2008 Domaine de Montrieux "Le Verre des Poètes" Pineau d'Aunis Vin de Table rouge de Loire Côteaux du Vendômois (Emile Heredia producteur at Vouvray)

Domaine de Montrieux - Emile Heredia

Created in 1999, by Emile Heredia, Domaine de Montrieux has been fully immerse into Organic methods since the beginning . The plots were chosen for their qualities: age of the vines, soil quality and exposure. Priority was given to old vines, chastened, they allow good control yields. Their roots plunge deep into the ground, which confer them constant accessible moisture and better resistance to heat, and also ensure the minerality and intensity of the wines.

Emile Heredia, a distant cousin of the famous Lopez de Heredia Family in Rioja, farms 7 hectares spread out between Villiers-sur-Loir and Naveil-Vendôme. These are some of the most distinguished slopes within the Anjou and Coteaux du Vendômois appellation, and which also encompasses some of the oldest vines of the area. One parcel of Pineau d’Aunis planted on its original roots in 1870 predates the arrival of phylloxera.

Most vineyards are planted south-facing slopes overlooking on the Loire. The soil is composed of layers of flint stone and clays resting on a limestone bedrock. The AOC Coteaux du Vendômois red and rose wines (better known as "Gris") are produced from the Pineau d'Aunis grape, and the other red Table wine is a sparkling red, Cerdon du Bugey inspired, made from old vines Gamay. Traditional Chenin Blanc goes for the white.

Pineau d'Aunis had its glory days during the Middle-Age, a favorite of Henry Plantagenet, wines made from this particular grape was first exported to England in the thirteenth century. At this time, it covered the entire Vendômois county and extended up until Nantes.

The climate, soils and mechanization would only result in obtaining good but rarely exceptional grapes of consistent quality and sufficient ripeness in this part of the Loire, therefore: "Work the soil, do not use synthetic chemicals, and harvesting by hand were obvious choices for the Domaine ". - Emile Heredia




2008 Domaine de Montrieux "Le Verre des Poètes" Pineau d'Aunis Vin de Table rouge de Loire Côteaux du Vendômois (Emile Heredia producteur at Vouvray)
Suggested retail price $18-$20
Imported / distributed by Metropolis Wines in NYC

Little anecdote about this particular wine, the label changes often and depending of the vintage the Poem on the front label may change, e.i:

• 2008 was Baudelaire: "Si le vin disparaissait de la production humaine, je crois qu'il se ferait dans la sante et dans l'intelligence de notre planete un vide, une absence encore plus affreuse que tous les exces dont on le rend coupable." - Baudelaire
  

• Beaumarchais: "Bannissons le chagrin, il nous consume: sans le feu du bon vin qui nous rallume, reduit a languir, l'homme sans plaisir, vivrait comme un sot, et mourrait bientot..." - Beaumarchais (Le Barbier de Seville)
  

• Moliere: "Les biens, le savoir et la gloire n'otent point les soucis facheux; et ce n'est qu'a bien boire que l'on peut etre heureux!" - Moliere (Le Bourgeois gentilhomme)
  

Pineau d'Aunis, also known locally as Chenin Noir, is a red grape variety indigenous from the Loire Valley and predominantly planted in the Anjou and Touraine region. Rare in the US market are the wines made from 100% Pinot d'Aunis. In general, it is often blended with other grapes, like Arbois Blanc to produce Cheverny Rosé and Pinot Noir in the Côteaux du Vendômois.

Crafted with organically grown 100% Pineau d'Aunis grape variety, manually harvested from pre-Phylloxera 140 years old vines, this natural, unfined and unfiltered wine is quite unique due to the age of the vines and interesting for its features.

2008 Le Verre des Poètes, meaning "the Glass of the Poets", presents a cloudy, opaque ruby color. A touch green and raw, the nose boasts very inciting aromas of freshly harvested and crushed berry, cherry, raspberry and grape, mixed with herbaceous, slightly vegetal notes. The palate possesses strong soil oriented, earthy qualities. High acidity enhances the freshly crushed red and dark wild berries, framed by a lightly green, stemmy tannins. The finish is long and spicy, here again a touch vegetal, but nothing off putting, on the contrary.

Overall, a very interesting wine to discover: bright, crisp, juicy, spicy, bit green, racy, fresh, natural and unusual, not necessarily rustic but definitely raw. Not for every palate and definitely food oriented, but a pleasing experience.

Enjoy,

LeDom du Vin

For more info go to the winery website at http://www.domainemontrieux.fr

FYI, another great wine citation from Baudelaire is:

"N'est-il pas raisonnable de penser que les gens qui ne boivent jamais de vin sont des imbéciles ou des hypocrites. Des imbéciles, c'est-à-dire ne connaissent ni la nature, ni l'homme... Des hypocrites, c'est-à-dire des gourmands honteux des fanfarons de sobriété, buvant en cachette ou ayant quelque vie occulte... Un homme qui ne boit que de l'eau a un secret à cacher à ses semblables." - Charles Baudelaire




Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic, Biologique and Organic wines and spirits and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment! Support the right causes for the Planet and all the people suffering all around the globe! Also follow projects and products from the Fair Trade, an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Also support 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. "Commerce Equitable" or "Fair Trade" is evidently and more than ever a needed movement connecting producers and customers, to be aware of others and their cultural and traditional products based on high quality, natural components and craftsmanship.

Jean-Pierre Robinot: L'Opera des vins "Les Années Folles" (Jasnieres) Coteaux du Loir Vin de Table Natural Pétillant France

Jean-Pierre Robinot - Les Vignes de l'Angevin - Vins Naturels

Before he established the winery in 2002, for nearly 15 years, Jean-Pierre Robinot offered, to its customers, natural wines in his Paris wine bistro-restaurant called: "l'Ange Vin" (literally "Angel Wine", but more especially a play of words for the word "Angevin", which is the name of the local people from the Anjou region, or the town of Angers, capital of Anjou, like Jean-Pierre).

Fascinated by the natural wines in general and the Loire wines in particular, he returned to his native village of "Chahaignes", located in the Sarthe, about 100 kilometers northeast of the city of Angers and 6.5 kilometers northwest of the village of "La Chartre sur le Loir", halfway between Le Mans and Tours, to establish a vineyard and craft natural wines from the "Vallée du Loir" (and no, this isn't a mistake).

Not to be mistaken with the "Vallée de la Loire", the "Vallée du Loir" is the valley formed by the banks of the "Loir" river, a tributary of the "Sarthe" river, taking its source west of Chartres, north of Illiers-Combray. The "Loir" joins the Sarthe river in Briollay, a village north of the city Angers, which in turn joins the Maine river that finally fall into the Loire.

The vineyards of the Loir Valley begins with the AOC Coteaux du Vendôme, through the AOC Jasnières ending with the AOC Coteaux du Loire. The production area consists now of 400 hectares, while many centuries ago, 5,000 hectares of vines were planted and used; but with time, some sites were abandoned and most others were mainly destroyed by the Phylloxera plague between 1860s and 1930s.

In 2002, he started to acquire quite a few plots of fallow lands in the appellation Coteaux du Loir, not planted over a century for some. Within the first few years, and the intention to slowly and gradually build his Domaine and after a first clearing operation, it already planted two hectares of vines in the appellation Coteaux du Loir. It also took care of some other vines planted on AOC Jasnières and AOC Coteaux du Loir red. Now, he possesses about 10 hectares of lands on steep slopes, which include great Terroirs.

• The objective he set for himself is ambitious: organic farming and natural winemaking and vinification processes, with yields limited to 25 / 30 hectoliters per hectare to obtain great complexity.

• The ground is plowed, the plants are fed with natural composts and weeding chemicals are banned.

• Vinification is done slowly, with almost no sulfur or without the addition of other products.

• White wines from the Chenin grape are very gently pressed. They are aged on their lees in oak barrels for at least 12 months.

• The red wines are from the Pineau d'Aunis grape variety. After a long fermentation, they finish their ageing on the lees in oak barrels for at least a year.

The resulting wines are very long and complex with great ageing potential, because of their great balance and structure. Yet, last updated by the end of 2009, the winery website doesn't do any favors to Jean-Pierre, in the sense that not all produced wines are represented on it. Hence, it is difficult to really realize how many wines he, in fact, produces. Only five appear on the website now (Lumiere de Silex, Jasnieres, Le Regard du Loir, Alter & Go, and Concerto d'Oniss), yet, "Les Années Folles" isn't there, "Symphonie du Temps"and "Cuvée Juliette Robinot" either.

In fact, there are a few more Cuvées than those; but it seems that it depends of the quality of the vintage and of his mood too. Jean-Pierre is definitely a personage, who makes great wines that need a bit more coverage. His grapes come from the different AOC(s) of the Vallée du Loir on which his vineyards are planted, yet they are mostly labeled Vin de Table or Vin de Pays due to the fact that his wines are so, ... somewhat atypical and certain of their features don't get along with the less generic AOC rules.


I will take a picture of the label when the wine will be at the store, because I forgot when I tasted it and the label for this particular wine changes depending on the vintage. To be completed soon.

2009 Jean-Pierre Robinot: L'Opera des vins "Les Années Folles" (Jasnieres) Coteaux du Loir Vin de Table Natural Pétillant France
Suggested retail price $16-$19
Imported / distributed by Zev Rovine selections in NYC

"Les Années Folles" is a natural "Pétillant" (lightly sparkling wine), made by Méthode Ancestrale, with disgorgement done by hand and no addition of dosage with sugar, just a refill of the bottles with the same wine, which makes it fairly dry. He makes about 160-200 cases at the most of this wines, depending of the vintage.

A blend of 80% Pineau d'Aunis and 20% Chenin Blanc from the AOC Jasnières, the light pinkish hue in the glass comes from minimal skin contact of the Pineau d'Aunis, a red grape variety, also locally known as "Chenin Noir", indigenous and predominantly grown in the Loire Valley, more especially in the Anjou and Touraine region.

Behind its medium light yellow-pinkish color, "Les Années Folles" (the crazy years) offers a funky nose where yeasty, farmy aromas intermingle with goat cheese, nutty, apple and yellow core fruit notes. The palate is much more attractive and inciting than the nose, which is definitely very interesting, yet could be slightly off putting at first, for some people. It presents freshness, great acidity, lovely balance and texture. Excellent in my opinion, this natural wine will surely generate mixed opinions, but it is worth trying and be surprised.

Enjoy,

LeDom du Vin,

Info taken, translated and edited from the winery website at http://lesvignesdelangevin.vinsnaturels.fr and from a discussion with Zev Rovine when he came to the store to taste us on a few wines from his portfolio.


Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic, Biologique and Organic wines and spirits and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment! Support the right causes for the Planet and all the people suffering all around the globe! Also follow projects and products from the Fair Trade, an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Also support 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. "Commerce Equitable" or "Fair Trade" is evidently and more than ever a needed movement connecting producers and customers, to be aware of others and their cultural and traditional products based on high quality, natural components and craftsmanship.