The other day I went shopping at Intermarché. Walt wanted some rosé wine — he waited in the car with Natasha while I went into the store. It was fun to browse around in the wine section of a supermarket outside the region where we live.
I came across two wines I have never seen before. They are rosé wines made with a grape called le Grolleau. It's a red wine grape that is grown, I've been told, on a vineyard plot right outside our back gate in Saint-Aignan. And I've been told it is used to make rosé wines, but usually the juice is blended with the juice of other grapes, including Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Pinot Noir. The rosé can be still or bubbly.
Here, however, the wines are 100% Grolleau. They are very dry, not sweet, and very pale in color. They they have a peppery quality. They remind me of the Pineau d'Aunis rosés that are made in the Cher and Loir Valleys. I went to a Leclerc hypermarket (superstore) yesterday to see if I can find a few more bottles, but no luck. I think I'll go back to Intermarché today.
That's certainly the kind of wine I'd like. Just like you, I'd never heard of Grolleau!
ReplyDeleteI knew about Grolleau, because the man who owns the vines outside our back gate told me years ago that the vines closest to the pond were Grolleau. He also said Grolleau juice went into rosé wines, usually blended with the juices of other grapes.
DeleteToday we went to Niort (beautiful city) and stopped at the Intermarché in the town of Benet on the way back to the gîte. There I found five bottles of the « La Roche Hertault » Grolleau rosé. I bought all five and will take them back to Saint-Aignan. They are kind of a novelty, and the wine is good (at 2.36€/bottle). It's made (or at least bottled), according to the label, by a négociant in Mouzillon, which is a village about half an hour west of Fontenay-le-Comte and our gîte. We drove through there a few days ago, coming back from Luçon.
Very cool!
ReplyDeleteYes, a good wine at a very good price. We pay about the same price for Pineau d'Aunis rosé from a winemaker near Saint-Aignan, but in a box, not in bottles. It's also very good.
DeleteI'm familiar with Grolleau, although I haven't had too many wines made from it, since very little makes it to the US. I'm sure I've had it in blends in the Loire, though. While it is probably most commonly made into rose, it is also made into red wine, probably usually in a blend. I suspect that those blends also often include Pineau d'Aunis. I've heard people denigrate Grolleau, but I think it does very well if properly made.
ReplyDeleteBert in Wineterriors has several mentions of Grolleau in the Loire
ReplyDeleteEmile, a Grolleau table wine
__ Emile, Vin de France 2014, Grolleau. Made from the vineyard he bought back to his former employer Thomas Carsin of Le Clos de l'Elu. The domaine downsized a bit, keeping the vineyards that were the closest to the winery, and this was an opportunity for Damien to take over this parcel. Having worked on this terroir himself for 4 years when he was employed at the winery, he knows it well and appreciates its value. Most of what he bought there is Chenin but there was some Grolleau too, 40-year-old vines, and here is the resulting wine. He named the cuvée Emile as a tribute to his own gradfather who was making wine in the region but whom he didn't know (he died when Damien was very young I guess). The small parcel has some diversity as Damien also spotted 2 different types of Gamay vines here and there among the rows and for the Grolleau itself he also saw two types of Grolleau. And he adds with a smile that as there are a few missing vines in these rows he may replant a few vines of Pineau d'Aunis to add another layer of complexity to the Grolleau... And he has not to fear the appellation rules as this is for a table wine, both Pineau d'Aunis and Grolleau being undesired in an AOC Anjou, had he had the desire to make one. Damien's father who works at the Musée de la Vigne in Saint Lambert where they do regularly tastings of forgotten varieties, including the Pineau d'Aunis formerly known under the name of Chenin Noir (plack Chenin), and he says that the King François 1er who lived in the early 16th century used to drink Chenin Noir (aka Pineau d'Aunis) when he was having red wine, this was the regular red then.
Always enjoy your and his blogs
Bill
I love stories like this involving wine that you know so well.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great holiday, the two of you and Tasha! Well-deserved break, I think. Great pictures of Tasha as well. She looks like such a happy doggy, looking forward to all the excitement - beach, sea and waves, lots of running around. Love it! :))
ReplyDelete