Sauvignon Blanc - going back to its roots

Sauvignon Blanc is riding on a tide of popularity. It’s become the default “glass of dry white wine”, a safe haven for wine drinkers scrutinising wine lists from the biggest of chains to the most exclusive restaurants. This has led me to ponder on its popularity – what do we like about it so much?

My theory is that Sauvignon Blanc is a positive style of wine – it doesn’t lack personality, often has pungent, cut grass and gooseberry aromas and its crisp acidity makes it finish with a flourish. There’s an element of “you know when you’ve been Tangoed” about it.

It also suits the British style of drinking – and it won’t surprise you to learn that I have a theory about that too.

We may ape the sophistication of the warmer Mediterranean nations, with our (relatively) newfound love of wine and café culture; but underneath that civilised veneer we are Viking beserkers at heart, beating our chests, chewing on our shields and downing alcohol in copious quantity before getting stuck into battle. In France, the locals at a bar will make one drink last an hour or more (and at those prices, who can blame them?). Whereas you can always spot the Brits at the pavement cafés: they’re the ones downing those enormous litre-sized vases of beer, determined to make a night of it.

Anyway, back to the Sauvignon Blanc story. This most ubiquitous of varieties is nowadays best known in its New Zealand incarnation, as pungently fruity Marlborough Sauvignon. But ‘twas not ever thus, for Sauvignon Blanc has a long history behind it.

It seems to have its origins in the Loire Valley, first documented there in the 1500s. From there it journeyed south to Bordeaux, where it had a fling with Cabernet Franc which produced that region’s calling card variety: Cabernet Sauvignon. Later in its life it made the much longer trek to New Zealand and at Cloudy Bay winery produced a wine of such lusciously juicy fruit character that it spawned a whole new style of wine, Marlborough Sauvignon.

This style is not to everyone’s taste: Hugh Johnson, one of wine’s most acute and literary writers, described it as “Sauvignon with the volume turned up” and I don’t believe he meant it as a compliment. However, he also astutely noted that “It could recruit drinkers who had scarcely noticed wine before, and it has.”

If you like your wines to be a bit less strident and more restrained, then a (virtual) trip to the vineyards of the Loire will be rewarding. In the areas of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé, which face each other across the Loire river due south of Paris, Sauvignon Blanc makes its most compelling argument to be regarded as a world class variety.

Recommended Sauvignon Blancs from Sancerre, Pouilly and around:

Domaine Franck Millet

Franck makes a very traditional style of Sancerre, focused on balance, aroma and elegance. The 2013 vintage is available at D&D wines (and other independent merchants) for £14. Aromas of damp earth, lemon and flowers lead onto a palate with a mix of tropical and citrus fruits and a whiff of elderflower.

Domaine Vacheron

This domaine, right in the heart of the dinky hill town of Sancerre itself, was one of the first I ever visited, many years ago. In the intervening years, not much has ostensibly changed in the rustic, sometimes downright grubby-looking cellars. In the vineyards, though, there have been changes: Jean-Dominique Vacheron is a passionately committed organic grower and, since 2004 all their vineyards are also biodynamic. Their wines could never be described as undersold, but even their “basic” Sancerre 2013 delivers the goods: aromas of elderflower and a hint of citrus pith and depth of flavour balanced with delicacy (£17.99 at Majestic, £19.99 at Waitrose). Also look out for Vacheron’s Sancerre La Reine Blanche 2013 ( £16.50 at The Wine Society).

Some branches of Majestic also stock Vacheron’s single vineyard Les Romains 2012 (£27), a seductive wine with rich aromas of peach and pineapple, broad and generous on the palate. Fantastic with seared scallops.

Domaine Seguin

Across the river from Sancerre is the village of Pouilly, surrounded by the vineyards which produce Pouilly Fumé – fumé means smoked and may refer to the smoky character that results from wines made from the flint-based soils which are highly prized both here and in Sancerre.

Domain Seguin’s Pouilly Fumé 2013 (£12.50 from The Wine Society, also at Lea & Sandeman) is a beautifully understated wine with mineral earthy notes, incisive acidity and lingering flavour – focused, textbook Pouilly Fumé.

Dotted around their more famous neighbours are a number of small, satellite appellations, where wines are also made from Sauvignon Blanc and where a rise in quality in recent years has resulted in good value for money wines. Look for white wines from Quincy, Reuilly, Menetou-Salon and Côteaux du Giennois.

Marc Thibault at Domaine Villargeau in Côteaux du Giennois is a case in point: his 2013 white, 100% Sauvignon Blanc with attractive floral character and a touch of the region’s minerality is £8.50 from The Wine Society.

Malbec - do you come from a land downunder?

It may have escaped your notice, but last Thursday 17^th April was Malbec World Day. Why Malbec World Day and not World Malbec Day, I know not. Admittedly I have not turned the British Library upside down in my quest for the truth, nevertheless I haven’t found the answer, so the eccentric word order remains a mystery.

I say Malbec. You say? Argentina I’d wager.

Argentine Malbec has become a successful and succinct partnership in our minds. Usually reasonably priced, often generously fruited and with, it must be said, a fair whack of alcohol, this is a wine style that was always going to find a large following in the UK.

Malbec, as a variety, has a much longer history than our fondness for its South American incarnation. It originates back in France, around the town of Cahors in the Southwest of the country. Back in its native land the variety is most often known as Cot. Cahors is its homeland, but it can also be found as far north as the Loire Valley and downriver from Cahors in Bordeaux. The fact that one of the names the Bordelais gave the grape was Malbec (or sometimes Malbeck) gives us a clue that it was from here that it first made its way across the Atlantic Ocean.

Apparently we can be confident that a certain Michel Pouget first brought Malbec vines to Argentina in 1868. It was clearly a raging success and is now the most widely planted quality wine grape in the country. Argentina is a big producer of wine, perhaps bigger than we imagine, sitting at number 5 in terms of global production behind France, Italy, Spain and the USA. Much of what they produce is consumed by their own thirsty local market, with the US the most important export market.

A few Malbec vines have made it across the Andes to Chile, but it remains mostly an Argentine speciality.

Altitude is all important in Argentina – the weather at lower levels is far too warm to produce good quality wine, so vineyards are generally tucked up into the foothills of the Andes, primarily in the province of Mendoza. In fact, looking at a map, it looks like a mere hop, skip and jump from Mendoza to Santiago in Chile – albeit there is a 6,000m Andean mountain ridge between the two.

The other distinguishing feature of Argentine viticulture is dependence on irrigation – the air in those high altitude (often over 1,000m) sites is clear and dry, with the city of Mendoza itself averaging just 200mm annual rainfall, which is getting on for desert conditions. This means low incidence of problems like rot and easy ripening of grapes, but also means a need to find water from somewhere in order for the vines to survive.   

The immigrants who came to Argentina in the early days, many from Italy and Spain, brought with them their taste for wine; apart from the Welsh, who brought tearooms, crocheted teacosies and Welsh cakes to their enclave in Patagonia.

Recommended Malbec (and Cot)

Argentina

Trapiche Pure Malbec - £8.99 from the Co-operative

Pure as in unoaked, this intensely coloured wine is so dense it actually feels thick. Plenty of dark chocolate and black cherry flavours to keep fans of big boned wines happy. If the weather is barbecue-friendly, this wine’s smoky, punchy flavours would be just the ticket.

Bodega Colomé proudly trumpet wines made from the highest altitude vines in Argentina (and possibly the world) from their vineyards in Salta, far north of Mendoza. Their Colomé Estate Malbec is £17.49 in Waitrose and combines full-bodied fruit (and 14.5% alcohol) with altitude-driven freshness in a beguiling way. Their Amalaya red blend is predominantly Malbec, plus some Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tannat and gives a taste of the same style at a more consumer-friendly price of £10.99 (£9.99 if you buy 2) at Majestic. The price is due to rise to £11.99 from 29^th April, so it would be worth your while to sniff some out sooner rather than later if you can.

The name Susanna Balbo is synonymous with quality, so if you see it, give the wine a punt. Majestic again have Ben Marco Malbec from her Dominio del Plata winery for £15.99 (down to £12.99 when you buy 2). She is also the winemaker behind The Society’s Argentine Malbec (£7.25 a bottle from The Wine Society).

Nicolas Catena was a pioneer of high altitude winemaking in Argentina and his Malbecs are ever-reliable. His Catena Alta label is top of the quality tree but will set you back getting on for £30 a bottle. More readily available is the straight Catena Malbec:  £13.99 or £9.99 if you buy two at Majestic, or £12.99 from Waitrose.

France

Back where it all started, Malbec, or Cot, from Cahors typically has more tannin and acid structure and a more savoury character than the Argentine version. Basic Cahors can be a rather underwhelming experience, but ambitious producers are doing their best to build (or perhaps rebuild) a reputation for quality with concentrated and ageworthy wines.

The wines of two of the best producers, Clos Triguedina (£20.49) and Château du Cèdre Cahors (£17.99), are available at Guildford’s own Caves de Pyrène and other independent merchants. Clos Triguedina is also available through The Wine Society for £16 a bottle.

Things that go pop in the night

Even those of us who eschew sparkling wines at any other time of year suddenly feel the need to pop the cork on a bottle of fizz come Christmas time. The sound is emblematic of celebration and instantly puts people in a party mood.

As well as marking Christmas and New Year celebrations, fizz comes in handy for lightening the mood in many ways. Don’t grimace when yet another Christmas card from a distant acquaintance containing a nauseating and boastful round robin update on their triumphant achievements in 2013 drops onto the hall carpet – crack open a bottle of fizz and settle down to read it with a smile on your face.

This year a group of some of my oldest friends has agreed that we will write our own round robins – but they must contain no achievements and focus instead on minor disappointments (goodness knows plenty of those stack up by the end of the year). So no mentions of Lulu’s Grade 5 flute success or once-in-a-lifetime, unforgettable holidays in far flung places. Instead it will feature things like broadband speeds remaining stubbornly sluggish, failed vegetable growing attempts and the new stair carpet still giving off a huge amount of fluff despite being down for months now. I can see I’m going to take to this round robin of misery like a duck to water. And I’m going to enjoy composing mine all the more with a glass of something sparkling by my side.

Here are some sparkling wines on which I would be happy to pop the cork this festive season:

Prosecco

 From almost complete obscurity in this country 20 years ago, Prosecco has now almost become the default sparkling wine for any occasion.  The Prosecco grape’s naturally high acidity is traditionally mitigated with some sweetness in the wine, so the most common style we see here is labelled “Extra Dry” which, counter-intuitively, actually means off-dry.  Properly dry versions will have “Brut” on the label.  Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Prosecco Conegliano Brut is usually £9.99, but has been reduced to £7.49, and if you act quickly to take advantage of their 25% off 6 bottles promotion running until 10 December, you can snap it up for just £5.62. Or you can give it large with a magnum for just £10.49. It has plenty of fresh, ripe pear aromas and fine bubbles and is perfectly nice for a pre-lunch glass or evening aperitif, if not particularly refined.  Caves de Pyrène’s Prosecco Bellenda Brut 2012 has more elegance, but then it will set you back £14.76.

Pink fizz

Rosé wines have been the only growth category in UK wine consumption in recent years. This, along with our unquenchable thirst for fizz, has made the pink sparkling wine category a success story. The upside is that there is more choice than ever before – the predictable downside, that quality is not always what it should be.

I’ve yet to find a rosé Cava that I could recommend and pink Prosecco seems disappointing - more material for my round robin there. For a good value party pink fizz I’d plump for The Society’s Saumur Rosé Brut NV (£9.95 from The Wine Society). Made by the venerable house of Gratien & Meyer from Cabernet Franc with a little of the un-prepossessingly named Grolleau, it has a delightful fruity freshness. Light enough to drink on its own, it would also be happy to keep company with that Christmas staple, smoked salmon.

Other sparkling wines

As you are no doubt heartily fed up of hearing, any sparkling wine made anywhere than the designated Champagne region in northern France cannot legally use that name. However, France is awash with other sparkling wines, many made in the same way, though perhaps not with the special magic of Champagne itself.

I have particularly enjoyed Champalou Vouvray Brut NV (£15.97 from Caves de Pyrène or £14.50 from Great Western Wine) recently. The Champalous make their sparkling wine from Vouvray’s Chenin Blanc grape and, unusually, let the second fermentation in bottle use nothing but the residual sugar in the base wine to create the fizz – usually sugar is added along with the yeast.  The result is a wine that has a delicious light, floral character as well as Chenin’s appley fruit, and a gentler mousse. It is refined yet quaffable – which can be a dangerous combination.

Champagne

There are so many Champagnes out there and many of you will have houses that you favour. If you are open to some suggestions, though, I can heartily recommend Sainsbury’s own label Blanc de Noirs Brut NV. I snapped up a few bottles of this food-friendly, savoury Champers made from the black-skinned varieties Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, earlier this year when it was on offer. In the meantime, it has managed to bag itself a Gold medal at this year’s International Wine Challenge. There’s nothing like having your own good opinion of something confirmed by others for making you feel even more well-disposed towards it. Even better, this bottle is currently available at Sainsbury’s for a frankly ridiculous £12.75 a bottle, as part of their buy 6 bottles and save 25% promotion until 10 December. If you’re not squeamish about putting a supermarket label fizz on the table (and I’m not) then get thyselves to Sainsbury’s pronto.

Waitrose’s Champagne Brut Special Reserve Vintage 2004 (reduced to £25.99 from £30.99 from now until January) is a Pinot Noir dominated blend (60%), with the rest Chardonnay. It has lovely maturing flavours of bread, toast and spice along with baked apple.  The long ageing (3 years on the lees, then further in bottle before release) has given it a fine mousse that makes it particularly suitable for food.

These supermarket labels are far better value than the “never heard of them before” Champagnes that supermarkets offer at “half price” at this time of year. I’d always rather see a tried and trusted supermarket name on the label. Here endeth the lesson. 

Everything you think you know about wine is wrong

Back in the mists of time, I remember being taught that all wine-producing grapevines (Vitis vinifera) are grafted onto American rootstocks, to protect them against the splendidly named Phylloxera vastatrix.  Phylloxera is a louse with a complex life-cycle which includes feeding off the roots of vines.  The damaged roots allow in other diseases which can lead to the death of the plant.

Phylloxera is native to North America and arrived in Europe in the second half of the 19^th century.  Over the following decades vine disease and death became endemic across Europe’s vineyards, causing concern, bordering on panic, that winemaking could be wiped out by an unknown enemy.  Once the culprit had been identified the search for a solution began.

The answer lay back in North America, where native vines such as Vitis rupestris had evolved in the presence of Phylloxera and had developed a thick enough “skin” on their roots to resist the attentions of the pest.  All was not plain sailing, though, as these native American vines differed from European varieties, producing wines with what we politely call “foxy” flavours.

The eventual solution was to develop hybrids of these natives and to use only their rootstocks, allowing growers to graft their familiar Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay and indeed any Vitis Vinifera variety onto them.

Without the sturdier, hybrid rootstocks based on the native American vines, I gathered, not a single vine of the European Vitis vinifera would be left standing.

Grand tastings of ancient and rare wines sometimes trumpet “pre-phylloxera” vintages of claret, Port or Madeira – providing a fleeting glimpse of wine as it used to taste before the technique of grafting changed it forever.  For most of us, it’s a taste we can experience only vicariously by reading tasting notes of the lucky few who have tried them.

But then I began to come across to exceptions to the American rootstocks model, such as the ungrafted vines found in Colares, Portugal.  There, the incredibly sandy soil is a barrier that the Phylloxera louse has never been able to cross, avoiding the need to graft the vines onto protective rootstocks.  Bollinger Champagne also famously has its tiny walled vineyards of ungrafted vines in Äy, producing its “Vieilles Vignes Françaises” cuvée.  There are also vineyards in Chile where ungrafted vines flourish, because natural barriers (the Pacific Ocean, the Andes, snow and ice to the south and arid desert to the north) as well as strict quarantine on imported vine stocks have kept the country Phylloxera-free.

Once you start looking, it seems, there are ungrafted Vitis vinifera vines almost everywhere, from Australia and Argentina to China and Crete.

 

Henry Marionnet's Touraine winery

Recently in Touraine in the Loire Valley, I was intrigued to discover a producer, Henry Marionnet, who has 6 hectares of ungrafted vines, including Sauvignon Blanc and Gamay, as part of his 62 hectare Domaine de la Charmoise estate.  M Marionnet is not blind to the risks he is taking and is fully aware that Phylloxera is as prevalent in his vineyard as it is anywhere else.  Currently, however, the fungal-based diseases eutypa and esca are more pressing concerns for winemakers in the Loire, where they are currently responsible for vine dieback and death on a worrying scale.  While Henry Marionnet has no plans to increase the proportion of ungrafted vines on his estate, thus far disaster has not struck and he has succeeded in making delicious wines from his ungrafted vines, sold under the label Viniféra.

 

Henry Marionnet

While I have grown used to stumbling across ungrafted vines at almost every turn nowadays, it is unusual for a winemaker to make a wine purely from such vines. My inner wine geek rejoiced as I was treated to a tasting of two wines – made from the same variety and from the same vineyard and vinified in exactly the same way, but one from ungrafted Sauvignon Blanc and  the other grafted onto a rootstock in the usual way.  While the grafted wine made perfectly textbook Touraine Sauvignon, with plenty of herbal, blackcurrant leaf flavours, the ungrafted wine was a revelation.  It had greater intensity, more pronounced fruit and with a broader range of flavours – a more substantial wine in every way.

 

Marionnet Sauvignon Blanc Viniféra

The same experiment with M Marrionet’s Touraine Gamay provided a different illustration of the role of rootstocks.  The ungrafted wine had more structure, but also more elegance and delicacy than the grafted one.

 

Marionnet's Cot from ungrafted vines

Henry Marionnet’s Viniféra wines are not widely available in the UK, but you can find his Gamay Viniféra at Caves de Pyrène of Guildford for £15.97 a bottle or at Exel Wines for £90.09 for six bottles.  His Provignage, made from ungrafted vines of the very rare Romorantin grape is available through The Wine Society for £42 a bottle.

 

Provignage, made from Romorantin grapes

Heny Marionnet’s wines were a fine illustration that the world of wine is not static and will always contain more complexity and contradictions that you will ever find in a text book.  The wine world, as with real life as a whole, is often messier and more interesting than the theory.  Those working at the margins are often the people who propel the world of wine forward into other, more interesting places, enriching it for us all.  Even if sometimes they make us despair of ever being certain of anything ever again.

Maybe not everything you think you know about wine is wrong – but it seems there is always something new to learn.  Sadly, I hear we are now supposed to refer to Dactulosphaira vitifoliae instead of good old Phylloxera vastatrix.  Is nothing sacred?

How do you hedge that?

No, I have not taken up answering horticultural queries.  This was a question posed by a merchant banker recently when I explained the risks involved in making great dessert wines such as Sauternes.

Wine growers in Sauternes, Tokaji in Hungary, Bonnezeaux and Vouvray in the Loire Valley, or indeed anywhere where the sweet wines depend on the development of botrytis cinerea (or noble rot) in order to attain their signature intensity and complexity, have an anxious time of it each harvest time.  Ideal conditions for noble rot combine morning mist with warm, sunny afternoons in the weeks leading up to harvest.

Filaments of botrytis cinerea fungus pierce thin-skinned grapes, such as Semillon and Chenin Blanc, resulting in loss of moisture from inside the grape, thereby increasing the concentration of sugar and acids, relative to the water content – but the same is true for grapes left to shrivel on the vine.  What makes noble rot so special is that it also leads to chemical changes within the grape which, rather than spoiling the flavour and making it taste mouldy, lead to the development of an array of additional flavours ranging from barley sugar to marmalade.     

In order for the beneficial effects to happen, botrytis cinerea  needs to affect ripe, healthy grapes.  Unripe or damaged grapes will go on instead to develop regular bunch rot, which will only spoil, rather than enhance flavours.  And healthy grapes can also be affected by bunch rot, rather than the noble kind.  While a small percentage of rotten berries in white wine will not affect the flavour (as I witnessed this September in Muscadet), because the grapes are immediately pressed and only the juice is fermented.  Any amount of rot (noble or not) in red wine can spell disaster for the wine, as the entire berry, mouldy skin and all, is required in the fermentation tank and the resulting wine is at risk of developing off-flavours and being undrinkable.

Almost as bad as the wrong kind of rot, is no noble rot.  Winemakers cannot legislate for noble rot and are subject to the weather delivering the goods at the right time in the ripening cycle.  If it doesn’t arrive in the vines, producers can make a late harvest dessert wine, or demi-sec style wine, but these will never have the complexity and age-worthiness of nobly rotten wines.

So, the right kind of rot pitches up at the right time, now you need to pick the grapes – sometimes individual bunches, sometimes individual berries affected by rot are picked.  Either way, several pickings or “tries” are needed to gather the grapes, adding to the expense of the process.

Since the grapes will have lost a great deal of moisture, yields will be incredibly low.  Whereas a grape vine might produce a single bottle of good quality dry wine (or perhaps 2-3 bottles of mass market wine), it will produce just a single glass of highly concentrated dessert wine. 

Finally, the winemaking is hardly a doddle.  Imagine trying to extract juice from a raisin and you begin to see the difficulty in pressing nobly rotten grapes.  The small amount of resulting juice is so high in sugar that fermentation is slow and can stop readily – a problem known as stuck fermentation.

Given all the trouble that goes into making them (if they can be made at all), these wines are really woefully underpriced and underappreciated.  It’s a wonder anyone carries on doing it – how do you hedge that indeed?  Perhaps the only logical answer is, "By having already made a fortune as a merchant banker."

When everything goes right – some recommended wines where botrytis plays a part:

The FMC Chenin Blanc 2011 - £24.50 from Great Western Wine, also available via independent merchants

This is not a dessert wine, but late harvesting of the grapes and inclusion of some botrytised Chenin Blanc berries makes for a rich, complex, off-dry style of wine.  Fermented using natural yeasts in new French oak barrels and left on the lees for 12 months, this has flavours of apple, quince, a hint of honey and hay that begins with a rich hit of ripe fruit, but finishes clean with piercing acidity.

Château Climens

2013 is unlikely to go down as a great vintage for red Bordeaux wines, but their loss could be Sauternes’ gain.  The warm and humid weather which arrived in late September provided ideal conditions for the rapid spread of botrytis, inimical to red wine quality and forcing many growers to pick red grapes earlier than they would have liked.  But it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good and makers of sweet wines in the region were treated to an early and rapid spread of noble rot among their vines.  2013 could be a Sauternes vintage to watch out for when it arrives on the market in a couple of years’ time.

If money were no object Château d’Yquem would be my everyday Sauternes.  However, back in the real world, my favourite Sauternes is Château Climens – technically it’s from Barsac, the region adjoining Sauternes, but growers there are entitled to use the better known name of Sauternes.  Owner Bérénice Lurton manages to produce wines that are intensely sweet, yet beautifully drinkable, with elegant, smoky complexity.  While you wait for the 2013 to arrive, you can pick up a half bottle of the 2010 for around £70.

Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 2010

Fesles is one of the most highly regarded producers in Bonnezeaux,  in the Anjou region of the Loire.  Early morning mist rising from the Layon river in late summer can create the ideal conditions for the development of noble rot, as it did here in 2010.  This is lusciously sweet with huge concentration and a feeling of stoniness as well as flavours of stone fruit.  It will age beautifully.  This vintage seems to be hard to find in the UK, but other botrytis vintages can be found, including the 1999, £26.96 for a 50cl bottle from Vintner’s Selection.  About half the grapes were affected by botrytis, the rest were late harvest, shrivelled berries.  It has a heady nose of honey, toast and quince, with luscious baked fruit on the palate.

Who says wine-making isn't a sport?

While they may not be literally running round the vineyards, vignerons in Muscadet at the far western end of the Loire Valley are currently racing to gather as much of their grape crop as they can, before rot renders it unusable.

Cool, damp weather early in September, followed by hot, humid days created ideal conditions for rot to gallop through the vineyards.  Now winemakers are trying to harvest what they can, gambling on ripe enough, healthy enough grapes to make decent Muscadet in 2013.  Who would be a wine-maker?

Melon de Bourgogne grapes - with some rotten berries

Around the time that I started taking an interest in wine, by which I mean, when I stopped buying it based on the number of millilitres per pound sterling and actually sought out wines that I thought would taste nice, Muscadet was hugely fashionable.  I remember how impossibly sophisticated I felt ordering a bottle of Muscadet to accompany a family meal of moules marinières in a Paris bistro circa 1986.

 

Pierre-Jean Sauvion of Château du Cléray

Since then, the problems have piled up for Muscadet.  Never an expensive style of wine, it has the misfortune to be competing at the same price point as a huge variety of wines from all corners of the world – a crowded market.  Additionally, from the 1990s onwards, UK consumers tended to prefer full-flavoured and, generally, red wines instead of light, fresh whites.  This trend has reversed in recent years, with UK drinkers turning away from red wine – but both red and white wine consumption have fallen, leaving rosé as the only wine style growing in popularity.

 

Vine's eye view of a mechanical harvester

Muscadet faces many challenges, with wine consumption in France at an all-time low and its biggest export market, the UK, also following a downward trend.  Despite being one of the most recognizable names in wine, typical French adherence to bureaucratic norms means that, even in its own region, the name is strangely absent.  Driving through the vineyards this September, I saw signs proudly proclaiming that we were driving through the “vignoble du Pays Nantais” or even “Val de Loire” – but of Muscadet, nary a word.  Muscadet is technically the name of the wine, not the region, nor the grape variety, so the signs are perfectly correct.  But such subtleties are lost on all but the most anorakish of wine geeks.  Would it hurt to let tourists know they are in Muscadet country?

 

This is what your glass of Muscadet starts out as - freshly pressed juice

The grape in question is the Melon de Bourgogne which, as its name suggests, originated in Burgundy and was introduced to the (here we go) Pays Nantais region in the 17^th century by monks, who can always be relied on to trail alcoholic drinks in their wake.  Melon was subsequently banned from Burgundy, but became wildly popular in the western Loire.  Despite a decline in plantings, even today Melon de Bourgogne still accounts for over a third of all white grapes grown across the whole Loire valley – more than Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, which dominate white plantings from Anjou eastwards.   It is the fourth most planted variety in all of France, just ahead of Semillon. 

In summary, despite the challenges, a lot of Muscadet is made and much of it ends up here.

 

Lees in a barrel - there isn't normally a light in there

The heartland of production is the Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine, where the vast majority of vines grow.  All Muscadet producers also have the option to label their wines as “sur lie”:  such wines are aged on the fine lees (dead yeast cells) until at least 1^st March of the year following harvest.  Melon is a pretty neutral variety, so exposure to the lees imparts additional flavour and texture to the wine, as well as giving it a characteristic “spritz” of carbon dioxide.

 

Working quickly in the vineyard

Time will tell whether rot or the winemakers have won the grape harvest race this year, but in the meantime, here are some Muscadets from earlier vintages that I’ve enjoyed recently:

Château du Cléray Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur lie 2012 - £9.99, currently £8.99 if you buy two bottles at Majestic

 The Sauvion family bought this estate in 1935, moving from the business of selling pigs to making wine.  Pierre-Jean is the third generation of Sauvions  to take charge of wine-making here. His experience making wine elsewhere in France and the world has helped give him a clear focus on what he is trying to achieve with his own vineyards.   2012 was a tricky year for Muscadet, but Pierre has managed to make a pretty textbook version, combining light body and a subtle range of citrus and apple flavours with sufficient concentration and length to make it a satisfying drink. 

Muscadet is generally treated as a DYA (drink youngest available) wine, but I had the chance to taste the 1997 Château du Cléray, which was full of life, with dry mineral richness and still eminently drinkable.  Also look out for their Carte d’Or bottling at independent merchants and on restaurant wine lists.

Champteloup 2012 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 2012 - £6.99 from Waitrose

Champteloup shares a common owner with Château du Cléray (Grands Chais de France, most widely known for its JP Chenet brand) and winemaker in Pierre-Jean Sauvion, but the terroir is different and thus the style of wine.  This one is not labelled “sur lie”, though it does spend time on the lees, just not long enough to meet the legal requirements.  Glad that’s all clear as mud.  Back to the wine, it has more defined citrus notes, even a feel of citrus pith about it, as well as a hint of stone fruit.  Perhaps not as authentic a Muscadet as Pierre’s Ch du Cléray, but a refreshing and good value wine nevertheless.

Pierre Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine 2012, “Clos des Allées” - £12.49 from Caves de Pyrène, £11.25 from AG wines

This one certainly wins the prize for longest wine name.  Here is another Muscadet which knocks the stereotype of a wine that should be drunk as young as possible.  Low yields from old vines make for a wine that is tight, steely and mineral, with a tangy saltiness.

Vive la différence!

How does rhubarb and mint grab you?  No, not as something to drink, but something to wash your dishes with.

At a time when globalisation and international mega brands are making foreign places feel ever less foreign, it’s comforting to know that, just a short hop across the Channel, some things are still refreshingly different.  Viz, France’s fondness for whacky washing up liquid flavours and a big trend this year:  metallic brown cars. 

And for a country which has something of a reputation for being stuck in a rut when it comes to wine, there has been a mass invasion of French supermarkets by “boissons aromatisées à base de vin” – wine-based drinks with flavourings.

This was not a trend that I could ignore, so I sacrificed my tastebuds in the name of research and plumped for a bottle of Very Pamp’ – a rosé wine combined with pink grapefruit flavour (pamplemousse being the French for grapefruit, hence the name).  The bottle advised me to serve it very cold – but, dear reader, I don’t think I could ever make this stuff cold enough to be palatable.  The smell was fairly pleasant, with a nice fresh and zesty pink grapefruit whiff.  The palate was incredibly sweet, like drinking sugar syrup, with a more generic fruitiness and then a kick of alcohol to round off the experience (it’s 10% alcohol).  The biggest added ingredient after wine is clearly sugar.

I thought that rosé and pink grapefruit was a relatively safe choice – there are plenty of more scary concoctions on offer:  lemon sounds OK, but what about mandarin, white peach, wild strawberry and cranberry, raspberry?  Especially when you know that those flavours are coming not from the fruits in question, but in the form of flavourings – accompanied by lashings of sugar.  Add to that brand names like “Sucette” (lollipop) and it all adds up to a sickly combination that would surely fall foul of UK licensing laws which forbid branding which might appeal to minors.

I sincerely hope this wine trend doesn’t cross the Channel, but at least I have provided an early warning, so you can be prepared and make suitable preparations for avoidance.

Thankfully, there are still some things that you can count on France to deliver – and wine is, of course top of my list.  This summer I had the chance to re-visit one of my favourite areas, the Loire Valley.

The Loire as a region is hard to pin down.  Unlike the classic regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, it doesn’t  produce a single, predominating style of white or red wine, based on a single grape variety or consistent blend.  This is hardly surprising given the geographical and climatic differences that intervene on the river’s journey from the vineyards of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé, almost bang in the centre of the country, to the intensely maritime Muscadet area around Nantes, with many a twist and turn in between.  Across the entire region, every conceivable style of wine is made, from bone dry whites, to off-dry rosés and sappy, juicy reds, via sparkling  wines of every hue and taking in luscious, lip-smacking and long-lived dessert wines.  Grape varieties are many and yes, varied, including the all-conquering Sauvignon Blanc, the underrated and mighty Chenin Blanc and the Melon de Bourgogne of Muscadet for whites.  Reds can be made from, amongst others,  the high-quality Cabernet Franc  grape (which also fills in on rosé duty) or sometimes Gamay or even Cot (aka Malbec).

Here in Britain we have developed an increasing fondness for fizz in recent years, with the chief beneficiaries Italy’s light, fruity Prosecco and Spain’s “Champagne-lite” style Cava – in addition to Champagne itself.  The Loire has been making good quality sparkling wines for many years and they offer an alternative with something of the fruitiness of Prosecco, but more depth of flavour and without the cloying sweetness; and more finesse than many a Cava.

The UK’s three most-readily available Loire sparkling wine makers also happen to have (or have had) links to Champagne houses, whose expertise at making fine quality fizz must surely have a role in their success.   Central to the style of these wines is the use of the region’s Chenin Blanc grape, which has naturally high acidity, even when ripe, making for sparklers which retain their zip and freshness, even when combined with baked apple fruit.  The wines are made using what we are obliged to call traditional method (which then requires further explanation to specify that this is the same method used to make Champagne), instead of the more readily understandable “méthode Champenoise”. 

Gratien & Meyer – The Wine Society has a long-standing relationship with this producer, producers of The Society’s Saumur Brut (£9.50 a bottle).  Majestic also list the (surely overwhelmingly similar) Gratien & Meyer Saumur Brut NV for £13.49, down to £11.99 if you buy two.

Langlois-Château – Champagne Bollinger is the more famous Champagne name in the background at this high quality producer.  Around £11-13 from independent merchants.

Bouvet-Ladubay – once owned by Taittinger, this family-run house makes an elegant fizz which is available currently from Majestic at £8.99 a bottle.

If you get the chance to venture to the Loire in person, some of the most characterful, high-quality and good value sparkling wines will be made by small family producers, especially in areas like Vouvray, which specialises in sparkling wine production.  Often these artisan wines are either difficult or impossible to find here – but it’s always worth checking out independent merchants, who can deal with the smaller producers.

So, of all the things that could possibly make the leap across the Channel, here’s my verdict:  wine-based drinks – no; brown cars – hmm; grower-produced sparkling Vouvray – yes please.

The other French fizz

“Champagne, in victory I deserve it.  In defeat, I need it.”  This quote, attributed to Napoleon, says a lot about Champagne.  It is an emblematic, almost talismanic, substance which transcends mere wine.  When marking an important event, nothing fits the bill like Champagne. 

You can test this out by popping the cork on a bottle of Champagne and just wait for someone to ask “What’s the special occasion?”  Don’t try this when on your own, obviously.

Sometimes though, we might just fancy a bottle of fizz, without the extra baggage (and hefty price tag) of Champagne.  British drinkers have taken Italian Prosecco to their hearts in recent years.  Very different in style from Champagne, it’s all about fresh fruit, lightness and frothiness, allied to a little sweetness.  I’m all for a glass of it at the start of the evening, but one is usually plenty.

If you are craving the more restrained and dry style of Champagne, then the other French fizz – Crémant – could be for you.

And what is Crémant?  Very simply, it is sparkling wine made in the same way as Champagne, but from outside the Champagne area.

French wine law is based on the principle of guaranteeing the origin of what you are drinking – that the wine in the bottle is from the area designated on the label.  Champagne, for drinkers, may just be shorthand for any sparkling wine.  However, in legal terms, in order for Champagne to appear on the label, the contents must be sparkling wine from the Champagne region around Reims in northern France.

It also has to conform to a certain method of production – more of that in a moment.  So, if you are a winemaker in any other part of France, and wish to make a sparkling wine in the same way as Champagne, your product can be called Crémant.

How is wine made to sparkle?  In its simplest form, carbon dioxide can be forced into any still wine, resulting in a fizzy one.  Anyone with a SodaStream will be familiar with the process – and if you do have one, why not do a little experiment with any cheap bottle of wine and see the result?  I’m confident that a bottle of Gallo White Zinfandel could be immeasurably improved in this way.

The other, more classy way, to make a sparkling wine is to provoke a second fermentation in a still wine.  This is done by adding yeast, and sugar for it to feed on, to the wine.  Alcoholic fermentation produces carbon dioxide and, if not allowed to escape into the atmosphere, will become dissolved in the wine.  This second fermentation can take place either in the bottle, which is the only way permitted for Champagne, Crémant or anything labelled “traditional method” sparkling wine.  Or it can be carried out in a sealed tank, which is used for Prosecco and many other good quality sparkling wines around the world.

Sediment in the bottle

"pupitre" with hand-riddled bottles

Second fermentation in the bottle permits long ageing on the dead yeast cells (or lees) and the development of complex flavours and fine, long-lasting bubbles.  However, those dead yeast cells need to be extracted somehow, if the final wine is to be crystal clear and not murky with sediment.  This is achieved firstly by gradually tipping the bottles from a horizontal to a vertical position over a number of weeks (if done by hand) or days (if done in a specially designed machine named a gyropalette), a process known as riddling. 

a gyropallette

Then, to extract the sediment the process of disgorgement takes place.  The necks of the upturned bottles are dipped in a sub-zero temperature solution, creating a frozen plug of sediment.  This is then ejected by turning the bottles upright and removing the bottle cap.  The frozen sediment shoots out under pressure from the carbon dioxide-induced fizziness in the wine.  The bottle is then topped up with wine, plus some sugar solution (or dosage) to give the required sweetness level from ultra brut (no sugar) to demi sec (40grams per litre or so).  Cork on and voilà, the wine has completed its transformation into fizz and just needs to rest and recover from all the excitements of riddling and disgorgement.

Sediment in the neck of the bottle post-riddling

 Many French wine regions produce Crémants, some of which more or less resemble Champagne, especially if they use the traditional Champagne grapes, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  Crémant from the Loire will be dominated by Chenin Blanc, which is plentiful there, giving it a different flavour profile.  Alsace, which is the biggest Crémant producing region, tends to make its Crémant from the fruity and neutral Pinot Blanc.  Here are some that you might come across in this country.  But the best fun is to be had – and of course keenest prices - if you come across a crémant producer on your own travels in France.

Langlois-Château Crémant de Loire - £11.50 from www.thechampagneshop.com

Langlois is part of the Bollinger stable, so they know a thing or two about creating quality bubbles.  Chenin Blanc is complemented by Chardonnay, and lees ageing has given it bready aromas and flavours.

Pfister Crémant d’Alsace - £14.65 from www.slurp.co.uk

Unusually for Alsace, this is 50% Chardonnay, giving the wine elegance to complement the fruit of the Pinot Blanc.  Made by a young female winemaker who clearly knows what she’s doing.

Louis Bouillot Perle de Vigne Crémant de Bourgogne - £9.99 a bottle when you buy 2 at Majestic

Crémant de Bourgogne is geographically closest to Champagne and is the Crémant that we see most often in this country.  This one is a  reliable quality fizz from a big producer where noble Chardonnay and Pinot Noir rub shoulders with lowlier varieties Gamay and Aligoté.