Further news to all our trade customers coming to see us at the LIWF. Philippe Porche of Domaine de Rocheville will be personally presenting his wines at the fair with us.

The wines he will be presenting are:

2010 Cabernet de Saumur AOC  ‘Le Troubadour’ pink

2008 and 2009 Saumur Champigny AOC  ‘Le Page’  red

2008 and 2009 Saumur Champigny AOC  ‘Le Prince’ red

2006 Saumur Champigny AOC ‘Le Roi’ red

2009 Saumur AOC  ‘La Dame’ white

Philippe has included consecutive vintages of the ‘Le Page’ and ‘Le Prince’ to allow comparison of the merits of each one. They are distinctive and there will be some who will prefer one to the other and visa verse which makes these wines so special and unique. There is no effort as in most other countries to try and make year on year bland similar vintages with no enjoyment or excitement. These will be tastings that will excite the wine connoisseur (and we believe our retail customers as well) and lead to some debate as to the merits of each vintage. That’s why these boutique winemakers are so damn good at making wine and in our view why the appellation system is also just as important. In each vintage the essence of the Saumur Champigny style is retained as the cornerstone of the appellation giving in each vintage the elegance of the wine as something to be savoured and enjoyed, and that is what Philippe has manged to accomplish very well indeed.

We look forward to meeting our customers and guests at the fair on the 17 to 19 May at ExCel. See you there.

We had a really thorough tasting of the 2010 vintage. Saumur Blanc, Saumur Rouge and Saumur Puy Notre Dame from the vats, and Cuvee Madelaine and Clos de Chavannes both 2009 which have been in oak barrels since vinification and storage when the wines were transferred in 2010. Pierre Van Den Boom continues to taste the wine regularly and will decide when the wine is right for bottling. It could be this year around September or next year. We will report on the tasting on the next blog. Keep your eyes peeled for the tasting report. 2010 is definitely as good as 2009 and maybe better. The wines a velvety smooth and certainly in advance of their progress in 2009. Its exciting stuff and we can report further accolades which means we will be struggling to get hold of enough wines. Get the orders in.

Our spring trip back to see our winemakers will soon be upon us. We’ll be travelling over on Sunday. Sunday is a good day to travel in Fance as lorries apart from essentials are not allowed on the motorways. Generally its quiet and an easier trip.

We will be visiting all our winemakers and catching up on progress of the 2010 vintage. Early signs are that this will also be a good year. That’s two years in a row and lucky for all you lovers of our Loire wines. Our crackers of 2009 are fast running out so bag a bargain on the website before we run dry. We’ll be tasting from the Vats and will report back via the blog over the next few weeks. We will be selecting the new wines for sale in the UK. Its hard work this wine tasting business!

We will also be meeting up with Philippe and Agnes Porche from Domaine de Rocheville to discuss the forthcoming London Interantional Wine Fair at Excel on 17-19 May. We will be on Stand G60/1J with Domaine de Rocheville so anyone in the trade who is coming please pop along to see us. There will be some of the new vintage to taste.

Our red sparkling wine went down a storm at LBWF last weekend. One Marylebone, a converted church, looked amazing. Our glass bar was amazing and showed off our wines to perfection. Simon, Ben and I, with the help of Wendy, served over 500 glasses. Fortunately, Rhubarb, the wedding and party caterers, supplied and washed the very elegant glasses. Many thanks to them.

Lots of visitors to our bar liked the medium dry red,  cuvee “Chateau de Chaintres” 2007, a Saumur Champigny AOC wine from Chateau de Chaintres, a natural accompaniment to red meats and game.  Also our lovely dry rosé from Domaine de Rocheville ”Le Troubadour” 2009 a Cabernet de SaumurAOC wine, perfect with pork, poultry and cheeses. K

www.gfwine.co.uk

Wow, Domaine de Rocheville are receiving well deserved accolades for their fine wines. They were awarded 2 more Gold Medals at the Paris Concours Général last week: one for Saumur Blanc ‘La Dame’ 2010 (they already had a gold medal with La Dame 2009 last year)  and the second gold for Saumur Champigny ‘Le Roi’ 2010.

They have submitted three of their wines,  La Dame 2009, Le Prince 2009 and Le Roi 2006 to the International Wine Challenge, whose results should be published in May.  Of course we hope they will be successful there too…
Many congratulations to Phillipe, Jerome and Agnes - long may their successes continue.

You can read a profile of them,  their vineyard and their wines at Grainger Fine Wines http://www.gfwine.co.uk/domains/view.php?id=6

This is an extract from le Guide Hatchete for their La Dame 2009

Deux étoiles pour la DAME 2009:

” La Dame de Rocheville a été récoltée manuellement en plusieurs passages, puis élevée 10 mois en barriques avec bâtonnage pour lui conférer gras et puissance. Et en effet, voici un vin blanc de caractère au nez intense, vanillé et fumé, riche, doux et corpulent en bouche. Cette dernière prolonge avec persistance les notes boisées de l’olfaction, agrémentées de nuances briochées et minérales. Un “sec tendre” comme on les aime, à déguster dès aujourd’hui ou dans 2 ans sur un fromage à pâte molle ou un poissonj en sauce. Superbe.”