Jasnières is a Loire unto itself

Mar 21 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

THE biggest river in France is the Loire – La Loire. One of its many tributaries is, most confusingly, Le Loir.

The vineyards winding along its northern banks are the source of Jasnières. Curnonsky, the famed 20th Century food and wine critic, said of the wines of Jasnières, “Trois fois par siècle, le Jasnières est le meilleur vin blanc du monde.” (Three times per century, Jasnières are the best white wine of the world.)

In the other 97 vintages, even the hardy Chenin Blanc grape wouldn’t ripen completely in such northerly climes. But things are changing. Global warming means that the harvest that might once linger well into November now takes place in late September, and we can look forward to good Jasnières almost every year. I’ve yet to taste an example worthy of the ‘best in the world’ tag, but I’ve recently enjoyed several that were very attractive, including Domaine des Gauletteries 2006 (£7.99 from Majestic). It’s got a lovely ripe peach and honey smell and softly ripe, but dry, peachy taste.

Last month I set out to get to know not only Jasnières, but some of the other lesser-known vineyards in and around the Loire Valley. Those along Le Loir, half an hour’s drive north of Tours, are the prettiest. They have been much replanted over the past 20 years but I found patches of much older vines, elaborately espalier- trained like nowhere else.

The growers have also had the courage to stick with varieties traditionally planted in the region including a local black grape called Pineau d’Aunis, whose wine is mainly sold as Coteaux du Loir or Coteaux du Vendômois. Although medieval kings of England are said to have enjoyed it, a succession of warmer summers has revealed a depth and concentration of (rather peppery) fruit rarely seen before.

Alongside the great Loire itself it’s sometimes hard to spot the vineyards. For years I harboured a horrible suspicion that the ‘local’ wines were made from grapes trucked in from further south. I’ve now discovered that to see the best vineyards of Cheverny, one of the least-known appellations, it demands both advanced map-reading skills and a great deal of patience.

It took us half an hour of head-scratching as we tried to negotiate the twisting street of Vineuil, just across the river from Blois, before we finally beat our way to the door of Pascal Bellier, one of the most highly-rated producers. It was worth the trouble and clearly Thresher think so too. Monsieur Bellier hopes to sign a deal soon that will see his zesty white wine in their shops later this spring. It’s a pungent, fruity Sauvignon Blanc with very much a New World-like appeal.

I asked him what changes he’d seen in the vineyard over the last decade or so. “Harvests are now about a month earlier,” he told me, “and whereas in the past we had to add sugar to the grape juice before fermentation, we never do it now.”

Behind his house we finally found the vines on a gentle slope, running north, down to the flood plane of the river. His main black grape planted there is now Pinot Noir (previous generations preferred Gamay). It ripens so well, that his red wine has the swagger of a good Burgundy, but costs a fraction of the price. Majestic stock a dry white Cheverny. Le Vieux Clos 2006 (£6.49) has a lovely pungent smell of ivy, apples and green peppers and is crisply refreshing.

As you drive south out of the Loire Valley itself, you pass quite large vineyards planted on unpromisingly flat sandy soil and very gently rolling clay and limestone hills. The wine, sold as ‘AOC Touraine,’ is cheap and increasingly well-made.

Go a little further south, cross the River Cher, another tributary of the Loire, and you’re into the vineyards of Valançay, where the best white wine is an attractive blend of Sauvignon Blanc, rounded out with Chardonnay. I stopped to take some pictures, but soon got into conversation with a couple of vignerons on their way home after a chilly morning pruning their vines.

They both repeated the familiar story of harvests that seem to get earlier with each year. “Look at this,” one of them said, pointing to the cherry blossom in a nearby wood. “The seasons have gone crazy. We used to be able to predict roughly what the weather would be like at this time of the year, but now we don’t have a clue what’s going to happen next.” Despite this, business, he told me, was pretty good and he’d never made better wine.

One of the best producers of Valençay is the big co-op at Fontguenaud. We thought we’d go and buy a few bottles, but arrived just too late. They close on the dot at 12noon for lunch. Some things in France never change. I’ll have to settle for a bottle of my wine of the week.

Worthy of the finest lamb

THE isolated vineyard of Saint-Pourçain in the valley of the little River Sioule, a tributary of the Allier, is right in the centre of France, in a region best known for the huge oak forests that supply the timber from which the world’s finest wine barrels are crafted.

Its wines were favourites of the French court in the early Middle Ages and were even preferred above any from the Loire itself. The vineyard today is not much more than a thousand acres. Most red and rosé wine are a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay; the whites feature Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and a local variety called Tressalier.

Majestic have found a red St Pourçain (made by the director of the local co-op) worthy of the finest roast of Easter lamb. La Grille, Pinot Noir, 2005 is perfumed and plummy, with spicy red fruit, juicy acidity and a satisfyingly earthy tannic twist at the end. It costs just £5.99.

Wine of the Week

Valençay, le Clos du Château 2006, Majestic, £6.49

This fruity dry white - Sauvignon Blanc with a little Chardonnay - has a ripe fruity smell of melon, peach and gooseberry and a crisply fruity, tangy citrus taste, with a hint of bubbles. Try it with seafood, grilled fish or with mild cheeses.