After a seamless AGM and the harmonious election of our new committee, the Club settled down to, " Red Wines of the Loire" in the safe hands of our new chair and the equally safe hands of our speaker Jonathan Hoad from Yapp Bros.
Robin and Michael Yapp first began searching the viticultural backwaters of France for hidden gems forty years ago and found the Loire was a rich source of well made, if little known, wines. Their expertise in the area grew and Yapp Brothers were awarded Loire Specialist Merchant of the year by the International Wine Challenge in 2010. Their history and their knowledge within the area was well conveyed by Jonathan.
Jonathan opened with a remark that certainly rang true for some of our club, when you think about the Loire, "You forget about the reds". With such a knowledgable group we of course had one or two who had not "forgotten about the reds" and needed no introduction to and no convincing of the quality reds from this region, but if you, like me, thought that "serious" reds started somewhat south of the Loire, this was an eye opener.
We did taste two whites however, one to start and one to finish.
We started with Vouvray Reserve Mousseaux, hand riddled and bottle-fermented, apple and mineral edged with a lively mousse, it got the evening off to a good start. We ended on a delicious sweet Layon Rablay, Chateau la Tomaze 2009 that again had apples but beautifully honeyed on a clean bright palate.
Between these two excellent whites we tasted seven reds. The Loire, being the longest river in France, offers a wide range of climates, and as we tasted Yapp's "finds" Jonathan set them in their terroirs and showed Yapps strong connection with the place and the winemakers.
We started the reds with the lighter juicy fruity versions of Cabernet Franc. Chinon Chateau de Lingre 2009 was served alongside Saumur Chateau Fouquet 2010, the latter from Domaine Filliatreau an organic producer. Both had ripe red summer berry character and suited a little chilling before serving. That was the palate I expected and its very enjoyable, but Saumur Champigny Vielles Vignes 2008 moved the weight and heft of the wine up a notch and the richer cassis notes extracted by raising the temperature to 33 34 degrees at the end of fermentation made this a serious wine with plenty of legs for ageing. Also on the serious side was Pierre-Jaques Druet's Vaumoreau, 2000 described as "dark and brooding", it is not quite Heathcliffe but it does have dark sous-bois scents and meaty flavours, revealing what Cabernet Franc in the Loire can deliver. These two certainly provided wines to match meat and game. The Sancerre Maulin Bele by Andre Vatan was pleasing, if a little fragile, and the Menetou Salon made from Pinot Noir from Domain Jean Teiller delivered subtle tannins and ripe hedgerow fruit.
No matter how much we know about wine there is always something new to hear and Jonathan Hoad offered a nugget of advice gleaned from one of Yapp's winemakers, rub your gums with salt then taste the wine, if the tannins cut through the salt they are "rustic" if not they are "ripe". I am not sure it would be recommended in the tasting exams.
Jonathan claims, "If you have to have only one region of France then you could do worse than be held to the Loire" - its true, from sparkling wines through excellent whites to food friendly reds and then to delicious sweet wines it delivers in all categories, With global warming pushing up the sugar levels and allowing more body in the reds perhaps the Loire can make that claim even stronger in the decades to come. Meantime a few of those chilled reds will be pushing rose out of the way in my summer drinking, and Loire reds have grabbed a place in my memory bank!
SR