Cabernet Franc@Château de Villeneuve October 2005

New research shows that Cabernet Franc is not only one of the parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, it is also a parent of both Merlot and Carmenère. A group of French scientists working on grape DNA, in collaboration with Professor Carole Meredith, who was at UC Davis until she retired, have revealed that Merlot is a natural off-spring of Cabernet Franc and a previously unknown red grape named Magdeleine Noire des Charentes. Cabernet Franc teamed up with Sauvignon Blanc to produce Cabernet Sauvignon.

Further research by the group shows that Carmenère was parented by Cabernet Franc and a variety called Gros Cabernet, while the parents of the Loire’s Côt (known elsewhere as Malbec or Auxerrois, especially in Cahors) are Magdeleine Noire des Charentes again and Prunelard. The Black Magdeline was also a parent of the unknown grape Mourtès this time pairing up with another forgotten variety called Penouille.

Côt@Domaine Joël Delaunay September 2008

The research was published in the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research on 22nd December 2008. The parental link between Carmenère and Merlot suggests a logic to the Chileans confusing Carmenère with Merlot.

Clearly fidelity and monogamy are not the norm in the grape world.


Here is the abstract for the article:

Authors:
J.-M. Boursiquot , T. Lacombe, V. Laucou, S. Julliard, F-X. Perrin, N. Lanier, D. Legrand , C. Meredith and P. This

Background and aims: Based on parentage analysis of a large nuclear simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker database of grapevine genotypes, we propose the pedigree of several cultivars from southwestern France including Merlot, one of the world's major black winegrapes.

Methods and results: The putative mother of Merlot, deduced from inheritance at 55 nuclear and three chloroplast microsatellite loci, is a non-referenced and previously unknown cultivar, first sampled some years ago in northern Brittany where vines were cultivated at the end of the Middle Ages, and then identified in four places in Charentes. Considering both the name used by the growers of this grape and the literature, we have named it Magdeleine Noire des Charentes. The putative father of Merlot is Cabernet Franc, already involved in the parentage of Cabernet-Sauvignon. Further analysis of genetic relationships leads us to propose the kinship group of Merlot composed, among others, of Carmenère (Gros Cabernet × Cabernet Franc), Merlot Blanc (Merlot × Folle Blanche), Cot (Magdeleine Noire des Charentes × Prunelard) and Mourtès (Magdeleine Noire des Charentes × Penouille).

Conclusions: These results shed new light on the origin of Merlot and on the relationships among several cultivars from south western France.

Significance of the study: Our discovery of the key genetic role of a previously unknown cultivar in the origins of some significant cultivars reinforces the importance of deep exploration, before it is too late, to discover original genotypes which have not yet been collected or referenced.

(16th August 2008: Montlouis and the last day of visits with The Wine Detective)

François Chidaine: 16th August 2008

We met at La Cave Insolite, François’ wine shop in Montlouis in the middle of the Quai Albert Baillet that runs along the south side of the Loire. La Cave Insolite stocks the Chidaine wines as well as other like-minded Loire producers. François’ wine making cellar is in the small hamlet of Husseau along with a number of other Montlouis producers like Jacky Blot and Franz Salmon.

In 1989 François Chidaine started working with his father, Yves, on the family vineyards, which then totalled five hectares. Now he has 14 hectares in Montlouis, 10 ha in Vouvray including the historic Clos Baudoin, which he and his partners acquired from Prince Philippe Poniatowski. A long drawn out process that started in 2002 and was finally completed in 2007 with the Prince moving out of his long-time home in early 2008. François also has six hectares in Touraine including 1.5ha in the village of Chissay in the Cher Valley.

The estate has been biodynamic since 1999 and François is now established as one of Montlouis leading producers. In Vouvray he has a big job re-establish the Clos Baudouin as one of the top vineyards in Vouvray after many years of neglect for unfortunately the vines in the Clos are in a very poor state and it is going to take 15 years to put them right. “The Prince was badly advised,” says François. “The wrong clones were planted and the vineyard was not properly looked after. It takes years to rescue a vineyard and put things right. We are not working for us but for the generation to come.” says François.


I remember a visit to Poniatowski a little while before François became involved. It was at the time when Nicolas Renard, who had produced amazing wines in Jasnières, was briefly in charge. It was apparent that the two men had very different views on how to look after vineyards and make wine. Nicolas Renard wanting to reduce yields as he had successfully done previously in Jasnières until Nicolas was forced out through a dispute with the owner of the vineyards he was renting that went to court. It was also apparent that the Prince had huge stock of wines from vintages stretching back at least well into the 1980s. I remember a very substantial stack of 1984, one of the worst vintages of the 1980s.

(See an account by David McDuff on a visit in 2004 to the Poniatowski estate:
http://mcduffwine.blogspot.com/2007/11/last-vouvrays-of-philippe-poniatowski.html)

François looks for purity and minerality in his wines and has a preference for those years like 2002, 2004 and 2007 when his Chenin does not become super-ripe. Like Philippe Alliet in Chinon he is not a great fan of the super rich vintage of 2003. Although he does make some good and delicate sweet wines when climatic conditions insist, François' real interest is in the drier styles of Montlouis and Vouvray. “I prefer difficult vintages that show the Loire’s true personality.” Unlike the majority of the producers in both Vouvray and Montlouis François concentrates on still wines. “90% of my wines are still,” he says, “while between 60%-70% of the overall production of the two appellations is sparkling.”

Vouvray: La Vallée Chartier road destroyed by
the storm of 31st May 2008. Taken on 2nd June.

“2008 has been difficult,” François explained. “Like last year we have had problems with mildew. The big storm in Vouvray on 31st May meant that we couldn’t get into the vineyards for three weeks to treat the vines.”

On the afternoon of the 31st May Vouvray was hit by torrential rain that flooded houses and washed away some of the steep roads that lead down the steep coteaux. The storm got marooned over Vouvray – no rain fell in Husseau just to the east of the town of Montlouis and little in Rochecorbon just to the west of Vouvray.

Vouvray: small van crushed by trees brought downby the torrent of
water on 31st May 2008. The van's owner, who was just
about to get in when it was engulfed had a lucky escape.

Before we start tasting the 2007s François explains the overall differences between Montlouis and Vouvray. The soil at Vouvray is predominantly argile-calcaire (clay and limestone) while Montlouis is mainly argile-silex (clay and flint), which gives Vouvray more power and finesse than Montlouis. The wines are aged in demi-muids (600 litre) barrels of which 10% are new as François is not a fan of new oak.

François in his cellar at Husseau: late January 2008

We start with a couple of 2007 Vouvrays – Les Argiles and Le Clos Baudouin. Les Argiles is very clean and straight, quite ripe with a hint of honey – typically 2007. In contrast Le Clos Baudouin was tight, closed and a little rustic, although the nose was richer. It needs three or four years to come round. Then across the Loire to the powerful 2007 Clos du Breuil, Montlouis – grapefruit flavours and a lot of finesse from 35 year-old vines.

Next up Les Bournais that comes from a 2.5 ha parcel on argile-calcaire in Husseau that was cleared of scrub during the 1990s and planted in 1998-1999 using massale selection. The resulting wine is powerful, pure, long and honeyed. “The vineyard is well ventilated. At the beginning I didn’t know the potential of Les Bournais,” François admits. The rich, powerful and honeyed 2007 Choiselles has four grams of residual. All of the 2007s so far have around 13% alcohol.

The Clos Habert with 15 gms of residual is from the argile-silex plateau comes from 25 year old vines and is all understated finesse and purity as is the Clos du Breuil. The quite rich, softly honeyed but also mineral Les Tuffeaux has 17 gms rs and comes from a second passage through the vines picking over-ripe Chenin. “Liquroice and smoky,” comments François.

Le Bouchet (Vouvray) ended the 2007 Montlouis and Vouvrays. “An extraordinary terroir on the premiers côtes,” enthuses François, “classic Vouvrays – minerals and truffles. You really need to be on the premiers côtes as the vines behind the côtes produce more rustic wines with less finesse.” Le Bouchet is rich and honeyed with passion fruit, a touch orange rind and other citrus flavours. This should have a considerable life ahead of it. Similarly the other 2007s should age well.

Then we tasted a couple of sparkling wines – a Montlouis méthode traditionelle 2005 and a Vouvray Pétillant 2004. Both wines have no additional dosage. The Vouvray was honeyed, yeasty and a little rustic, while the Montlouis was ripe, quite delicate and easy to drink. However on the evidence of this small sample, it is clear that François' still wines are the ones that stand out.


Time before we left to have a quick look at François’ Touraine wines. At Chissay he has Sauvignon Blanc, Côt and Pineau d’Aunis – with Eric Nicolas of Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir as the ‘reference’. First the crisp, grassy and nettley 2007 Sauvignon picked between the 13th and 17th September. “This year we may be picking a week later – around 20th-25th September. The 2007 Rosé de Touraine is two-thirds Grolleau and one-third Pinot Noir has attractive freshness and length. We ended with the rich, spicy and powerful 2006 Pineau d’Aunis (17%)/Côt (83%), which is aged a year in barrel. "Fabulous variety," said François. Obviously too young it will be interesting to taste this gain in a couple of years – unfortunately only 4000 bottles are produced so this may well not happen.

La Cave Insolite – Chidaine, 30 Quai Albert Baillet - 37270 Montlouis-sur-Loire.

Tel: 02 47 45 19 14
Email: francois.chidaine@wanadoo.fr
Web: www.cave-insolite-chidaine.com

I caught up briefly with Vincent and Catherine on the phone this morning for a progress report on 2008.

Vincent: Overall the vintage isn’t too bad. We have been very surprised by how little there is – lack of juice in the grapes and small berries. However, the quality across the board – Rosé de Loire, Cabernet d’Anjou, Anjou Blanc Sec and the reds – is good. We finished the Cabernet Franc last Saturday. As it was completely ready we picked all of it in a day with a big team of 20-25, including university friends of Emmanuel (Catherine and Vincent’s son). The Franc had 13% potential and the acidity had come down to 4.8 gms – 10 days ago the it had been up at 7.5-8 gms. But the yield is only 20 hl/ha!

“On Thursday we finished the Cabernet Sauvignon in the Côte de la Houssaye – potential 13.7%. As far as the sweet wines are concerned we have hardly started – just two small passages through the vines with the grapes around 18% potential. The Chenin is now about ready to pick but it’s damp this morning and unfortunately rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday. The pity is that if we had fine weather there is only about a week’s picking left.”

Vincent and Catherine with 2007 Coteaux du Layon
at the start of its fermentation (early Nov 2007)

A quick call this evening to Christophe Daviau, Domaine de Bablut, to find out how the vintage is progressing. The Daviau family have been at the Bablut in the market town of Brissac since 1546 – an estate agent’s nightmare!

Christophe: “We are still harvesting. We have finished the Cabernet Sauvignon – the last grapes were picked on Friday. The Cabernet Sauvignon was very ripe including the pips and skins and this year is much more evenly ripe than the Cabernet Franc, which is decidedly variable. I expect that there will be a 2008 Rocca Nigra (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) but am less sure about whether we will release a Petra Alba (Cabernet Franc on calcaire – limestone) in 2008. As usual the Cabernet Franc on calcaire is later in ripening.

Cabernet Sauvignon vines@Brissac
overlooking the L'Aubance Valley

“There is still not much juice in the grapes. Yields are about two thirds of what I had anticipated – about 25-30 h/ha for the Cabernet Sauvignon.”

“We didn’t pick this morning as there was a little rain but I expect we will start picking the Cabernet Franc tomorrow morning and finish on Friday. We picked the Chenin for the Anjou Blanc on Thursday and Friday of last week. It was a good thing we did as noble rot really developed over Saturday and Sunday. As for the Coteaux de l’Aubance I expect that we will begin on Friday and we’ll pick Monday and Tuesday – the forecast is good until Wednesday. Noble rot is now developing. I might release a little Grandpierre (Christophe’s single vineyard L’Aubance, which has a wonderfully mineral character, but there will be very little as the parcel was frosted.

It’s is a problem getting some of the grapes fully phonologically ripe as most of the leaves have now fallen off – because the vines started to anticipate winter early due to the cool temperatures in August. Also, of course, the vintage is later than in recent years.”

Christophe Daviau

After a fairly miserable day for much of yesterday in the Pays Nantais, it cleared up a bit when we moved eastwards to Anjou in the late afternoon.

Today started misty over the Coteaux de l’Aubance. Initially it promised to be fine once the mist lifted but blue skies soon gave way to clouds. I spent the morning with Christophe Daviau (Domaine de Bablut) looking at the vineyards that are now run biodynamically.

Cabernet Franc destined for Petra Alba (calcaire soil)

Cabernet Franc destined for Petra Alba
– note grapillons on ground bottom left

Now around 10˚ potential alcohol and 8˚ acidity the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignons are at least a good ten days to a fortnight before they are ready to pick. There are signs of the start of some botrytis developing on the Chenin but it will be a while before they start picking.

Currently the team of vineyard workers going through the Cabernets are stripping off the grapillons (also called verjus) and dropping them on the ground. Grapillons are second generation bunches that ripen later, if they ever do, than the main first generation bunches. At the moment they are green, so easy to spot. Once they change colour they will be much more difficult to identify. If the grapillons are not eliminated, then they will give the wine green, unripe flavours.

A grapillon – unripe second generation grapes
that will make your wine taste green and sharp

In 1989, which had an amazingly fine summer and autumn, Didier Richou of Domaine Richou in Moze-sur-Louet made a small cuvée of Gamay from the grapillons harvested in late November or early December, which I believe had 13% alc.

Grolleau Noir

As rain was forecast Christophe didn’t pick yesterday instead getting the highly reputed mobile bottlers Brault to come. Amongst the cuvées bottled were the Coteaux de l’Aubance Grandpierre 2005 and 2006. Picking started again today with the Sauvignon Blanc (VDP de la Loire) being machine picked.

Sauvignon Blanc: VDP de la Loire

Machine picking Sauvignon Blanc