Latest update on Cabernet Franc Project


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I have just received the latest round up of news about the project. The plan is for the project to continue on into 2009 and to now start to look at other export markets apart from the UK. There will be a new Ambassadors' Selection made in 2009 – likely to be from the 2007 and 2008 vintages.


Sam Harrop MW

A personal view from Project consultant Sam Harrop MW
I have just returned from a whirlwind trip to the Loire where I was evaluating several 2008 winemaking trials. During the visit, I managed to taste a number of 2008 Cabernet Franc and I am delighted to report that quality looks impressive. Of course it's too early to say if 2008 is a great vintage, but early indications suggest it is well above average in quality.

Read on.....

The Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) tasting: 2nd October 2008
Standing up in front of your most highly qualified contemporaries and inviting criticism of your work takes a lot of backbone. But that is exactly what Harrop did at the IMW Cabernet Franc tasting on 2nd October 2008. His pizzazz paid off and the Project, the Ambassador wines and Cabernet Franc, were roundly praised.

‘I think this is a very good Project. The wines we tasted are wonderfully approachable. They have lost the old rusticity and are more refined. They demonstrate better wine making,’ said author, Rosemary George MW. Liz Robertson MW, consultant, agreed. ‘I was astonished and thrilled by the purity of the fruit in these wines. It proves that the herbaceous flavours do not have to be there.’

Read on....

Anjou: two items of news: Les Tonnelles and Domaine FL


posted by sooyup on ,

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Les Tonnelles to Angers

After many years on the island of Béhuard, the highly recommended restaurant Les Tonnelles is closing its doors on the 20th December and moving upstream to 9 Rue Max-Richard, Angers, which is a short walk from the railway station. It will be open in time for the Salon des Vins de Loire at the beginning of February and may perhaps open in Angers some time during January 2009.

Current address:
12 Rue du Chevalier-Buhard
49170 Behuard
Tel: 02.41.72.21.50

This should mean that there will now be three good restaurants in Angers. The other two are:

Le Relais
9 Rue de la Gare, 49100 Angers
Tel: 02.41.88.42.51
Email: c.noel10@wanadoo.fr
Web: www.destination-anjou.com/relais

Le Petit Comptoir
40, Rue David d' Angers, 49100 Angers
Tel: 02.41.88.81.57

Domaine FL
Philip Fournier, the CEO and chairman of the Angers based company Afone (www.afone.com) and who bought Domaine Jo Pithon in 2005 and Château de Chamboreau in 2006, has merged the two estates to form Domaine FL with 40 hectares of vines. A new winery will be built ready for the 2010 vintage. Bordeaux based Stéphane Derenoncourt is the consultant and Huges Daubercies is the maître de chais. Domaine FL will be farmed organically.

I guess that the creation of Domaine FL may mean that Jo Pithon will again be able to use his name commercially.

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