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Villargeau, Coteaux du Giennois
Visiting the Centre
Loire, on the trail of great Sauvignon, part 2
The Coteaux de Giennois is a small appellation in the centre Loire
next to Pouilly Fumé. There are just 200 hectares of vines here,
with 40 winegrowers and 20 producers with cellars. We visited with
Marc Thibault.
 Marc
Thibault
Marc's grandfather bought the farm that is now Villargeau from
Château de Tracy in 1920, and grew cattle and cereal. In 1991 his
father and uncle decided to diversify and planted vineyards on
abandoned hillsides that previously had vines before phylloxera hit
in the late 19th century.
This is the Lagarde vineyard
Marc returned after studies and began working at Villargeau in 2002,
and the domaine now has 23 hectares of vines, 18 of which are
planted with Sauvignon Blanc, and the remaining 5 are a mix of Pinot
Noir and Gamay. There is potential for the domaine to increase over
the next 5 years.
In the Chicago vineyard
The Giennois has lots of small hills, and typically the vineyards
are planted on the top of these, where the soils are more suitable
for vines. There can be a mix of soils in the same plot, but
typically you find Kimmeridgean marl over limestone/clay. But there
can be silex and clay, or chalk and clay. It depends.
The first vineyard we saw was Lagarde, which is half Sauvignon and
half Pinot/Gamay. The second was Chicago: this was named as a thank
you to the Americans who shipped over rootstock after phylloxera,
and the boxes that arrived here came from Chicago. The third was
Rosières, which was silex over chalk. The vineyards have been
certified sustainable by Terra Vitis for five years now.
Flint in the Rosieres vineyard
After pruning, above, and pruning, below
Most of the Sauvignon is machine-picked. They then press it, settle
for 12-24 hours, no fining, but they sometimes use enzymes. They
inoculate with Champagne yeast. They used to do some wild ferments,
but now they need to finish the ferment quickly if they have high
maturity. The maturity can cause difficulty finishing ferments, and
if the end is slow, they lose some aromas and freshness. 15-18 C
fermentation temperature is typical.
THE
WINES
Domaine de Villargeau 2015 Coteaux de Giennois, Loire,
France
Blend of 80% flint, 20% chalk. Lively, fruity and
stony with a vivid, brisk personality and good acidity. There's a
brightness to this wine, with attractive citrus and green apple
notes as well as a hint of grapey richness. Has finesse. 90/100
(€9.50 retail)
Domaine de Villargeau 2016 Coteaux de Giennois, Loire,
France
On lees in tank. Supple, youthful, bright and
flnty with nice citrus and pear fruit. Very fresh with nice
concentration. A really good vintage. 89-91/100
Domaine de Villargeau Sans Complexe 2014 Coteaux de
Giennois, Loire, France
At the bottom the hillside with
clay/limestone soils, with plenty of limestone. Complex, nervy,
green-tinged pear and citrus fruit. Has a lovely delicacy and well
integrated acidity. Lovely fine herbal notes with a bright, fresh
finish. Finesse here. 91/100
Domaine de Villargeau Fernand & Sons Sauvignon Blanc 2015
Coteaux de Giennois, Loire, France
New brand. Flint
vineyard. Taut, subtly green and nicely weighted with pure citrus
and pear fruit, showing nice texture in the mouth and subtle herbal
hints. Nice stony edge to it. 90/100
Domaine de Villargeau La Belle Parresseuse 2013 Coteaux de
Giennois, Loire, France
Selected grapes hand harvested,
pressed, settled and put in barrels of 300-400 litres. Leave it for
one year, wild ferment. Lovely intensity here: spice, nuts and
minerals with hints of honey. Really powerfula and precise showing
some depth and also good acidity. From flint soil. 92/100
Domaine de Villargeau L'Insolite Rouge 2014 Coteaux de
Giennois, Loire, France
Mainly Gamay. Light-bodied.
Supple, sappy and stony with juicy red cherries and herbs. Some
leafy greenness here. Has a grainy, stony personality with some
savouriness. Good acidity and a bit of grip. Juicy and very
drinkable. 89/100
Domaine de Villargeau Les Licotes Rouge 2015 Coteaux de
Giennois, Loire, France
Mainly Pinot Noir. Enticing,
floral cherry fruits on the nose. Stony and grippy on the palate
with fresh acidity, some greenness and bright, sappy cherry and plum
fruit. Quite structured and very stony in character. Needs a bit of
time. 88/100
VISITING
THE CENTRE LOIRE
 Part
1, Henri Bourgeois
Part
2, Villargeau
Wines
tasted 03/17
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
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