2018 Loire – is this the birth of a legendary vintage?

 Pinot Noir awaiting sorting  @Domaine Henri Bourgeois   On Friday Alphone Mellot snr was categorical: "This is a mythical vintage – 1947 but with quantity!" Alphonse Père was born in 1947 – obviously he will remember little of that year but says that he has never seen a vintage of this quality. We will see …

Pascal Jolivet – Sancerre and more (Part 1)

  Pascal Jolivet neck label A couple of weeks ago I received a box of samples of his current releases kindly sent by Pascal Jolivet. I have been enjoying tasting them and this post covers the first seven.  2017 Attitude, IGT (Above and below)   2017 Attitude, IGT Val de Loire  Attitude comes from 60 …

Central Loire Vineyards – 1990 – 2017

The last 27 years has seen very considerably changes in the Central Loire Vineyards. With one sole exception it has been a tale of success and expansion. It is fascinating to compare the area planted in each of the Central Loire appellation in 1990 with the area planted in 2017. An overall increase of 2451 …

Andrew Jefford on Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé – all things are not equal

The cross above Chavignol with  the often present Sancerre in the distance   There is a very good post (Sancerre and friends) by Andrew Jefford on decanter.com today. Not a surprise that Andrew's article is good. No the surprise is that this is the first time that such a long established wine writer has visited …

Central Loire Vineyards: forthcoming events

Events: 14th August to 9th September 2017  Plenty of events here for the diaries of those of you in the Central Loire vineyards for the next month or so.              Exhibitions:  

Bain vs INAO

Alexandre Bain (Photo (c) Jim Budd) Je n'ai pas le plaisir de connaître Alexandre Bain, vigneron de Tracy, ni ses vins. Et peut-être que c'est mieux ainsi, si je veux tenter d'émettre un avis impartial. D'après Corinne Caillaud, du Figaro, qui semble bien le connaître, bien qu'elle traite rarement de vin, il s'agit d'un bon vigneron. Il …

2017 Loire – « très compliqué ! » « plus rien »

Frost destruction: April 2016 For the second successive year the Loire, along with many other vineyards both in France and elsewhere in Europe, has been hit by a series of April frosts. Just as in 2016 it has been a whole series of early morning frosts running over 10 days from 19th April through to …