Anne-Françoise drawing a sample of 2008

Visit this morning to the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups to taste the 2008s, which are still fermenting gently. Tasted with Anne-Françoise, the daughter of Jacky and Joëlle who are currently sunning themselves in the West Indies, having sensibly fled the cold of the Loire for a brief holiday before getting ready for the Salon des Vins de Loire.

Although still babies, the 2008 Montlouis and Vouvrays here look very promising, although it is too early to write detailed notes on them as they are still fermenting. They have a similar precision and purity as 2007, although perhaps with a little more weight. However, as they are still fermenting it is really too early to say.

Anne-Françoise: 'There was a very big difference between the level of acidity when we started to pick in early October to when we finished on the 29th October: levels started at 7 g and we finished on 5.5. So we see a big difference between le 1er passage and le 2eme passage. In 2008 Rémus is the heart of our Montlouis harvest."

Jacky Blot believes that 2008 is a great vintage for dry Chenin. Today's tasting, even at this early stage, suggests that he may well be right.

Anne-Françoise joined her parents at the domaine in 2006 after working for 11 years as a librarian. She had a six-month stage in Edinburgh in 1994 and then from 1995 to 2006 at the Bibliothèque Universitaire de Tours as well as some time working in Paris. "But I was always involved in the wine and came back for the vendange," she says.

Family dinner for eight starting with Jacky’s Blot’s 2000 Extra Brut Millésimé La Taille aux Loups – nicely rounded out and developed from its additional time in bottle – some toastiness and a hint of honey.

The 2007 Château du Cléray Muscadet Sèvre et Maine was brilliant with the first course of prawns having both weight and freshness but without sharp acidity. There was some surprise that Muscadet can be this good. The 2007 can clearly be drunk with pleasure now but should happily last for a good five years.

A magnum of the 2006 Expression de Cécile Sancerre Rouge from Henry Natter was perfect with the baked salmon trout – the wine’s soft red fruits being a fine foil to the trout’s quite delicate flesh. An illustration of how good a medium-bodied Sancerre red can be with some fish.

Then with the Tarte de Cambrai made with pears following the recipe in Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book, we finished off the 1990 Vouvray Moelleux Cuvée des Deronnières from Pascal Delaleu Domaine de la Galinière in Vernou.

(13th December 2008)

Chenin Blanc: Domaine de la Taille aux Loups 11.10.2008

A quick visit to Jacky and Joëlle Blot in Huisseau to pick up a little Rémus 2007 and the recently degorged Triple Zero from the 2007 vintage. Lucklily I had reserved some Rémus 2007 because it sold out within a month of going on sale in October.

A bucket of 2008 Chenin Blanc – a clear illustration
of how variable Chenin's ripeness can be.

Before we tasted the recently released trio, Jacky talked enthusiastically about the quality of the 2008 vintage as well as the 10 new hectares Of Montlouis vineyard that he has acquired, bringing the Taille aux Loups holding up to 45 hectares. Not bad, seeing as Jacky and Joëlle started with seven. Although it is a small harvest, only 25 hl/ha if you strip out the new 10 hectares, which they acquired too late to influence production, so some parcels cropped at over 60 hl/ha. In Bourgeuil volume was even less – just 17 hl/ha.

Jacky: “As in previous years we were the last to pick and to finish picking. Alcoholic degrees varied between 12.8˚ for Pied de la Butte to over 14˚ for mi-pente. We have benefited from the long slow ripening and the cold nights during the summer and autumn.”

We tasted the 2007 version of Triple Zero and the 2006 in magnum – the 2007 richer and more expressive than the 2006.

An so to the trio of 2007s. Rémus is round, lemony with lovely balance, while Clos de la Bretonnière (Vouvray) has quince, a touch of honey and mineral length. However, the real star on the day was the Clos de Venise (Vouvray). From soils with a high proportion of flint, the Clos has weight and greater complexity than the other two. It was so good that we were forced to buy some of the Clos de Venise as well.

As Jacky is convinced that the 2008s dry whites are superior to the 2007s, I fear that next year could be expensive.