FRANCE: Loire
2015: Gold 4 Silver 7 Bronze 7 Commended 11
2014: Gold 3 Silver 10 Bronze 2 Commended 7
The Loire habitually contributes three or four wines to our Gold List every year, but it’s rarely balanced. We tend to get either Sauvignon years or Chenin years. And while this year we did get Golds in a spread of styles (apart from reds, which remain mysteriously under-submitted year after year) the feedback was far more positive for the Chenins and Muscadets than it was for the Sauvignons, which clearly did better in 2012 than 2013.
From the Tasting Teams
‘Take Loire reds straight out of the cellar and serve with some grilled fish, on the terrace. Customers love the crisp, summery combination of flavours.’ Peter Bagatti, Bagattis
‘The cheap Sauvignons were really nasty – actively unpleasant. None of the cheap wines gave me that thrill of racy Sauvignon.’ Donald Edwards, consultant
‘Some Central Loire Sauvignon growers are making more Marlborough styles, with skin contact, then others are making more soil-focused, minerally wines. You need to know your growers and what to expect.’ Michael Harrison, consultant
‘Our New Zealand flight earlier in the day was far better than expected, and the Loire one was the opposite. The sommelier world has been clinging on to France, but if the Loire didn’t exist, would you invent it?’ Simon Woods, team leader
‘We were all over the place with the Sancerres because they were all over the place! There was citrus, tropical and oak coming through. Most people want Sancerre to taste like Sancerre.’ Tom Forrest, team leader
‘The Chenins were a strong flight, from dry to off-dry and good value for money.’ Laura Rhys MS, team leader
‘[The Francis Mabille] would be a good wine for the generic cheese board. It could match blue cheese, goats’ cheese, hard cheese…’ Robert Tozser, The Rib Room
‘There’s a demand for some lower-alcohol wines on the list, things that are no more than 12% alcohol. Muscadet fits nicely into that category.’ Sarah Riddle, Sketch