The Cellar: Loire & More Day 4

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Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Steffen Rasch, GoLocalWorcester Wine Writer

Day #4 – Le Puy Notre Dame

After leaving Nantes and Muscadet behind me I found myself waking up right across the street from the beautiful Chateau d’Angers. Angers is the capitol of the Anjou region where the grape varieties Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc rule the countryside. As I drove towards today’s first visit the rows of vines seemed to never end. Early October, by the way, is a great time to visit this region if you’re a wine nerd as the harvests are in full swing. For the second day in a row I pulled in just as the morning harvest was being unloaded from the tractor.

My first visit was with Alain Bonnot from Domaine de la Paleine, which is located in the tiny village of Le Puy Notre Dame approximately 45 minutes southeast of Angers. Domaine de la Paleine is a certified organic producer who specializes in making the region’s signature wines: white wines from Chenin Blanc and red wines from Cabernet Franc. They also grow Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and the pink-skinned Grolleau Gris which they blend into their sparkling wines. All of the grapes are harvested by hand.

Domaine de la Paleine is more than 100 years old but over the years the Domaine has had multiple owners. The current owner, Marc Vincent, took over the Estate 15 years ago and has made significant upgrades to the winery, as well as the cellar. The cellar, by the way, is a 1 mile long system of caves which were carved into the limestone underground during the Middle Ages. As I type these words there are more than 300.000 bottles of wines aging in these narrow caves, all of which are kept at year-round perfect conditions of 65% humidity and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Because of its location Domaine de la Paleine is allowed to bottle its wines under a couple of different appellations. The town the winery is located in, Le Puy Notre Dame, has its very own appellation for red wines. These wines must be made from low yielding hand-harvested Cabernet Franc vines that are at least 25 years old. Domaine de la Paleine makes a couple different ‘Puy Notre Dame‘, including an outstanding  barrel-aged single vineyard bottling called ‘Moulin Des Quints’. All wines using the Puy Notre Dame appellation must be held back by the winery until three years after the vintage year. My personal favorite red was the 2011 Saumur Puy Notre Dame, which is made entirely in stainless steel tanks. This wine is ripe and soft but displayed such pure intensity of flavor. Keeping it in steel helps preserve the minerality from the limestone and allows all the structural elements of Cabernet Franc to shine – no oak influences here.

The Domaine’s best white wines are all made from Chenin Blanc and called either Saumur Blanc or Anjou Blanc, depending on the level of residual sugar. For wines under 8 grams of residual sugar per liter they can use the appellation ‘Saumur’. If the sugars get above 8 they have to label the wine Anjou Blanc – I know, how French, right? Domaine de la Paleine makes 6 different Chenin Blancs ranging in style from dry to sweet – they even make a ‘dessert style’ Chenin, which is labeled under its very own appellation for late harvest wines called Coteaux de Saumur.

From Melon de Bourgogne’s minerally green apple and citrus flavors we have now moved into pear and apple flavors, even tropical fruit and honeysuckle flavors can be found in sweeter examples. Still pronounced acidity however, which cleans the palate after each mouthful making you crave for one more sip.

Lastly I have to mention Domaine de la Paleine’s outstanding sparkling wines, especially their Cremant de Loire. If you read my articles you know how much I love the quality and value often found in Cremants. This $15 wine is exactly what I am talking about. Made from 80% Chardonnay and 20% Chenin Blanc ,this wine is aged on the lees for 24 months before being disgorged and 12 months in bottle after that. It is a stunningly intense and complex dry sparkling wine which I would put up against a $40 bottle of Champagne any day.

While I did visit another fantastic winery, Chateau de Fesles in Bonnezeaux, I won’t be featuring this visit just yet. Once again time and space is eluding me. I am staying in Angers tonight and will be reporting from Chinon and Bourgueil tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related question or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings through the Providence Wine Academy.

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