We left chilly and snowy England at the crack of dawn on Monday by EuroStar to find ourselves in chillier and snowier France. The frosty weather and frosty economy have undoubtedly thinned visitor numbers at the annual Salon des Vins de Loire, but it is still one of France’s best regional wine fairs with a diverse selection of exciting wines to taste.

The recent vintage run has been excellent, 2009 and 2010 are both terrific, but conditions were more challenging in 2011 with much depending on how wine-makers managed their vineyards and when they harvested their grapes. As seasoned vigneron Vincent Lecointre from Coteaux du Layon explained, ‘2011 was a year of great successes and great disasters’. According to impressively-moustachioed Loire expert Jim Budd who we button-holed on arrival, the worst hit area had been Nantais where grey rot had impacted heavily on the Muscadet harvest.

Our old chum Fredrik Filliatreau from Saumur Champigny was positively upbeat, talking us through an impressive range of brightly-fruited Cabernet Francs that should make for rewarding early drinking when they are bottled this Spring. Sauvignons from Menetou Salon and Sancerre are bien classique, with a nervy minerality and fine elderflower and nettle aromas.

Encouragingly, some of the best wines we have tasted have also been some of the most keenly-priced – there are exciting wines in prospect from Saumur, St Pourçain and Chinon. Finally, we have managed to bag some last call allocations of the voluptuous 2009 reds that are drinking splendidly already and will continue to do so for a further few years. After two days of full-on tasting, our palates are primed and our notebooks are full. We are off for a well-earned demi-pression at the Brasserie de la Gare.

A few years ago I had the good fortune to be introduced to the artist Glen Baxter after a rather long lunch (me not him) at the Academy Club in Soho. I am sure I gushed on at length about what a great admirer of his work I am but fortunately Glen has a tolerant disposition and I managed to procure (and not lose) his e-mail address.

I’ve been big on Baxter ever since I graduated with an enormous overdraft in the late 1980’s and found (almost) gainful employment delivering faxes around the vast offices of Arthur Andersen’s management consultancy on Surrey Street off the Strand. The up-side of working in such a capitalist stronghold was the chance to admire their superb collection of modern art as I toured the labyrinth of corridors delivering uber important missives and smutty jokes to the power-brokers therein. Andersen’s owned lots of Glen Baxter paintings and I loved their nostalgic imagery of cowboys, girl guides, and explorers in pith helmets – all in mad-cap scenarios coupled with hilarious captions in the distinctive Baxter font.

There is an old maxim that one should never meet ones heroes but after gingerly exchanging e-mails with Glen I soon discovered that he was a keen oenophile and Francophile and something of a kindred spirit. To cut a long-ish story shorter I eventually managed to cajole Glen into illustrating our 2008 wine list which he did with aplomb inspired by bottles of Picpoul de Pinet, Chinon, Saumur Champigny, Pic Saint-Loup and his personal favourite Christine Vernay’s ‘Le Pied de Samson’ Viognier.  The finished list, which was verging on being a graphic novella, was a great success and by popular demand we also produced a set of ‘Adventures in Wine’ postcards and a limited edition poster both of which are destined to become collectors’ items.

William Yapp & a big Glen Baxter in Poitiers

Glen’s distinctive and witty work is not only popular on these shores he regularly contributes to Le Monde newspaper in France and his paintings are widely exhibited all over the world. This summer the attractive University town of Poitiers, in mid-west France played host to a major exhibition of Glen’s work celebrating the rich gastronomic culture of Poitou-Charentes. Colourful images depicting all-manner of culinary specialities from Macarons de Montmorillon to Chevreau à la Poitvine were displayed in the principal libraries and galleries and huge monochrome images were hung to dramatic effect on the sides of municipal buildings. This Baxter-fest was too good an opportunity to miss so at the end of our summer holidays I re-routed our 700 mile return journey through Poitiers so that we could marvel at the biggest Baxters known to man. To have the tedium of a long drive broken by an artistic treat was terrific and I even managed to send Glen one of his own postcards to prove we’d made the pilgrimage.

If you want to find out more about the weird world of Glen Baxter then I would heartily recommend that you pay a visit to his website: www.glenbaxter.com

‘Adventures in Wine’ postcards are available from Yapp Brothers at £4.95 per pack of 10 postcards (including postage and packaging) and signed ‘Adventures in Wine’ posters are available at £45 (including postage and packing).

Fred Filliatreau at Yapp Brothers

While Fred Filliatreau was over visiting last month, we had the pleasure of a staff tasting at Mere of six of his wines from recent vintages all of which were showing really well. We’re not the only ones to think so judging from the recent press accolades for Cuvée Domaine Filliatreau 2008 and Vieilles Vignes 2007 in the Spectator and Telegraph Weekend magazines respectively.

Fred’s illuminating commentary as we tasted helped put the wines in the context of a formidable winemaking lineage. Fred joined his father Paul in 1990, who himself was largely responsible for modernising the Saumur Champigny appellation in terms of winemaking practices in the 70′s as well as creating a strong sense of community in the local winemaking fraternity. Robin Yapp first bought his wines in 1976. Fred has continued to be a driving force in the Appellation, championing organic methods of cultivation: Saumur Champigny was the first French appellation to promote a biodiversity programme in the vineyards, including forbidding the use of herbicides and encouraging the study of weather patterns.

He is rigorous in his insistence on low yields and produces beautifully balanced, well-crafted and elegant wines. Fermented between 15 and 30 days, depending on the cuvée, in thermostatically-controlled stainless steel vats, the aim is to produce light, fruity and refreshing wines that are designed primarily for enjoyable drinking now but which have distinct style differences between the cuvées. All the wines lend themselves to chilling but perhaps the Cuvée Domaine Filliatreau especially.

Here are my notes from the tasting:

Château Fouquet 2009

13% abv (alcohol by volume). Vines planted in 1987 east of Saumur in the commune of Brézé on chalky-clay soil and one of the best terroirs of the appellation. Organically produced, well-balanced, with medium body and length with excellent concentration of ripe fruit (brambles) and supple tannins. Very well-balanced and drinking now but has potential to age up to10 years. With age it will become spicier. A great food wine creating a fresh sensation in the mouth. More forward drinking than the 2008.

Château Fouquet 2008

Delicious aroma of violets and ripe dark berries. More vegetal and savoury on the palate than the 09. Will age up to 5 years. As with all cuvées the grapes are hand-harvested and with Château Fouquet, the limit per basket load is 20 kgs so that the grapes don’t get crushed allowing the juice to oxidise.

Cuvée Domaine Filliatreau 2008

12.5% abv. From parcels of vines, approx. 20 years old on chalky-clay soil around the village of Chaintres. Biggest selling wine by volume to the restaurant trade-especially Paris. Fruit from 25 year-old vines. Grapes macerated for 15 days in stainless steel. Versatile, peppery, fresh and fruity, supple tannins. Drink young and between 12˚ and 14˚C.

La Grande Vignolle 2008

12.5% abv. Grapes are harvested from 45 year-old vines on chalky subsoil. Macerated for 20 days in stainless steel. Spicy on the nose. Medium body with great silky texture. Great balance with integrated fruit, tannins and acidity. Big seller in both the UK and the US (where they like it unfiltered).

La Grande Vignolle 2007

12.5% abv. 2007 was a complicated vintage with lots of rain in the summer. Savoury on the nose and quite restrained on the palate but extremely well-balanced with copious ripe bramble fruit and acidity and tannins to match. Well-matured, medium-weight and not too concentrated. Vestigial green pepper aromas but well-integrated with a pure fruit core.

Vieilles Vignes 2007

12.5% abv. Fruit from 80 year-old vines. Sherry, raspberries, pepper and spice on the nose. Delicious velvety texture and well-integrated fruit on the palate. Mid-weight and good length. Drinking very well and would be excellent with roast lamb but steer clear of the mint sauce!

A potentially thorny question for those of us in the wine trade is: What on earth to serve visiting wine makers? Last week I had not one but two wine-makers to stay and so had ample opportunity to ponder this dilemma. The short answer is: Nothing from their own back yard and certainly not their own wine unless it’s part of an elaborate ruse.

Fred Filliatreau

My first guest was Fredrik Filliatreau, from Saumur Champigny, who I’ve known for years and is a close family friend. Fred was purporting to be in the UK on business and any rumours that he was actually over for a spot of chalk-stream fly fishing on the river Wylye should be ignored. Having been President of the appellation of Saumur Champigny while still in his thirties Fred is an authority on Cabernet Franc so that (and all Loire wines for good measure) were strictly off the menu. We served him a Corsican rosé from Domaine Saparale as an aperitif which seemed to meet with approval. The only problem being my thirsty neighbours who can hear a cork pop at 50 metres and are particularly partial to sophisticated saignant wines. To be fair they are a very jolly bunch and they entertained Fred with aplomb while Pippa and I faffed about in the kitchen. We then sampled a nervy Neagles Rock Riesling, in the newly shipped 2009 vintage, with a simple crab salad, followed by an organic red Côtes de Luberon, Château la Canorgue with a slow-cooked leg of lamb ‘boulanger’. With a selection of English cheeses (from our local fromage-pusher Paul at Sagebury Cheese in Frome), including my new favourite ‘Danegeld’ made by Jamie Montgomery (do try it), we had a bottle of Gigondas 1990 from Domaine Saint Gayan. This majestic old Grenache was (like me) showing its age but it made a fine end to fun evening and we all retired to bed at a fairly sensible hour.

Dan Buckle

Two days later ace Aussie wine-maker Dan Buckle, from the celebrated, Mount Langi Ghiran estate in Victoria, descended upon us prior to the wedding of some mutual friends. Dan was somewhat less of a vinous challenge as he is a keen Francophile with limited access to French wines in his native Australia. We served Dan a sparkling Loire rosé ‘Cuvée les Tonnelles’ from Domaine Aubert, enlivened with a soupçon of Sirop de Pamplemousse Rose from Domaine Combier in Saumur, which we all agreed made a refreshing start to the evening. With our starter of steamed English asparagus we had a taut young Reuilly 2009 from Gérard Cordier followed by a roast chicken that I couldn’t resist pairing with the 2007 ‘Vieilles Vignes’ Cuvée of Filliatreau Saumur Champigny – as Fred had stayed with us so recently. Dan had brought us some great cheeses from Neal’s Yard in Borough Market with which I struck lucky with a 1971 Saint Joseph from Rhône legend Ernest Trollat. I was correct in my guess that ’71 was Dan’s birth year and although he didn’t actually weep with gratitude he definitely looked a little misty in the corner of his eyes.

It was great to catch up with both Fred and Dan and I look forward to inflicting similar damage to their cellars when I next visit them in Saumur and Melbourne respectively.