Tagged with "chenin blanc"

One of the highlights of the salon in Angers was meeting up with Ina Smith who works for the Chenin Blanc Association in South Africa.

Following our lively Zoom tasting on Saturday, I wanted to share my thoughts on two of the wines that I tasted during our session.

The official go-ahead for harvest in the Vouvray appellation has been given but several growers requested permission to start a little earlier

The grapes are starting to form and after two weeks of almost daily rain, the weather has settled and things are looking brighter.

Once again frost has struck the Loire valley. 2 nights ago growers lit the burners, turned on the aspersion and cranked up the hot air turbines.

Another amazing wine from Jo Pithon, his Coteau des Treilles 2009. We have a few bottles of a few different vintages in our cellar and it’s a while since we tasted the 2009.

It seems appropriate after my recent update on Jo and Isabelle Pithon’s domaine, to open a bottle of one of Jo’s beautiful sweet wines, Belargus des Treilles.

Jo Pithon, legendary winemaker in Anjou has sold his domaine to Ivan Massonnat after 40 years of dedicating his life to wine.

A beautiful bunch of Chenin Blanc still hanging on the vine at Chateau de Fesles in the heart of the Bonnezeaux appellation taken on Saturday. 

Harvest is in full swing here in the Loire and for the first time in three years we are seeing broad smiles on the faces of our partner growers as they bring in decent volumes of lovely looking grapes.

A couple of pics taken first thing this morning in the garden where we have 6 Cabernet Franc and 6 Chenin Blanc vines.

Anjou, the winemaking region around Angers and stretching as far east as Saumur, has been famous for its Chenin Blanc wines since the 9th Century. There are many appellations that fall under the Anjou umbrella