Tagged with "chenin blanc"
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Loire Wine Salon 2016
The first real chance to get a handle on the current vintage is at the annual trade tastings which happen at the end of January beginning of February each year.
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Vouvray 7 March 2015
Beautiful, beautiful spring weather this weekend in the Loire. Full sunshine and temperatures of around 17° in Vouvray made it feel like early summer.
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Favourite places in the Loire valley – Angers
Angers, small city in the heart of Anjou. Vibrant and bustling with lots of restaurants, bars and more than a sprinkling of historical monuments to keep you amused for a day or two
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Montlouis-sur-Loire
A lesser known appellation but one that should be on your mind if you are looking for good Chenin Blanc.
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Clos du Papillon 2005 Savennières Domaine du Closel
Lovely elegant aromas of lime and white flowers are followed by a rather exotic note of saffron and stone fruit which is just beguiling. Rich and round on the palate, not too fat or heavy, nice acidity and balance. Really, really good.
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Domaine Patrick Baudouin
It looks like we’re going to have some great 2014 wines if those of Domaine Patrick Baudouin in Anjou are anything to go by.
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Les Anges Vins
A few pics and wines of note from the recent Anges Vins tasting held in St Aubin de Luigné in the heart of the Layon valley.
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A little more Anjou harvest news 2014
After the 40mm of rain that fell on Monday I thought that would be it for those hanging on in there for a final pass through the vineyard.
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Chenin Blanc – the most versatile grape on the planet
The challenge with Chenin Blanc (if there is one) is to pin it down to a particular wine style. Or is it? Why not just embrace the fact that Chenin is a so called ‘carrier of terroir’ and that even within a single appellation you will find a myriad of different wine styles.
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Loire Harvest 2014 with Pithon-Paillé
Pickers picking, grapes arriving, press pressing, juice settling, Isabelle cooking, Joseph washing barrels, Jo surveying and Wendy welcoming – it was all hands on deck yesterday at Pithon-Paille. After 2 years with tiny yields (7 and 11hl/ha), there are plenty of smiles in the winery this year as volumes are up to around 25hl/ha (still low but much more encouraging) and grapes are coming in looking ripe and healthy.
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Loire valley grape varieties
17 different grapes grown in the Loire valley. One photo of each one, all grown on the same plot taken on August 30th 2014.
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The sweet wines of the Loire valley
Naturally produced sweet wines require lots of hard work in the vineyard. Chenin Blanc is so suited to sweet wine with its naturally high acidity and lovely grapefruity bitterness that comes from sinking its roots deep into the schistous slaty soils of Anjou (its great on limestone too!).