A few Statistics from the Central Vineyards

Thanks to Jim Budd for posting the press release from Benoît Roumet of the Bureau de Centre. If you would like to read the full post in French you can find it on Jim's blog here but here are a few points that I took from it and translated into English.

'With a progression of 12% on the export market and an increase of 5% on the French market, the wines of the Central Vineyards have had a very successful campaign despite the environment of economic crisis.

At the end of July 2011 sales of wines from the Centre Loire had increased by 11% with more than 38 million bottles spread across the export and domestic markets.

Appellations with the highest profile are Sancerre and Coteaux de Giennois with an increase of 16% in the export of Sancerre white and 10% for the Coteaux du Giennois whites. Quincy's drop in exports has been compensated for by the French market. Other appellations have equally developed their sales with the exception of Reuilly which has seen a slight reduction of 2%.

A few figures

8 appellations make up the Central Vineyards: Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé, Menetou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, Coteaux du Giennois, Chateaumeillant, Pouilly-sur-Loire.

There are:

360 vignerons

35 négociants

5 Co-operatives

Production 2010 amounts to 42 million bottles of which 82% is white (up 10% when compared to the average of the past 5 years).

Sales over 12 months at the end of July 2011 were 38,1 million bottles of which 45% was exported to 110 countries around the world. Whites represent more than 92% of exports from this region.'

Happy Clients!

We had a lovely day last week with Ellen and her family from New York. After spending the morning tasting a range of wines from all over the Loire valley and a relaxing candlelit lunch in our old cellar, we drove out to the appellation of Savennières where we walked in the vineyards and tasted some of the lovely Chenin Blanc whites that give it such a great reputation. Our thanks go to them for being the first of our clients to give us a video testimonial. It was a great day spent with good company.

Chenin Blanc & the delights of the quince

When wine tasting we often try to recognise aromas in wine and one of the most commonly cited aromas in Chenin Blanc is quince. This old fashioned fruit is similar to the pear - knobbly and impossible to cut, it has a similar aroma although a little more exotic.

I had a quince tree when I lived in the South of England and despite being a keen cook, never did anything with the fruit giving them instead to my elderly neighbour who made them into quince jelly. Preserving is a bit old-fashioned - at least that's what I thought before I moved to France.

Here, it seems everybody makes jams, jellies and preserves. Fruit from the garden is eaten fresh in season and preserved for the winter months. I was given a few kilos by a friend this summer and decided it was time to have a go.

Firstly, I peeled the quinces and put the peelings into a large demi-john along with a litre of eau de vie. Then, I cut the quinces up (shere brut force required here - they are rock solid) put the pips and cores in a muslin square and cut the remaining fruit into slices. All this went into a large casserole into which I poured enough water to cover, brought to the boil and simmered for several hours.
Some of the cooked fruit I put into a tart with a frangipane base, the remaining fruit I pureed, added sugar and boiled again to make quince paste. I strained the liquid remaining from the boiled fruit and added sugar making a jelly with this.

A bit of a fiddle you may say, and yes, I suppose it was, but for a few kilos of fruit that cost nothing I made delicous jelly to spread on fresh crusty bread or to serve with roasted meats, quince paste to eat with cheese, a most delicious take on a traditional pear tart with more colour and flavour and a bottle and a half of quince eau de vie that I decanted off the peelings only yesterday.

And, I am now able to recognise the aroma of quince in many of our delicious Chenin Blanc wines from the Loire valley. We are only able to pick up individual aromas if they are within our own experience. I think I've finally nailed it!

Saumur Champigny vintage update

Lovely view from vineyards close to Saumur showing the river Loire and the chateau in the distance


Just returned from a morning in and around Saumur and Saumur Champigny. The weather continues to be perfect this week giving growers the opportunity to take their time and hold off harvest until they think fit. We drove around many of the Saumur Champigny communes - not a single person spotted in the vineyards. The Cabernet Franc grapes look in spectacular form - clean and healthy with no rot.

Healthy grapes from the village of Chaintres in the Saumur Champigny appellation

We spoke to Domaine de Hureau - they are starting tomorrow as is Chateau de Villeneuve - they will be passing through for the 1er tri, the reds to follow next week. At Filliatreau there was lots of activity cleaning tanks and machinery in anticipation for a 5th October minimum start.

Preparing for harvest at Domaine Filliatreau in Chaintres

Will keep you posted as and when harvest starts - we will be there on Saturday.