The oldest way to make sparkling wines is called méthode ancestrale in France. The method is mainly used in Gaillac, Limoux and Die. A more modern, or at least trendier, style of this method is called pétnat, or pétillant naturel. It is an easy-drinking bubbly wine, often from the Loire Valley, popular at “natural wine […]
Some grapes are easier to recognize than others. Sauvignon Blanc is easy but not the easiest. That distinction goes to Muscat and Gewürztraminer. But still, in a blind tasting you have a fair chance of identifying the Sauvignon Blanc. However, Sauvignon Blanc, like most other grapes, is influenced by their environment, be it the soil, […]
A tour of France’s vineyards today shows that more and more wine producers prefer to let the grass and the weed remain in the vineyard instead of removing it. Today, many refrain from chemical weed control, also those who are not organic. The region of Anjou-Saumur in the Loire Valley has gone one step further. […]
Recommendations from an ambitious importer’s selection For a wine enthusiast, it is important to keep an eye on what the various importers have to offer. It is with the ambitious importers that you will find exciting wines, such as the importer Handpicked Wines. The big grocery chains selection is often largely populated by moderately exciting […]
The various sparkling crémant wines produced around France are becoming more and more popular. Not least the Crémant de Loire, which has seen a huge boost for its exports. 2017 saw an increase in exports to the US by 9%. The wines are made mainly in the Saumur area but can also be made in […]
The Loire Valley is short on “locomotives”, producers with an international reputation for quality. There are many, many top-quality small producers and also a few big houses and co-operatives, but none with a significant international reputation. Perhaps Ackerman is on the way to turning up the steam to pull Loire Valley wines forward. Ackerman has […]
We were recently doing wine tour with wine lovers in the Loire Valley we tasted some really delicious chenin blanc wines, many of them. Chenin blanc has never really caught on as a trendy grape, not at all like riesling, with which it shares several characteristics. We have never understood why since it is a […]
Ackerman is a major producer of sparkling wine in the Loire Valley. Now the company launches its first bubbly chenin blanc without added sulphur (Saumur Brut l’Esprit nature, 11.50 euros on site). But that does not mean that these wines automatically fit into the “natural wine” category. Certainly, the absence of sulphur is important to […]
It has been a cold spring in northern France. For growers in Chablis and the Côte d’Or this turned into something really bad during the night between April 26 and 27. It was a frosty night that affected virtually all vineyards in the two regions. How big the damage will be is still uncertain, but […]
Winter is wine fair time. It is busy times if you want to explore all the wine shows. The Loire Valley Wine Fair takes place on February 1-3, 2016 at the Exhibition Centre in Angers. Or if you prefer Le Salon des Vins de Loire at the Parc des Expositions in Angers. You can easily […]
Co-operatives sometimes suffer from a less than great reputation in wine. Sometimes it is well-deserved, for cooperatives that focus more on quantity and volume production than on quality. Sometimes is it unfair. There is an important trend today in the cooperative sector in the wine industry to improve both quality and market orientation. This is […]
Anjou in the Loire Valley is an important region for the white grape Chenin Blanc. In Anjou you find for example Savennières where they produce great dry Chenin wines and Coteaux du Layon where they make some fabulous sweet Chenin wines. Today there are 5000 hectares of Chenin Blanc in Anjou. The black grapes have […]
Loire wines from 2001, 2000, 1999, 1997, 1993, 1985, 1983, 1981, 1975, 1964, 1959, 1953, 1949 and approximately 1875 Moulin Touchais was founded in 1787. The appellation is Coteaux du Layon, Anjou-Saumur. The vineyard is still owned by the same family. In the early 1800s they began producing sweet wines from the Chenin Blanc grape […]
Uncorked: Under this heading we collect various wines that we have tasted, and liked, recently. It can be wines that we have had during dinner at home, at wine tastings, press lunches, visits to vineyards, or other occasions. We describe the wines just with a few short sentences, tasting notes that we hope will give […]
France is without a doubt the world’s most prominent wine country. They make some very expensive wines, famous names known all across the world. But France is also an excellent source for wines in the medium price range. At the very low end they may however struggle to compete with low cost countries, especially for […]
Loire is France’s longest river. About 1000 kilometres long. Along the river there are lots of exciting wines of many different types, ranging from simple everyday wines to magnificent quality wines. The “wine part” of the Loire starts at Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire and continues all the way out to the Atlantic. Along its course the […]
Winter is wine fair season. Winter is when winemakers have the time to participate in wine shows and that is when many wine shows take place, for example the Salon des Vins de Loire, the Loire Valley wine show. For anyone who is working with Loire wines or who has a special interest in Loire […]
Uncorked: Under this heading we collect various wines that we have tasted, and liked, recently. It can be wines that we have had during dinner at home, at wine tastings, press lunches, visits to vineyards, or other occasions. We describe the wines just with a few short sentences, tasting notes that we hope will give […]
All things are permitted if you want to be eco-friendly, right? A producer in Bourgueil in the Loire Valley allows 220 hens to stroll around in the vineyard. This way he hopes to avoid using both herbicides and insecticides. But when the grapes begin to ripen, they will have to leave. The risk is that […]
Sauvignon blanc is grown around the world today but from the beginning it was Sancerre in the upper Loire Valley that made this grape famous. We have visited the Domaine Henri Bourgeois, a well-known family in the Sancerre appellation. Their home is in the small village of Chavignol. Chavignol is only a few kilometres from […]
Sauvignon blanc is a fantastic grape. Drinking a sauvignon blanc wine can sometimes make you a happy. Happy because you recognize the aromas. Few wines have as typical aromas as this white grape. But if you drink Sauvignon blanc from different countries, you will soon notice that the aromatic complexity is greater than first thought. […]
Sancerre in the Upper Loire is famous for its refreshing and white wine from Sauvignon blanc. This wine goes wonderfully with another local speciality, the goat cheese. Read more about it on the wine travel blog, the BKWine Travelog: Rolling hills, charming towns, excellent wines and cheese: Sancerre in the Loire Valley.
To have fine, healthy grapes when it is time to pick means everything, or at least a lot, to the quality of the wine. And that means that you must ensure that both the vines and the soil they grow in are in a good condition. The more the wine grower knows about the state […]
Britt’s Wine of the Month: Domaine Pierre Chauvin 2008, Cuvée La Fontaine des Bois, AOP Anjou, Loire Valley In the heart of sweet wine appellation Coteaux du Layon in the region of Anjou (Loire), we find this estate of 15 hectare. Paul-Eric Chauvin is the fifth generation to continue the family tradition. The winery is […]
The Maison des Vins de Sancerre has just created what is, as far as I know, the world’s first simulator for rognage, canopy management. As opposed to flight simulators, it is not, as I initially thought, meant to train professionals. Instead it is a fun way for anyone who visits the Maison des Vins de […]
Try rognage: Sancerre launches the world’s first simulation machine for canopy management! It is called rognage, when you trim or prune the canopy (the leaves) off the vines in summer to remove excess leaves. It is often done several times during the growing season. The purpose is to have a good balance between leaves and […]
Two new appellations in the Loire Valley are born on May 1. They are located in Touraine, the large region in the beautiful part of the Loire where most of the big, famous Loire chateaux are located. Touraine already has a number of sub-appellations and now it has two more: Touraine Oisly and Touraine Chenonceaux. […]
Ô Tono is a very small and very simple café style restaurant some 8 minutes walk away from the central railway station in Angers. You will get simple decent food and a reasonable selection of wines. Solid, rustic cooking with a penchant for meat. The restaurant is definitely better than your average café-resto in Angers […]
If you are seriously interested in Loire wines you should go to the Salon des Vins de Loire wine show. It helps if you are in the trade, since it is a professional event. Perhaps not all, but not far from it, of the producers will be there; thousands of wines to taste, hundreds of […]
The upper Loire, from a vinous point of view, comprises the two well-known appellations Sancerre and Puilly-Fumé, but also the less famous Menetou Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, Coteaux du Giennois and Chateaumeillant. We have just received a report from the interprofession and Sopexa UK on the 2011 vintage. (They choose to call it Les Vins du […]
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