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Loire Valley
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ADÈLE ROUZÉ
 We're
always interested in finding new and interesting Sauvignon Blanc wines.
The appellation of Quincy (it's pronounced Can-See, not Kwin-see)
is not very well known to most wine drinkers. Even French people
have little experience with Quincy wines, since those of nearby Sancerre
tend to dominate wine lists in the Sauvignon "section."
But Quincy has a very long history, being the first area to gain
appellation status in the Centre-Loire way back in 1936. There are
even references to Quincy and its wine as far back as the year 1120,
well before the world had Robert Parker to tell it what wines to drink!
Young Adèle Rouzé's father is one of the leading lights of the
appellation. Adèle now has about one hectare's worth of vines to
work with when she's not doing her "day job" as a certified
agricultural appraiser.
The photo above shows Adèle standing in front of her one 'tank' of wine
and she's smiling because the notion of sending some bottles half-way
around the world to be consumed by savvy, wine-drinking San Franciscans is
almost a fantasy.
But in reality, we now have our second vintage of her terrific
Quincy. The appellation, by the way, is devoted solely to Sauvignon.
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- The 2008 vintage is the current offering. We like its crisp
character and unmistakable Sauvignon fragrances and flavors. It has a
nicely intense Sauvignon aroma. The
wine is at home with oysters, fresh crab, a salad with goat cheese,
etc. When you make one hectare's worth of wine, you can make it the
way you like, not having to worry about "marketing" and the
like. As a result, this is not a wine appealing to those who prefer
oak or residual sugar.
Sorry...this is for adults.
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Currently in stock: 2008 QUINCY $16.99
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Adele in the winter of 2008...
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DOMAINE AUCHÈRE
 The
Auchère family is now in its seventh generation of cultivating vines in
the Sancerre town of Bue.
We are fans of Burgundy wines and these days you'll pay upwards of $35 for
a nice one.
Jean Jacques Auchère makes a very elegant Sancerre Rouge and this is a
lovely alternative to a modestly-priced Burgundy.
The 2006 is very fine. The fragrances are unmistakable as anything
but Pinot Noir. The aromas are reminiscent of cherries with a hint
of the herbal notes of cassis. The wine is a deliciously chillable
red and will pair nicely with red meats, white meats or cheeses.
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Currently in stock: DOMAINE AUCHÈRE
2006 Sancerre Rouge $21.99
DOMAINE DE
LA FONTAINERIE
This 6 hectare Vouvray domaine started in about 1712 and was taken over in
1990 by Catherine Dhoye-Deruet. She produces about 25,000 bottles of
wine annually, making dry, off-dry, sweet and sparkling wines.
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The vineyard property features chalky slopes in the Valle
Coquette.
- Sparkling Vouvray is certainly known in the Loire Valley, but outside
the region, few people have ever tasted such a wine. Catherine makes
a non-vintaged bottling as well as a vintage-dated wine. We find
many wines of Vouvray to have a fragrance reminiscent of dried
mushrooms. The sparkling wine here displays that aroma when first
opened, for example.
 Yet
as the wine airs, this blows off. Please don't judge it based on the
first sniff! (I should note that a Champagne winemaker told us he
liked to decant his young sparkling wines...he felt the oxygenation helped
open up the wine. After enjoying Fontainerie's bubbly, I have to say
I agree that giving the wine some air is a good idea!)
- As the sparkling wine from this region is not thought to be the equal of
Champagne, it remains a price-worthy alternative to its famous
cousin. Twelve dollars and change will get you a bottle of Fontainerie's Brut
Sparkler from the 1997 vintage.
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Samples for INAO, the French Bureaucracy.
Samples for Wine-Tasting Customers.
We tasted many wines on our visit.
Lunch with Vouvray.
The "Rillettes" (in the little 'tub') from the artisan
charcutier "Hardouin"
are even prepared with Vouvray! Needless to say, the combination is
quite good!
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 The
wines we have, presently, from the Domaine de la Fontainerie include the
1990 Vouvray "Moelleux" Les Brls. I've tasted it at
the cellar and it was superb, showing lots of sweet, ripe fruit.
Very long on the palate, with overtones of apricot and a nice, rich
texture. Tasting it here the other day I found it a bit less sweet,
but still quite good. If you're having some sort of Foie Gras
starter, this is a good candidate to pair with it.
As noted above, the Vouvray "gold label" Brut from 1999 is
wonderfully dry and crisp. Best to allow it to breathe for a few
minutes or pour it into a decanter before serving it.
The 2002 Vouvray Sec is a nice example of Chenin Blanc from the Loire
vinified in a dry style. Mildly fruity on the nose but with an
"edge" to it.
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Currently in stock: 1990 Vouvray "Moelleux" Coteau les Brls
$24.99 - 750ml
2002 Vouvray Sec $14.99
1999 Brut Sparkling Vouvray $15.99 - 750ml
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- CHATEAU des FESLES
 Now under new ownership, the property was under the ownership of a
highly esteemed fellow named Boivin. He had come to the Loire after working at
Chateau d'Yquem. He was, apparently, the first in the region to make several runs
through the vineyard at harvest time, picking only the ripe fruit. The property then
was sold to a famous Parisian baker and is today in the hands of Bernard Germain.
Making a range of wines, the Bonnezeaux is of interest. Their 1996 is "off the
charts" and as exciting a young, sweet Chenin Blanc as we've ever laid a lip
on. We estimate this would live a long time, "would" being the operative
term. However, that requires more patience than we can probably muster. - Currently available: 1996 Bonnezeaux $43.99 -- 500ml bottle
- CHÂTEAU DE SOUCHERIE
- With a range of wines of the Anjou region, this label is the work of Pierre-Yves Tijou.
The estate is perched on a hill, with a magnificent vista of the Layon Valley
below. We have a young Coteaux du Layon that is young and perhaps needs a bit more
cellaring before it blossoms.
- Currently available: 1996 Coteaux du Layon "Vieilles Vignes"
$26.99
CHÂTEAU de SURONDE
- Once owned by a guy whose college training was as a language interpreter, this family used to
own about a half the appellation of Quarts-de-Chaume at one time.
We visited the property in March of 2002 and found an amazing cellar and
vineyard. Organic farming. In fact, winemaker/wine grower Francis
Poirel does biologique farming. Tiny yields, as he
makes just 5,000 to 10,000 bottles annually from his 7.5 hectares. Amazing
wines.
This is one of those "serious" winemakers who understands how to
coax the best from the vineyards and how to capture that special quality
in the bottle.
Poirel makes wonderfully expressive, soulful wines.
When we visited him we tasted a terrific dry white wine which he explained
could "only" be designated as a Vin de Table. That's
because the Appellation Contrôllée laws required the wine be fermented
with a commercial yeast, not the wild yeast that's part of the grape
skins! I can't quite recall precisely the rest of the silly,
appallingly lame requirements, but the fruit was harvested too ripe and
did not require Francis add sugar to the juice. This was another strike
against the wine from the legal standpoint, but a positive factor from a
wine quality perspective.
His 2002 Quarts-de-Chaume is a delicious Chenin Blanc. One of those
wines which displays this magnificent and relatively unheralded
grape. It's got lots of honeyed notes and yet retains a fine 'edge'
of minerality and acidity.
We had a bottle of an earlier vintage with Bob's sauted foie gras...
Quarts-de-Chaume
It was a magnificent combination!!!
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- Currently available:
2002 Quarts-de-Chaume $64.99
(750ml)
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- CHATEAU DE TIGNE
- This estate was purchased in 1989 by actor Gerard Depardieu. Producing several
cuvees of Cabernet Franc, we see only the "normal" bottling and a slightly sweet
rose. The wines are a bit rustic and we've found the red seems more interesting when
allowed to breathe for an hour or so.
They've been out of the market since 2002, or so.
- Currently available: Sold Out Presently.
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- HENRI BOURGEOIS
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 I've
sensed from my few visits to the Sancerre area that this firm is highly
respected by the smaller, independent growers in the area. While there
are a number of fairly large firms doing business in this part of the Loire,
none is as highly regarded as Bourgeois. And if you taste their wines,
you'll understand they do strive for a quality product.
Plus Monsieur Bourgeois travels the world, playing the role of an
ambassador for Loire Valley wines. The last time we saw him here in
California, his pockets were full of rocks! He wanted to show
everyone the sort of terrain his wines come from!
 
 
The various soils in the Sancerre region.
Located in the famous village of Chavignol, they have a modest-sized
facility towards the top of the hill. They bottle quite a range of
wines, featuring a number of bottlings of Sancerre.
A special cuvée of old vines Sauvignon is called La Bourgeoise. It's
a fantastically fine bottle of Sancerre. The wine captures the
minerality and steely edge of Sancerre-area Sauvignon and they've exposed a
part of the batch to an oak barrel, so there's a toasty oak element here,
too. The wood accents the wine, rather than covering it. It
shows that Sauvignon Blanc can be made in a complex, satisfying style.
It's of "white Burgundy complexity."
An everyday Loire Valley Sauvignon is also being produced and in these
difficult economic times, it's a welcome relief. The wine has mildly
minerally, moderately citrusy notes of Sauvignon Blanc. They may call
it "Petit," but it's a big winner in terms of value.
Don't miss it.
- Currently in stock: 2006 La Bourgeoise SANCERRE Sale $34.99
2007 PETIT BOURGEOIS $11.99
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DOMAINE PICHOT
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 This
is a father and son enterprise, with son Christophe owning the Le Peu de la Moriette property
and dad taking care of the Coteau de la Biche. Together
there are about 27 hectares of vines.
Typically the "Le Peu de la Moriette" label features wines of some
level of residual sugar, while the Coteau de la Biche wines are in the dry
to demi-sec range.
A number of producers of Chenin Blanc wines in the Loire take pride in the
ability of their wines to cellar well. We visited a fellow who makes a
small amount of Chenin for his own amusement and he showed us a bottle of a
fifty year old wine which tasted far younger than it was.
The Pichot's make a range of wines, but it's their "Moelleux" wine
we've had in the shop the past few years. A relatively unknown wine,
we were distressed to see a favorable review of this wine in The Wine
Spectator. Never mind that few wine drinkers are interested in sweet
Chenin Blanc, but those fixated on numerical scores stampede when some
journal raves about a wine. It's some sort of religious thing,
apparently.
The 1996 is quite good. Still a bit young, but very nice. The
acidity balances the sweetness. The fragrance is rather typical of
many Vouvray wines and it's not a bright, fruity character but has a note
which reminds me of many of the underground chalk cellars in the
region. If you don't mind this "earthy" tone to the wine,
you might enjoy trying a bottle.
The 2008 is much like its predecessors...there's
ample acidity to balance the sweetness, so the wine is quite good as both an
aperitif and a 'table wine.' It's delicious now and should remain in
fine shape for two or three years. Bright melon and a tangy, citrusy
tone are the themes of this Vouvray. Good wine and good value.
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- Currently in stock: 1996 Domaine Le Peu de la Moriette Vouvray
"Moelleux" $27.99
- 2008 Domaine Le Peu de la Moriette Vouvray $13.99
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