Cremant de Loire Flashcards
Main considerations:
1) How many spk wine appellations are there?
2) Cremant x Saumur + Vouvray production?
3) Market share of Cremant (in volume)?
4) Influences form external brands / producers?
5) Main styles produced (3)
1) 7 Sparkling appellations in Loire
2) Production is roughly equal to Saumur and Vouvray combined
3) Sparkling wine production: 13% of all Loire wines
4) Connection with champagne: major champagne owned / own sparkling wine brands in Loire
5) Around 90% of Cremant is white and most is brut
6) Demi sec is also made
7) Brut Zero is increasingly popular
Cite the importance of Cremant in Loire, annual average production, where fruit is sourced from, major climatic influence and site location.
1) Increasingly more important in Loire (13% in volume)
2) Vineyard area increased from 1600ha to 2100ha from 2012 to 2017
3) Average annual production: 17m bottles
4) Fruit is grown in Anjur-Saumur & Torraine only.
5) Loire river helps moderate the temp
6) Vines are planted on the flatter land
7) Best sites reserved for still wines.
What is the major regional climate influence, temperatures and hazards?
1) Atlantic mild influence covers most of the delimited area for Cremant
2) Temps are regular throughout the year, no extremes
3) Hazards: fungal disease and untimely rain (flowering, fruit set and harvest) can be a problem
What are the main soil types, their characteristics, composition and what type of soil isn’t classified in the appellation?
1) Wide range of soils
2) Anjour: mostly schist and limestone
3) Tourraine: mostly chalk
4) Main characteristics: good drainage / water retention in limestone
5) Vineyards planted on less exposed soils with a larger proportion of clay (clay-limestone, flint-clay)
6) Excessive clay soils are not classified in the appellation (too cold, lack drainage)
What are the permitted grape varieties, blend proportion and yield (hl / ha)?
1) Chenin Blanc (majority)
2) Cabernet Franc
3) Cabernet Sauvignon
4) Grolleau Noir and Gris
5) Pineau d’Aunis
6) Pinot Noir
7) Chardonnay
Max 30% of Cab Sav & Pineau d’Aunis permitted in the blend (separate or together)
Yields: 74hl / ha
What are the winemaking practices in this appellation with regards to: pressing, fermenting vessel, MLC, blending and lees ageing?
1) Pneumatic or basket press
2) Typically fermented in stainless steel
3) Some top cuvees are fermented in oak
4) MLC practices vary from producer to producer
5) Blending: different areas can be blended for consistency
6) Generally, no use of reserve wines (mid-price wines)
7) Blending is more common in premium wines
8) Lees ageing usually varies between 9 months to 2 years (more premium wines)
Describe the criteria for the production of Prestige de Loire
1) Launched in 2018
2) Aim to achieve bottlings at a premium price
3) It must by white only
4) Permitted varieties: Chenin Blanc, Cab Franc, Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
5) Min 24 months on lees
6) Must be brut (> 12g/L of RS)
7) Producers must aim to be come sustainable in 5 years
Describe the structure of the industry:
1) Merchants x coops x producers
2) Domestic x export markets
1) 19 merchants, 10 coops and 400 producers
2) 9 large houses = 80% of the production
3) Larger houses use both their grapes / buy in (health can be checked)
4) 50% of the production is consumed domestically
5) Biggest export markets: Germany, USA and UK
What is the average annual production, sparkling x still wine production, permitted varieties (inc rose), volume of juice extracted, yield (hL) and permitted harvest process?
1) 60% of wine production is sparkling
2) Average annual production of 10.6 million bottles
3) Min 60% Chenin Blanc, max 10% Sauv Blanc
4) Rose: min 60% Cab Franc, max 10% Sauv Blanc
5) Mechanical harvest is allowed
6) More juice can be extracted: 100L from 130Kg
7) Yield: 67hl / ha
What is the lately used variety, annual average production, max extraction at pressing and max yield?
1) 60% of wine production in the appellation
2) Chenin blanc: 95% of the blend
3) Annual average production: 8.2 million bottles
4) 100 L from 130KG of grapes
5) Machine harvesting permitted
6) Max yield: 65hL / ha
Why is producing sparkling wine more attractive to growers in the area? How do they cope with the lack of skills / equipment for sparkling wine production?
1) Producers usually send their wine to specialised spk wine producers for bottling, 2nd fermentation and disgorgement.
2) Attractvie option for growers:
a) Yields are higher than for still wine
b) grapes are picked earlier, avoiding rain at harvest and botrytis
3) Vines pruned to a greater crop load (20%) than for still wines.
