightly fuzzy on the tongue. Residual sugar, interesting.
The domaine La Grange de Noue Méa has a vineyard surface of 5,8 hectares and is located in Anjou. Hervé Bossé made his first vintage in 2014 with purchased grapes the same year he took over with his wife this small organic domaine with a surface then of 2 hectares, adding biodynamic farming from the start. On the cellar side, no filtration and no added SO2. Hervé is also working with a project to reuse the bottles in order to diminish the environmental weight of wine consumption.
__ Désabulle Moi ! (play of words with déshabille moi which means undress me), rosé 2018, made with Grolleau and 10 % Gamay plus a little bit of Cabernet. Lovely ! Very few bubbles, more vinous, feels like there's a bit of residual sugar.
__ Touchez le Grolleau 2018 (play of words with touchez le gros lot which means hit the jackpot), a red made with 100 % Grolleau. Destemmed grapes, maceration for 6 weeks without temperature control. Super exciting color, turbidity. Peppery mouth, lovely wine !! Buy that, no question ! 14-15 € at the domaine. Hervé says that peppery mouth is typical as well in the Grolleau but it depends of the vintage.
__ Caber'Nez (nez means nose) 2017, Cabernet Franc of course. Jus de goutte (free run) used only. Astringency. Feels like filtered here.
__ Le Patriste 2016, red made with free run juice of Cabernet Franc, one year in barrel. No topping up, unfiltered. Lovely wine, elegant red, and you feel it is only beginning to show up its potential. Strongly recommend.
__ Le Patriste 2015. I like that too, but feels a bit tighter, square in the swallowing experience, and there's astringency.
Vincent Marie of the domaine No Control farms 4,5 hectares in Auvergne near Volvic (well known throughout France for its mineral water). He found in 2012-2013 a retiring farmer looking for a buyer for his 3,5 hectares. Vincent learned the job with Patrick Meyer in Alsace and Bruno Schueller, not the worst way to initiate yourself. Some of his parcels are very old, like 120 years. Organic farming, biodynamy. No additives, no sulfites, nothing, no filtering, just grape juice. Makes cider too.
__ White blend of Sylvaner-Riesling 2019, vat sample; purchased grapes with vines at an altitude of 500 meters. Generous, easygoing and juicy feel. Easy wine. Nice tension in the mouth. As said, no SO2 and there'll be none at bottling. I recommend ! 6,5-7 € pro price.
__ Ferservadou 2019, barrel sample, a bit mousy i would say but still lovely, goes down easy.
__ Tournoël Riot, Pinot Noir, Vin de France 2018, bottled december 2019. The label reads Vince vigneron, sans sulfites ajoutés (without added sulfites). Man, that is good ! Stomach approval ! Great pleasure guaranteed. 8,5 € pro. I think vinification with whole-cluster maceration and barrel élevage.
__ Sweet Baby Love, Vin de Paille de Gamay. Beautiful ! We don't drink enough of these vins de paille ...
__ Cidre (cider). Vincent is from Normandy and he buys the apples over there. This is really a super cider with wheat, honey, smoke aromas, a lovely cider that stands out ! 5 € pro.
Website : vin-nocontrol.fr (but doesn't seem to work)
Laura was at the table to pour the wines of the Ozil brothers (Ardèche, Rhône) as they were tasting at other tables or having paused for lunch a few minutes when I showed up. Laura who is German helps at the domaine, she has vinified a personnal cuvée already and eyes the possibility to set up something in the region (look out here for news about that) and didn't seem interested to go back to Germany for now...
__ Rochette, brut de cuve (vat sample) Vin de France 2019, white made from 100 % Grenache Blanc. No added sulfites. Some residual sugar at this stage.
__ Est-Ouest, white blend, 5 varieties, Grenache Blanc, Sauvignon, Viognier, Marsanne, Ugni Blanc. Bottled june 2020. No added sulfites. Unfiltered too.
__ Barry, brut de cuve 2019, red made with free-run juice of Grenache & Syrah. No sulfites. A bit early I think to enjoy it.
__ Gourmandise 2019, brut de cuve 2019, red made with press juice of Grenache & Syrah. Some astyringency, a wine with a nice energy but also needs more time of course to be fully enjoyed. Very promising if indeed kept like that, unfiltered and no added SO2.
__ Bois Blanc 2018, on the label : Frangins Vignerons, Zero Sulfites. Detsemmed, macerated Marsanne. Turbid, wheat color. Aromas of exotic fruits, very lively, candy style, love it ! Sold out alas (my advice is by reds before they're sold out as well). This cuvée will not be made in 2019.
__ See the labels on this page
I did a small visit a few years ago at Ozil (picture above and on the sides) but this was at the occasion of a small tasting event in their facility with a few other local vintners sharing the same philosophy, and I hadn't enough material to write a full story, so I hope to do a full visit and make a well-documented report for Wineterroirs one of these days.
Ozil is one of the many domaines that popped up around Gérald Oustric's Le Mazel who was the pioneer in this part of Ardèche, opening the way to a string of artisan vignerons who delivered as well very exciting wines from this part of the Rhone Valley. The family domaine (which is a real farm growing other crops) was taken over by Jean-Daniel in 2002 soon, later joined by his brother Thomas in 2013 (both trained with Gilles Azzoni). They started bottling their own wine and thus stopped delivering the grapes (which were already organicly farmed) to the coopérative as there was no reward for this additionnal work and investment, and they added biodynamic farming in 2016. When they began to make their own wines they of course also wanted to also vinify naturally without sulfites in order to fully express the vineyard and soil. My short visit back then gave me a feel of a real place and real, no-fancy farm where you sense the generations behind the two brothers.
Usually I don't go taste people I have other easy opportunities to taste, like for example Christophe Foucher of La Lunotte who lives not very far from my weekend hideout in the Loire, but could you resist ? David Lillie and Ben were also tasting his releases when I showed up.
__ Menu Pineau, brut de cuve (vat sample) 2018. Lovely white, I can't but remember the tenderness with which Christophe farms his Menu Pineau, a variety which would deserve a front row among the Loire whites.
__ White blend 2018 made with 40 % Menu Pineau & 60 % Sauvignon, now bottled. Light oxidative notes, lovely, I enjoy it at good temperature, not too cold, that's where you enjoy best these living wines. Recommend this one too !
__ Rossignoux 2018, 100 % Sauvignon. Vivid color, light turbidity. Light tickling on the tongue, lemon peel aromas, sugary edge, generous wine.
__ Eau Nice, Pineau d'Aunis 2018, bottled 3 months before. Almost rosé, great milky color. Christophe had got these grapes from his father-in-law and this is the 1st vintage of this cuvée. Very nice wine as you can guess !! He begins to sell it, 2000 bottles total, don't wait ! 7,2 € pro.
__ Ormeaux, Gamay 2018. Sold out. This was a batch of 700 bottles only because he used part of the grapes with mildew for the rosé. Lovely wine !!! Powerful, structured, but Christophe says it's still good to wait. 7,5 € pro. Don't miss this one either.
La Ferme du Plateau is a 5-hectare domaine in Rigny-Ussé in Touraine; it was created in 2014 by Adrien Baloche.
__ Pet-nat' Rosé (2019 I suppose). Gamay-Grolleau. A sweet, lovely bubbly ! Some sort of other version of Piège à Filles, love that ! Discreet bubbles. 7,2 € pro. I like his labels style here (sometimes wines are fine but the labels so-so...).
__ Grappe Fuel, vin de France (table wine, like everything he makes) 2019. Whole-cluster maceration, carbo of Gamay. Lovely chalky color. Mouth : easygoing with an enjoyable texture in the mouth.
__ Fouzy Tout, Vin de France 2018. 11 % alcohol. Whole-clustered Grolleau (majority) with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenin, vinified together by different layers : Chenin at the bottom of the vat, as it was the first picked i guess. Almost rosé-like color, or Aunis, great color !! Turbid, certainly unfiltered. No So2 at all. In general he says there's no added so2 in his wines, in some cases just a bit (2 grams/hectoliters). Lovely freshness, goes down well, even after so many wines I tasted ! This wine is certainly good to eat with. 7,2 € pro. (other cuvées are 6 € & 8 €).
__ Grolleau 2018, destemmed grapes. Nose : meat notes. Mouth : tight. No added sulfites.
Pierre Cotton of Domaine Sanvers et Cotton is another young vigneron auguring well for the renewal of the core of Beaujolais natural wine founders, he's farming now 12 hectares (counting both estate & rented parcels). Initially from a vigneron family Pierre worked as motorbike mechanic before coming back to the family winery where he made his first vintage in 2014, opting unlike his father for an uninterventionist winemaking. Read Aaron's profile of Cotton for more details, I hope to visit him myself one of these days.
__ Chardonnay 2019 (vat sample like everything he brought that day). Generous white, powerful, vividness.
__ Beaujolais 2019 (red). Nice character, early to drink at this stage, of course you can feel it will be very good on time.
__ Brouilly 2019, brut de cuve. Oh this is good ! Love this one, given it'd be also too early to open a bottle (if it was bottled) of course. Will be about 15 €.
__ Fleurie 2019, brut de cuve. Vines on granite slopes. In a foudre (big-capacity barrel)right now like the other cuvées. normally shouldn't get added sulfites.
__ Brouilly Vieilles Vignes (old vines, 65 years) 2019. Oh man that's so good again, already tasting great although needs obviously at least 2 years before drinking when bottled. Highly recommended ! 16 € public price.
__ Côte de Brouilly (2019 I suppose), 1st vintage of this !! From a parcel up a slope with blue stone rock table (diorite), soil not plowed (because too little earth maybe), rented parcel, vines 40 or 50 years old. 20 hectoliters. Very, very nice wine !
__ Côte de Brouilly, from vines on clay and lower slope. Still early to appreciate but you feel the potential, come back in a couple years for that.
__ Les Grillés 2019, from the Côte de Brouilly, vines on different rocky soils. Now this wine has the seducing power of a Chambolle Musigny in progress, will certainly be a super-enjoyable wine in just a year !
Bertjan Mol (Domaine La Taupe) and his wife Nicole who both are from Holland bought back half of Bruno Allion's domaine in the Cher valley (Loire) when he retired, the other half being boought by Anouk & Paul-André who settled after leaving Canada. They all continue the organic, biodynamic farming of Bruno Allion, who lives nearby and keep giving his knowledgeable advice on making the preps. Bertjan was a wine importer in the Netherlands before (since 2003) and as such he learned Bruno planned to retire and decide to make the step and make wine himself, moving to Thésée at the end of 2017. The domaine's surface is 7 hectares and exports make up about 90 %.
__ AK400, Gamay, Vin de France 2018. Nose : meaty and juicy, exciting. Unfiltered, obviously from the color. Acidity in the mouth, if you like it, you'll love that gamay ! 8,5 € pro.
__ Allez Hop, Cabernet Franc 2018, made in stainless-steel vat. Light tickling on the tongue, a bit young to be fully appreciated i think, and will be better to eat with.
__ Carnix, vin de France 2018, Cabernet Sauvignon 30 % and Cabernet Franc 70 % in stainless steel for a year. Almost all was destemmed. They try to sell more locally, contacting restaurants, he says. Nice red with dust notes in the mouth, I love it ! No filtering and never any added SO2 !
__ Bruno, Bert & Co, vin de France 2018, whole-clustered Côt 100 %. Inky color. The astringency is quite strong here, still young for a Côt but my stomach approves and noisingly signals it likes it !
I was ready to go as it was time to walk to the Chateau d'Angers where a carsharing driver (blablacar) bound for Paris was going to be soon waiting for me and a couple other travellers, but I spotted Paul Gillet and made room for yet another wine :
__ Pinot Noir 2018. Wow, this freshness and these refined if noticeable tannins... Gille says it was bottled early december 2019. Very nice, if you like wines with acidity like i do, you'll love it ! >
Are you certain that the first off organized by the Breton swinging team was held in 99? I still have some 96 bought at the time. But indeed time flies.
Posted by: Marc Gosselin | February 22, 2020 at 10:00 PM
That's what I read on a couple of pages, but needs to be checked with Catherine Breton.
Posted by: Bert | March 01, 2020 at 04:17 PM