Domaine de la Noblaie - Chinon

A day in between tours enabled us to pop over to Chinon this morning to pick up an order from Domaine de la Noblaie in Ligré just outside Chinon.  It's a beautiful location, tucked away in the Vau Breton (valley of Cabernet Franc) and it was a glorious morning.  Elodie Peyrussie told us they had 20mm of rain yesterday.  Certainly the ground seemed sodden but thankfully for them, no hail damage. It was a rather different story driving back through the vineyards of Saumur Champigny where we saw quite severe damage in certain parcels.  

We had a huge downpour here in Cumeray yesterday afternoon accompanied by hail.  Our local fields were flooded and mud swept down on to the river road damaging the recently sown sunflowers.  In Brissac there was no rain at all - we were happily tasting wines at Domaine de Bablut shortly afterwards in the sunshine.  

 Looking down on the vineyards of Domaine de la Noblaie

It just goes to show how different each year is.  These vines will probably flower in a couple of weeks - this time last year it was all over...

A new addition to the Noblaie portfolio this year and one that we are really impressed with is its new sparkling rose called Mon Ange.

It comes under the heading of Appellation Touraine Mousseux - Jerôme Billiard took the time to explain how the wine is made.

Cabernet Franc grapes are whole bunch pressed and the wine is then partially fermented.  When there is  a little sugar left in the fermenting must, the wine is chilled, racked a couple of times and has a little sulphur added to stop it in its tracks before being bottled with a little additional yeast to kick-start the fermentation again.  This wine (the result of the 2009 vintage) is then aged on its yeasty deposit for a period of 30 months before being transported to Louis de Grenelle in Saumur which does the dégorgement on Noblaie's behalf.   A really beautiful delicate apricot colour it's a classy fizz with wonderful summer red and white fruit aromas and some yeasty complexity.  A bargain at 10€ cellar door. 

In & around Chinon

A few photos taken in and around Chinon on Wednesday this week.  The Spring colours are lovely with the trees in blossom and the fields of oil seed rape a brilliant yellow.  

Chateau du Petit Thouars - good reds from the Cabernet Franc grape currently in the Touraine appellation but soon to come under the umbrella of Chinon

Overlooking Chinon from the castle

The pretty vineyards of Domaine de la Noblaie in Ligré just outside Chinon

Vignes, Vins & Randos en Val de Loire

12 randonnées conviviales et accessibles a tous - vignes, vins & randos, ce sont douze randonnées conviviales pour parcourir le vignoble du Val de Loire les samedi 5 et dimanche 6 september, en compagnie des vignerons venues partager leur passion, leur terroir et leur savoir-faire, sur fond de paysages inscrits au Patrimoine mondial de l'Humanité par l'Unesco.

12 convivial walks, suitable for all 'vines, wines and walks', twelve convivial walks in and around the vineyards of the Loire valley on Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th September accompanied by producers keen to share their passion, their 'terroir' and their know- how in the heart of this beautiful countryside (Unesco World Heritage site).

Choose from Jasnières, Touraine, Vouvray, Bonnezeaux, Anjou-rouge, Chinon and more. There qill be pauses along the way to taste local wines and foods, listen to music and participate in entertainment. Suitable for all the family.

For more information visit the Vins de Loire website www.vinsdeloire.fr

Moderation & Bottle Sizes

Reading Robert Joseph's post on bottle sizes prompted me to think more carefully about the issue this morning. Most wines these days are automaticaly bottled in the standard 75cl bottle (the size of a standard lungful of air for the average French glass blower long ago as explained by RJ). As with many traditions attached to the production of wine - history seems to drag its feet, keeping progression firmly away from the door in an attempt to retain what? The romance, pleasure, correctness of wine?

We are increasingly under pressure to moderate our alcohol intake with each piece of new research indicating that consumption is linked to longevity. That I can limit my wine intake to half a glass or less a day (the level required to increase my life expectancy by 5 years according to the latest report), is unlikely, nigh impossible, but I am increasingly aware that what I drink affects my health and I have started to make more of an effort to limit my own consumption, be it having one or two days off the wine altogther each week (not always successful) or choosing a 50cl bottle in preference to a 75cl. The 50cl bottle is not widely available - we regularly drink Couly-Dutheil's Chinon Les Gravières which does come in this size. It's a useful size at lunchtime between friends if we just want a small glass and it also moderates our own consumption in the evening when chances are we have had an aperitif before dinner and would like some red with the main course and cheese but not a full bottle.

But, I know there are problems with these smaller bottles, the 37.5cl in particular. Over the past 20 years I have worked with a number of wholesalers who specialise in supplying wine to the UK hotel and restaurant trade. There is little demand for smaller sizes and those who do put pressure upon the suppliers to provide them, rarely take the quantities they predict so the wholesalers get left with supplies of halves that age quickly and can't be sold. The lack of turnover of these halves in restaurants (except for the most enlightened) means they are generally a bit tired and don't reflect the normal quality that one comes to expect. Vintages move on giving a disparity between bottles and halves and so we go on. This is where the 50cl bottle would be a distinct advantage.
Personally I feel having a good choice of halves is a distinct bonus - to have the chance to try a different wine with each course without having to commit to purchasing a 75cl bottle gives the freedom to suit the wine to the dish and does not leave one feeling obliged to finish a bottle rather than choose something more complementary. I am encouraged to see more restaurants offering a better selection of wines by the glass but this too requires strict stock rotation and quality control (I think back to ordering a very expensive glass of Bordeaux in a chic London Hotel a couple of years ago - clearly nobody else had ordered it for days and it was oxidised and flat).
On the subject of moderation, I'd like to see pubs and restaurants serving wine in carafes rather than passing over an absurdly full 175cl or even worse a 250cl glass that makes me feel daunted before I've even taken the first sip. Pouring a small measure of wine into a large glass offers many benefits - the ability to enjoy the aroma before tasting, the pleasure of pouring a little more as and when, the capacity to keep the wine at its correct serving temperature. And I'd like to get away from the notion that giving people a full glass is 'generous', that anything less is being stingy. This is something that happens in social situations - it's not as if the bottle is going to run away, glasses can be regularly topped up even if only a little is served at a time.
I know the practicalities of change are often so much more complicated than this, but I am convinced that we, as educators and professionals in the trade, have a responsibilty to lead the way, to educate and provoke change as best we can.
At le tasting room, we deliver the WSET Foundation and Intermediate Certificates. A significant and increasing part of the syllabus is devoted to social and professional responsibility. Whether we like it or not, society has a problem with moderation. While I can't claim to have all the answers, I'll attempt to keep myself in check and make it my job to assist others in doing the same thing. Restaurateurs, hoteliers, producers, supermarkets and educators all have a role to play.