Day 1-Loire-Hippolyte Reverdy

Our next stop was a good, long drive to the town of Sancerre, a beautiful city that rests atop a hill in the middle of some of the most beautiful hillsides I've ever seen resting on the Loire river. Sancerre is what Sauvignon Blanc is all about. Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume are the benchmarks of Sauvignon Blanc for the entire world. There just isn't any better than this. Michel Reverdy is an organic winemaker who tragically had to take over his father's winery after his dad died suddenly. His brothers were supposed to take over, but one brother killed himself over his grief from his father's sudden death and the other brother died of cancer a year later. Michel was left to run the winery himself and works every day to produce these amazingly balanced wines. There is no one to succeed Michel, so when he dies, the winery goes with him. Sancerre can be either Sauvignon Blanc for the white or Pinot Noir for the red.

Tasting:
2009 Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre tank sample-'09 is a much smaller harvest than '08
2009 Hippolyte Reverdy Rose tank sample-Pinot Noir rose, salmon in color
2008 Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre Rouge-100% Pinot Noir...really, really good
2007 Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre Rouge-also was really, really good

No fining or filtering was done with these wines.



Michel Reverdy



Michel Reverdy's cellar


Daniel Chotard met us at Reverdy and allowed us to taste his wines as well. Michel's hospitality must be abounding for such a quiet man, because he let his direct competition into his cellar to taste. Reverdy and Chotard both make Sancerre, the terroir is the same. So, what makes them different, why the personality of the wine-maker of course. Reverdy's is more floral and Chotard has a longer finish.

Tasting:
2009 Daniel Chotard Rose-tank sample, very small production, lots of minerality as well as strawberries
2009 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Blanc-tank sample
2008 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Blanc-great minerality, doesn't have the citrus the Reverdy contains.
2008 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Rouge-95% tank, 5% barrel, a very feminine Pinot compared to Reverdy's



Daniel Chotard

Day 1-Loire-Champalou

I was so excited to go here as well as Joguet. Two rock star wine makers in my book. Speaking of books, every wine book I pick up talks about Joguet as the premier winemaker in Chinon and Champalou as the premier winemaker in Vouvray. I was especially excited because I got to taste all the various forms of Chenin Blanc produced in this region, as well as see some of the vineyards and the soil.

Tasting:

N/V Vouvray Brut-we have this wine and it's just as good in France as back home
2008 Vouvray Sec-same as above, the '08 vintage was very similar to the '07
2008 Vouvray Fondraux Demi-Sec - 2.5% residual sugar in this wine, which is good, because it really balanced the nervous acidity that ran through the middle of the wine. I finally understand what 'nervous acidity' means. This vineyard banks right along the Loire River and spends 4-5 months in old barrels.
2007 Vouvray Le Clos du Portail-this is a single vineyard of Chenin Blanc with 10yr old vines and spends 18mos. in barrel and then 18mos in bottle. Unbelievably good. Only 55 cases come to US.
2008 Moelleux-botrytis infected Chenin Blanc grapes with 80gm of residual sugar only made in particular vintages
2004 Vouvray Fondraux-22gm residual sugar-sweet honey and flower notes
2003 Vouvray Fondraux-40gm res sugar-1/2 the level of acidity-mushroom notes, then honey
1996 Vouvray Fondraux-(btw, Fondraux means slope where water runs off) 30gm res sugar, a lot of minerality and melon flavors
1989 Vouvray Fondraux-wow! 20yr old Vouvray, who would have thought...wow..wow..Kermit's 1st vintage was '87. White truffles and minerals.






The Domaine




Catherine Champalou and her daughter




The line-up






The Champalou Vineyards


The Champalou terroir




The Champalou cat



While we were at Champalou, Chateau D'Epire stopped by and tasted us on his Savinniere, another Chenin Blanc producing region in the Loire. While his wines were very well made, they were too dry for my taste.

2008 Savinierre Cuvee Especiale
1998 Savinierre Cuvee Especiale

A young gentleman by the name of Eric Chevalier was there. Eric is a sort of rogue in the Loire making inexpensive, all organic from non-traditional Loire grapes.

2009 Muscadet Cotes de Grand Lieu (100% Melon de Bourgogne)...this Muscadet is aged on the lees and has a great nose.
2009 La Noie-Pinot Gris
2008 Chardonnay-unoaked chardonnay
2009 Fie Gris...the Fie Gris is a grape called Sauvignon Gris...a very dry, acidic grape with a real lively nose
2008 Rose-100% Pinot Noir



Eric Chevalier






The Muscadet--Cool label



The rocks that the Muscadet grows in.



Domaine de la Chanteluserie was there as well and tasted us on their Bourgeil. This is the same Bourgeil we had in Tours the previous night. I like these wines a lot.

Tasting:
2007 Cuvee Vielles Vignes Bourgeil-40-90 year old vines
2007 Cuvee Beauvois Bourgeil
2008 Cuvee Alouettes Bourgeil-lightest and fruitiest of their Cab Franc's
2008 Cuvee Beauvois Bourgeil-not as mushroomey as the '07, aged in stainless
2008 Cuvee Vielles Vignes Bourgeil-aged in wooden casks, my favorite of the bunch

Day 1-Loire-Catherine and Pierre Breton

Catherine & Pierre's house was in Bourgeil which is also 100% Cabernet Franc country. While Chinon is meant to age, Bourgeil is meant to be drunk young. The Breton's are steadfast in their belief's about organic farming and organic viticulture. They use very little SO2 and have some of the strictest standards in the region. They just allowed Kermit to begin selling to the rest of the United States. Some Chenin Blanc is allowed in this region as well. These guys were incredibly passionate about their wine and very gracious.

Tasting order:

2009 La Dilettante Sec-100% Sparkling Chenin Blanc-between 6 to 8 grams of residual sugar-sweet summer peas, apples and quince.
2009 La Dilettante Bourgeil-100% Cabernet Franc-really, really light, fruity Cabernet Franc
2009 Franc de Pied-this is a small plot of pre-Phylloxera vines that the Bretons have kept to see what ungrafted root stock tastes like..yields are incredibly small..luckily for me, I get to taste it as well. Rocky clay and limestone soil.
2009 Trinch Bourgeil-this was my favorite of the tasting
2009 Beaumont Chinon-chalk, clay soil
2008 Franc de Pied Bourgeil-earthy, cedary, spicy
2008 Les Galichets Bourgeil-cherry-cola, popcorn, raw meat
2008 Beaumont Chinon-smoky, cedary, lots of finesse, very elegant
2008 Clos Senechal Bourgeil
2008 Nuits d' Ivresses Bourgeil-means 'drunken nights'...we had a bottle of this at dinner the other night
2007 Saint Louans Chinon-chalk and thin clay soil
2007 Les Perrieres Bourgeil-spends 2 years in barrel...incredible nose

After this immense tasting, we went into the house for bread, goat cheese and cured meats and had a 2002 Les Perrieres Bourgeil



Winery Cat



Pierre in the vineyard



Catherine in the vineyard



Les Perrieres Vineyard



Catherine in the cellar




Pierre in the cellar




The line-up




Sculpture in the Breton's yard




Battinage used to stir the wine in it's lees. Catherine uses this for her Chenin Blanc



The spread

Day 1-Loire-Charles Joguet-Chinon

I'm officially calling this day one, because this is our first real day of tasting. Our day started out at Charles Joguet in Chinon. Charles Joguet is a famous artist in Tours these days and no longer owns the winery, but his method and style of winemaking are carried on by Francois-Xavier Barc or FX, and is soon to be taken over by the propietors daughter, Charlotte and Kevin Fontaine who has been FX's apprentice since '06. Chinon's only red grape is Cabernet Franc.

Tasting order:

2009 Blanc from Touraine...100% Chenin Blanc
2009 Rose-Manually harvested and organic-bought 5 cases of this...unbelievable
2008 Cuvee Terroir-got 10 cases of this...good stuff
2008 La Petit Roche-grown in limestone soil
2007 Cuvee de la Cure (sp?)- This wine wowed me, so we got 5 cases of it
2007 La Variennes du Grand Clos-clay,limestone and sand soil
2007 Clos de la Pieterie-1.5 tons an acre yield...only 8000 bottles produced
2007 Clos du Chene Vert- Ditto the last
2002 Clos du Chene Vert- Heavy violet aromas, full bodied and complete, beautiful & elegant
2001 Clos du Chene Vert-more minerality
2000 Clos du Chene Vert-beautiful nose, not as much structure or minerality
1999 Clos du Chene Vert-mulberry and coffee on nose
1998 Clos du Chene Vert-Blueberry, cocoa and leather
1996 Clos du Chene Vert-Really nice, '96 was better for ageing, lots of red stone minerals
2009 Chenin Blanc late harvest-apples, quince, honey and nectar...only 25 cases made...outstanding way to finish!



80 year old vineyard outside of Charles Joguet






The terroir




Barrel Room



FX




Charlotte, Kevin and Charlotte's dad




A better shot of the cellar

France

So, I decided to start a wine blog as well as a music blog...crazy, I know, but this trip to France has to be chronicled, the wines and experiences are too amazing to be left to mere memories and retellings. After 26 hours, I am finally here, no more planes, trains and automobiles...the only part I hate about travel. However, we ate a good meal with great wines from a local French restaurant here in Tours. I am dealing w/ tech issues at the moment, but will post more when I get some free time and some wifi.



Landing at Charles de Gaulle



Dinner at La Chape in Tours...our first bottle of the night, the 2008 Alphonse Mellot 'La Moussiere' Sancerre



2005 Bernard Raveneau 1er Cru Butteaux Vineyard Chablis...this was unbelievable and unbeknownst to me at the time....there is more of this to come!




1996 Domaine de la Chantaleuserie 'Cuvee Beauvais' Bourgeil...there is also more of this to come as well, what a great discovery.




2000 Domaine Pallieres Gigondas-a perfect end to a perfect evening.



City Hall in Tours