TonghamTaster’s French Wine Tasting Course – week 7 - Loire Cabernet Franc Reds

The 12 month on-line course to help you learn about French wines - Top tips on how to get value when buying them - Reasonably priced up-to-date recommendations of what to buy and try in the UK - Bringing you the best of Tongham Village Hall wine tastings.

INTRODUCTION

The Chateau at Azay-Le-Rideau

 Apart from its beautiful Chateaux, the Loire Valley is, perhaps, best known for its white wines; the Muscadets, the Vouvrays, the Sancerres and Pouilly Fumés etc. So its hidden gems, which are must less known in the UK, are the red wines which we will discover this week.

LOCALITY
The best area for growing red wine grapes in the Loire is arguably the area around Chinon and Bourgueil. These are the Cabernet Franc growing areas. Red wines are also grown further up the Loire around Sancerre and Menetou-Salon but here they use Pinot Noir as in Burgundy. There are other red wine areas and red grapes grown in the Loire but we can on the whole ignore them as we either don’t see them often in the UK or they are frankly not very good.

VARIETALS
The top red grape grown around Saumur, Bourgueil and Chinon is the Cabernet Franc Grape. Here it normally is used in single varietal wines where as in Bordeaux it is used just as part of a blend.
As mentioned above, the Pinot Noir grape is used around the upper Loire.
Malbec, often called Cot locally, and Gamay are also popular grapes grown in the region but don’t often produce wines of distinction.

Vineyards and Chinon Castle

THE WINES
When I lived in France I was often surprised to find that the red wines of Chinon, Bourgueil and St Nicolas de Bourgueil were the favourite wines of friends and colleagues. I also found them very popular in the bars and restaurants of Paris where I lived. This surprised me as I had hardly come across them in the UK. These 3 AOCs  are amongst the best expressions of the Cabernet Franc grape in the world. However, you will also find Cabernet-Franc in the Saumur and Anjou AOCs. Be aware that the Anjou wines may contain grapes other than Cabernet Franc.

Drink always and you'll never die!

I have spent much of the last ten years visiting, for business, Bourges, which is very close to the wine areas of Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and Reuilly. Here they grow Pinot Noir for their red wines. They are too light for most English tastes but I have grown to appreciate them. For reds I would recommend Vincent Pinard and Alphonse Mellot in Sancerre and Domaine Philippe Gilbert in Menetou Salon. However, you will probably need to visit the area to obtain them.  They are also becoming quite expensive so you might wish to consider a less expensive AOC such as Reuilly - Domaine Pascal Desroches is great value in this appellation.  2009 is a good year for Loire Pinot Noirs so do consider them.

THE TASTE
When grown in the Loire, the Cabernet Franc grape imparts a leafy, raspberry flavour to the wine often tinged with tobacco and pencil lead. It is these last two flavours that make the wines of Chinon and Bourgueil a favourite of mine.

When Pinot Noir is grown in the Loire Valley it tends to produce a lighter more delicate wine than when grown in Burgundy, a bit like an Irancy.

TOP TIPS
• The wines of the Loire are good summer reds and are pleasant chilled. When chilled they can often be paired with fish. I tend to like to chill these wines and let them gradually warm up during the meal. This way they often pair well with starter, main and cheese courses.   The fact that they are good chilled means that if you find the wine you buy disappointing then chill it and you might end up pleasantly surprised.
• The Cabernet Franc reds can be good value in France, so don't forget to buy them if visiting the Loire or any French supermarket.

HOMEWORK
For your homework this week you need to buy and try any Loire Cabernet Franc red wine from Chinon, Saumur-Chamipgny, Saumur, Bourgueil or St Nicolas de Bourgueil. You might want to try one of my recommendations below as otherwise they are not easy to find:

Waitrose – Le Paradis Chinon 2009, ESAT Les Chevaux Blanc, 13% - reduced to £6.99 in Farnham but going up again to about £9 on the 15th February.
or, Waitrose – Chinon Les graviers 2009, Complice de Loire, 12.5% - £10.99
Or Laithwaites - Couly Dutheil Chinon La Closerie 2007, about £12.
or if on a budget, Sainsbury’s - Domaine du Colombier Chinon 2003 – about £6
or Waitrose – Les Nivieres Saumur 2009, Cave de Saumur, 12,5% - £7.49
You might also consider a trip down to Les Caves des Pyrenes in Guildford to see their selection (but you need to buy a mixed case of 12 wines).
Normally, also to be found at Majestic but none when I was writing this in early February 2010.

WINE REVIEW
I was lucky enough to find four different Lore Cabernet Franc reds in my local Waitrose this month. On the internet I often read of people saying they can’t get these wines in UK supermarkets – they are looking in the wrong supermarket! Here are my reviews of the four wines I bought and tried:

Waitrose – Les Nivieres Saumur 2009, Cave de Saumur, 12,5% - £7.49.
On the first night I tried this wine I was not impressed. There was some blackcurrant but otherwise it seemed rather bland. I then chilled it down and it was rather good as a chilled red and went well with the Boudin Blanc (a skinless chicken sausage to the uninitiated) and the steamed lemon grass sea bass. There was some left over and after a day, even when at room temperature, it had gained the acidity that was lacking in its balance the first night. So this scored somewhere between 11 and 13 out of 20.

Waitrose – Chinon Les graviers 2009, Complice de Loire, 12.5% - £10.99

This wine was much more what I was looking for, but rather pricey. I enjoyed this one straight away. It has a nice acidic balance and even that pencil lead or slateyness that I love. It has the lightness one would expect and a pleasant softness. Rather nice! This we had with a grilled sirloin steak and it would go with any simply grilled meat or chicken. I scored this wine 14+ out of 20. The store led me to believe this is new to the Waitrose range – a welcome addition I would say. Look out for this when they are doing their 25% discounts.

Waitrose – Domaine De La Croix De Chaintres 2008, Saumur Champigny, 12.5% - £10.49
Another wine that was rather disappointing for the price. Very soft and light with reasonable flavour but no real wow factor. I scored this 13.5 out of 20.

Waitrose – Le Paradis Chinon 2009, ESAT Les Chevaux Blanc, 13% - reduced to £6.99
Another nice Chinon and at at this reduced price (down from about £9) rather good value.  A light wine with very good balance and a typical Loire Cabernet Blanc taste.   I scored this 14+ out of 20.  Probably my recommendation to buy out of the four wines.  Rather an ethical wine as well. as this is part of the ESAT scheme that enables disabled people to get work in local industry.  From the Waitrose website I note that this is a cooperative wine made by a New Zealand winemaker trying to create a fruitier style of Chinon - it works for me.

FOOD PAIRINGS
Cabernet Franc is generally quite an all-rounder.
A good cheese wine, particularly hard cheeses.
As a relatively light wine it goes well with chicken and sometimes even fish.
It will also pair well with any simple grilled red meat. Not enough flavour to stand up to strong sauces.
Loire Pinot Noir is light and thus suits chicken and pork dishes. Chilled this will also match some fish dishes, especially salmon.


COMING SOON
Next week we continue our wine tour of the Loire Valley and discover the great Chenin Blanc whites and sparkling wines of Vouvray and surrounds.

If you missed the early weeks of this course, which covered Bordeaux and Muscadet, it is not too late to catch up.  Just click on French Wine Course at the top of this blog for easy links.