interview of Sébastien du Petit Thouars in Les Nouvelles de Tahiti

Courtesy of D. Raleigh – Thanks!

At the salon de la Revue du Vin de France

Two weekends ago we had the pleasure of presenting a selection of our wines: our Réserve 2009 and 2008, and Sélection 2010 and 2009, plus our Rosé, at the Salon de la Revue du Vin de France in Brussels.

We’ve been sold in Belgium before, in small quantities, but after being invited by the Revue du Vin de France this year, we decided it would be interesting to come back to Brussels in search of new partners. Plus we had heard amazing things about the Belgian wine-drinking public and professionals who come to the Salon from our friend, Christian Holthausen, at the Maison Piper-Heidsieck.

We had the chance to see many old friends, including Jacques Giers from Le Guide d’Achat des Vins who introduced us to the charming Xavier Faber, a top Belgian sommelier, who took a liking to our wines and sent many of his contacts our way. Among them, we had interesting tastings with Stéphane Penxten from the Brussels’ restaurant La Femme du Sommelier and people from Terre et Vin, who were presenting at the salon with Jacky Blot and his Domaine La Taille aux Loups.

From Twitter, we also had the chance to meet Marc Roisin from Vinogusto.com and Kathleen from Château de Minière in Bourgueil.

We left the salon excited by two wonderful days with the Belgian wine community, which included our first order the very next day, from Philippe Sochnikoff at Le Bar à Gilles in Brussels. As we write, our Sélection 2010 is on it’s way to Brussels, so pay a visit to Le Bar à Gilles as soon as you can, to taste!

Le Bar à Gilles, Parvis Saint-Gilles 28, B-1060 Bruxelles.

T. + 32 2614 57 82 — gilleswine@gmx.com

Château du Petit Thouars at the salon

Sébastien du Petit Thouars and sommelier Xavier Faber

We look forward to hopefully coming back next year!

Images © Château du Petit Thouars 2011

Glasses waiting to be filled with crémant

Checking and opening the wines before everyone arrives

One of the last of the sunny days awaits our guests

Everything is ready for our guests to arrive

Wine tour starts in our cellars

Barrels await!

Tasting from the barrels

It's lunch-time!

Presenting some wine and food pairings with the Swedish translator

Lunch was catered by the amazing and delicious Auberge du Val de Vienne, with chef Jean-Marie Gervais at the stove and wife Florence, providing service. For those of you interested in booking a wine lunch and tour at Château du Petit Thouars, don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your needs. In the meantime, we’ll leave you with the menu from Tuesday!

Toasts

Foie gras toasts with marinated pear – Toast au foie gras à la poire tapée

Smoked salmon toasts – Toast au saumon fumé

Verrines

Cauliflower mousse with crab and tomato purée – Mousse de choux-fleurs au crabe sur concassée de tomate

Cream of lentils with bacon – Crème de lentille au lard

Cream of coco bean with smoke herring eggs – Crème de coco de Paimpol oeufs de harengs fumés

Main course

Sauteed veal with wine sauce – Sauté de veau du vigneron

Cheese course

Spoon of faisselle (a fresh cheese) with chives – Cuillère de faisselle à la ciboulette

Comté brochette – Brochette de comté

Sainte Maure marinated in pepper and olive oil – Sainte Maure mariné au poivre et à l’huile d’olive

Desserts

Verrine of strawberries soaked in a light wine sauce – Verrine de fraises au vin

Blancmange with seasonal fruit – Blanc manger aux fruits de saison

Mini tarts of fresh figs – Mini tarte aux figues

Finished with coffee

Images © Château du Petit Thouars 2011

Cabernet Franc grapes

We’re happy to bring you some thoughts on the 2011 Harvest/Vendanges from our winemaker Michel Pinard. Michel joined Château du Petit Thouars in 2007, after 21 years working with Charles Joguet as his right-hand. He knows and understands this terroir like no other.

The harvest dedicated to crémant [sparkling wines] started on the weekend of September 24th in very good conditions.

The harvest dedicated to the production of our different red cuvées and our rosé will start in the beginning of October, a bit later, in order to take advantage of the favourable weather conditions.

As you may know, there was quite a lot of early ripening in the month of June, due to the early heat, while August was quite mediocre. This wonderful weather at the moment promises to deliver a very ripe and mature harvest, with alcoholic levels that are potentially equivalent to those found in the 2010 harvest.

The weather allows the grape acidity to lessen and the tannins to become more refined. The health of the vines and grapes is also good.

—

La vendange des vignes dédiées au crémant s’est déroulé le weekend du 24 Septembre dans de très bonnes conditions

Les vendages des vignes destinées à la production de nos différentes cuvées de rouge et à notre rosé commenceront début Octobre, voire plus tard si les conditions météorologiques favorables se maintiennent

Après la phase de précocité autour du mois de juin et la médiocrité du mois d’Août, le beau temps qui s’est installé promet des vendanges très mûres avec des degrés alcooliques potentiels équivalents à ceux de 2010.

Les acidités diminuent et les tannins s’affinent grâce au temps magnifique.  L’état sanitaire est bon.

We started the day at Château du Petit Thouars, waking up early to begin the exciting process of finally bottling our 2009 Réserve — a vintage that won a Commendation this year at the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards. Around noon we left our winemaker, Michel Pinard, and the wine team to come to Paris with bottles in hand for tonight’s #CabernetDay celebration at the O’Chateau wine bar.

This is the second year we’ve been involved with Rick Bakas‘ day of celebration for Cabernet — and as a Cabernet Franc producer, there’s no way we could miss out!  Thanks to Miss Vicky Wine for co-hosting and we hope to see you tonight to try our newly bottled 2009 Réserve!

We get an early start on the day

Michel and our vineyard team in full swing

The tanks!

Almost ready for your dinner table

Images © Château du Petit Thouars 2011

Visit www.bestwineroutes.com

Earlier this month we had the pleasure to welcome Martijn and Isabelle Rademakers, two of the passionate wine-loving founders behind the excellent website www.bestwineroutes.com, which reviews vineyards and winery visits from around the globe.

Visit their website to view more information on their visit to Château du Petit Thouars as well as to view a video interview direct from the domain!

Château du Petit Thouars

Who are the faces of Château du Petit Thouars? They line the walls, sit atop buildings, and they love to watch all the visitors who come for wine tastings in our salle de dégustation. Look for them on your next visit to the domain!

"Say that a little louder?"

"Just hanging around..."

"We read about wine in our spare time!"

"Welcome!"

Curling up for a nap?

A squirlish friend

"I spurt water when it rains!"

"Waiting for the harvest drives me batty!"

Why so glum?

Peek-a-boo!

"Can you spot me?"

Images © Château du Petit Thouars 2011

Despite the rain (that finally seems to be going away) spirits are up at Château du Petit Thouars!

Since the end of June we’ve officially joined the Caves Oneotouristiques de Loire, a label granted by Interloire, the interprofessional body for all Loire Valley wineries! This label certifies Interloire standards for French and Foreign visitors at the vineyard. Check the Contact Us/Visit Us page of this blog for opening hours and location for your visits, tastings and group lunches (the last, by reservation).

Logo Caves Oneotouristiques de Loire

In other news, the popular French Magazine “Cuisine Actuelle,” which is dedicated to food and wine, has a feature on Touraine wines in its August issue and we’ve been included!

The wine presented is our Sélection 2009 and the author recommends pairing it with cold cuts or shepherd’s pie. We’d also like to suggest grilled fish, such as salmon, or goat cheeses as well. Don’t hesitate to contact if you want more pairing suggestions!

For those of you who’d want to try this wine while in Paris, you can buy it at Le Barav  6, Rue Charles-François Dupuis, 75003 Paris.

Cuisine Actuelle August 2011

Finally, it looks like the 2011 harvest will take place around September 24th. It’s earlier than usual but the quality looks promising and it’ll be right in time to taste our DWWA Commended Reserve 2009, that will be bottled on September 1st! Personnally I can’t wait!

Thanks for following our news and stay tuned for more updates from the vineyard!

La Revue du Vin de France, one of the leading publications on wine in France has just put out its special 2010 vintage issue, and we’re in it!

 Our Cuvée Sélection 2010 is listed in the “réussites” category of the reds from the Loire Valley, which literally means that it is a success !

Following on the 2011 DWWA commendation, we can definitely say that May has been a good month for the winery!

Our cuvée Sélection 2010 will be bottled next week, so don’t hesitate to come and taste.

RVF Review of our Cuvée Selection 2010