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Le Rocher des Violettes, Montlouis

For a young man from the north of France, Xavier Weisskopf has a remarkably precocious track record in the world of wine. He went to school in Chablis, where his passion for the vine took root and led to the wine school in Beaune. After earning a degree in viticulture and enology, he went to work for the dynamic, hard-driving Louis Barruol at Château de Saint Cosme in Gigondas. He quickly became Louis' chef du cave, and made four vintages there.

In January 2005 Xavier bought 22 acres of vines in Montlouis and an awesome 15th century stone cellar dug out of the Loire's chalk limestone bank in Amboise. These vines are scattered about in various parcels and were planted at different times, but the majority were put into the ground before WWII. There's Chenin, Sauvignon, Gamay, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec (Cot), and he makes AC Montlouis, Touraine in three colors, and a pétillant naturel.

Montlouis faces Vouvray across the broad Loire. These are Touraine's two great white wine appellations, and both have plateaus where most of the vineyards grow high above the river. Montlouis has somewhat more sand and less clay in its soils and its wines, very generally (one is easily fooled in blind tastings), can consequently be softer rather than so pointedly precise. Vouvray's advantage in clay tends to favor late harvest moelleux too, but again, this is very general.

The other thing about Montlouis is that it is roughly one-fifth the size of its illustrious neighbor, and until the AC laws created "Montlouis" in 1939 its wines were sold as Vouvray. Ever since, Montlouis has been overshadowed, but these days this underdog AC has become a hotbed for Touraine's leading young Turks (in part because of less expensive vineyards). Enter Xavier.

He's a tall, hadsome young man who knows exactly what he wants to do and how to go about it. He left the Rhône in favor of the Loire because of his love of Chenin. Louis Barruol joined him at the end of November 2005 to pick icy botrytised Chenin, and ended up cursing the fate that gave him no grapes in Gigondas capable of hanging for so long. Xavier works his soil, doesn't use chemical or synthetic products, prunes his younger vines severely for low yields of around 30 hectolitres per hectare, and harvests by hand.

Like their maker, Le Rocher des Violette's wines are exceptional.

The Wines

• Montlouis Sec Cuvée La Touche Mitaine: This wine comes from Xavier's youngest parcel of Chenin (some 30-years-old) growing in limestone flint soil. One-third is made in tank and two-thirds in three-year-old barrels. Elevage lasts six months with regular lees stirring, after which the wine is bottled to preserve fruit and elegance. Those who think all Chenin sec is lean and mean take note: Touche Mitaine is ripe and round, deliciously full of peach and stones.
• Montlouis Cuvée La Négrette: This is the pre-WWII old-vine cuvée, brought up in three-year-old barrels for some ten months with regular bâtonnage. The wine is dry, richly layered and textured, and long.
• Montlouis Demi-Sec: From a parcel named Les Borderies, this is made half in tank and half in older barrel, and bottled at the same time as Touche Mitaine to preserve freshness. It's classically off-dry, rich with white fruit flavors and minerality, and impossible to resist.
• Montlouis Moelleux: This wine is made after the grapes are covered with botrytis and picked around the middle of October. Elevage is in three-year-old barrels for roughly ten months.
• Pétillant Naturel: Some would call this methode ancestrale, which is the same thing, and that is to say a sparkling wine made in bottle with its native yeast and without any dosage (most Champagnes and Crémants, by contrast, get a dose of designer yeast for their secondary fermentation and are bottled with a sweet dosage). This kind of sparkling wine is all the rage among the Loire's cutting-edge winemakers. Rocher des Violette's is made from old-vine Chenin growing in AC Touraine.
• Touraine Rouge: Remember, Xavier made four vintages at Saint Cosme (2000-2004); he knows how to make red wine! This is a substantial blend of Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Gamay. The Franc ripens last; the Malbec and Gamay first, and whenever possible Xavier will delay picking these latter two in order to co-ferment the three varieties in one fell swoop. The wine is aged in older barrels for roughly eleven months.