Loire Valley Vintages Flashcards
How was the
2013 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
An annus horribilis for the producers of Vouvray and Montlouis whose crops were almost entirely wiped out by a June hailstorm.
Elsewhere a sound vintage with good acidity, though the cool spring and mild conditions in August and September meant many reds struggled to achieve full ripeness.
(Jancis Robinson)
How was the
2012 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
Despite a challenging growing season, 2012 was the year that Muscadet really shone, producing some of the best examples ever.
-Yields were around half the average, however.
Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé fared better for whites and reds, with good, uniform ripeness, no rot, and yield in line with the norm.
Delayed flowering early in the season proved tricky for Cabernet Franc, because autumnal rains made for diluted fruit as growers waited for ripeness.
There were very few botrytised Chenins made in Anjou, Vouvray and Montlouis.
-Their dry wines are promising in a lighter style, though.
(Jancis Robinson)
How was the
2011 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
- Pretty rotten*.
- _But a good year for sweet Chenin in Anjou_.
Muscadet and Touraine were both blighted with fungal disease.
Cabernet Franc only flourished in the best sites and with suitable selection.
Chenin Blanc had a much better year, with Anjou and Coteaux du Layon being particularly impressive.
(Jancis Robinson)
How was the
2010 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
Good ripeness and concentration for Muscadet.
Delightful Sauvignon Blancs too with good concentration and freshness.
Late September rain created a bit of rot for the Cabernet Franc, with only the bravest growers waiting for full ripeness to occur – which it did, thanks to two lucky weeks of late sunshine.
Chenins fared better in Coteaux du Layon than Vouvray, with the full range of sweetness being made.
(Jancis Robinson)
How was the
2009 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
A great vintage.
Healthy fruit in Muscadet produced superb quality, especially from those growers prepared to keep yields under control.
Touraine Sauvignon Blanc performed similarly well, with full phenolic ripeness and very little chaptalisation requirement, if any.
Reduced yields in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, and some July hail decimated much of Quincy, Reuilly and Coteaux du Giennois - but what was produced is excellent.
Cabernet Franc enjoyed a late, dry harvest to make fully ripe reds.
Chenin was also very promising, although there botrytis was scarce.
(Jancis Robinson)
How was the
2008 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
A bad start to the growing year – cold and wet in early summer – with a dry but still cool July and August.
Frost in Muscadet devastated yields, making for a very hard year for all growers.
Sauvignon across the Loire displays good varietal typicality, but experienced lower yields.
(Jancis Robinson)
How was the
2007 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
Good to very good year for dry whites with very clean flavours, although often with high acidity and quite austere. This makes them ones for amateurs of Loire wines, while others may find them just too austere.
Reds are generally light and can be charming, if the winemaker chose to concentrate on the fruit rather than trying a make bigger, more structured wines
(Jim Budd)
How was the
2006 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
A very hot July and a decent August - but rain started falling in mid September in the west of the region and by late September in the east.
Muscadet bore the brunt of the rainy conditions.
Generally Sauvignon was picked before or just as the rain started and is of very good quality.
There were some good Cabernet Francs and Chenin Blancs made but the input of the Vigneron was, as always, all important.
(Jim Budd)
How was the
2005 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
A Great Vintage!
The Loire was blessed with perfect weather conditions throughout this year and unlike 2003 the acidity levels were much better. As a result some wonderfully balanced wines have been produced.
The grapes were harvested in ideal conditions and the vignerons have never known such an easy time.
(Jim Budd)
How was the
2004 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
A fine to reasonable vintage.
A lovely September resulted in the grapes in most regions being ripe and well balanced with a good acidity.
It was a prolific vintage and many of the lesser producers in the region didn’t reduce their yields, but the good vignerons produced some consistently lovely wines with very good concentrations.
A classic Loire vintage with the reds needing time to soften.
(Jim Budd)
How was the
2003 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
It was by general consensus a truly outstanding year for Red Wines.
They have wonderful concentration and lovely ripe fruit. Their ability to age remains controversial with some producers convinced that they will age well, others sure they will soon fall apart.
White wines generally have a lower acidity than normal but have tremendously ripe fruit and attractive floral characteristics. With time the balance in some of the whites, especially the Sauvignons, has become more apparently as the initial opulence has receded a little.
Some very good and opulent sweet wines likely to have a great potential to age.
(Jim Budd)
How was the
2002 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
Overall the vintage was a good one.
The exceptionally sunny September transformed what could have been a depressing vintage into a generally very good one. After the cool July and wet August this was a very welcome change to recent Septembers and altered the outlook totally.
The wines of 2002 have an exceptional purity of fruit - partly due to yields being down as much as 20% - more for Sauvignon Blanc.
Good reports have come in from all the regions from Muscadet to Sancerre.
(Jim Budd)
How was the
2001 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
This year turned out to be one of decidedly mixed fortunes.
Muscadet had yet another very good vintage.
- Sancerre and Pouilly had a rough time.*
- The frosts in April reduced the size of the crop - the rains of late September and early October ruined the hopes of a great vintage, although most growers are fairly happy.
The sweet wines of Anjou were excellent.
Anjou certainly had its’ best harvest since 1997 - the growers are content and some of the sweet wines were a revelation.
Very little wine was made in Eastern Touraine due to the frosts and stem rot.
(Jim Budd)
How was the
2000 Vintage
in Loire Valley?
“Not to be confused with the great vintage in Bordeaux”
After a miserable July, mildew reared its ugly head although the fine autumn made some amends. The weather broke with disastrous results on the 16th October - with continuous rain for weeks on end. Those that harvested earlier made fine wines (as in Bordeaux).
Muscadet was good as were Sancerre & Pouilly.
The _Red Wines_ in general have good colour but not the structure for long maturation.
There are some reasonable Chenin Blancs
- including some small quantities of sweet wines picked early December!
(Jim Budd)
