SDG Selections : Our Growers

cellars. They are "laid" on "lathes", that is to say stored horizontally, with each layer separated from the previous one by a thin wooden lathe. Over a period of about 4 months, a second fermentation occurs. It is during this that the yeast and sugar slowly are converted into alcohol and carbonic gas.

Two processes are used in the cellars to lower the sediment in the neck of the bottle, formed during the second fermentation, and to eject it during the disgorging stage: - The ancestral method consisting of putting the bottles on racks - Using rotating racks. To avoid any vibration capable of precipitating these deposits in suspension these racks are installed in our cellars on a concrete free floor, consisting of chalky rock dust (stone) providing a real anchorage to the floor. The capped bottles are placed head downwards with the neck in a solution refrigerated to minus 25°C.

Charles Bove Sparkling Wine is mainly composed of a selection of juice from the vineyards of the Loire Valley and is 100% Chenin Blanc. The wine is made according to traditional methods; during the bottle fermentation and maturation, it is kept lying on lathes for more than 18 months. The wine is a light golden color, with small, long-lasting bubbles. It is full and frothy upfront, with almond,fig and pear flavors. It is a great apéritif and goes well with salty foods.

Charles Bove Touraine Tradition: The Touraine region, well-known because of its prestigious chateaux, has boasted magnificent vineyards for more than 15 centuries. The soil is made of tough chalky stone covered with granite sand, clay or flint, depending on the location. The semi-continental climate, with the oceanic breeze that comes up along the Loire River, is exceptionally mild. The wine itself is made up of 40% Cabernet Franc, 40% Gamay, and 20% Malbec. This blending of grapes gives the wine the name "Tradition." Vinification is done separately for each grape: the fermentation is short for the Gamay (10 to 15 days) and a bit longer for the other 2 grapes, allowing the extraction of aromas, tannins, and coloring substances. The wine has a very aromatic bouquet of red fruits. In the mouth, the Gamay provides ripe fruit and lightness, the Cabernet Franc body and a pleasant tannic structure, and the Malbec delicacy and softness. The Touraine Tradition is intended to be drunk young, but the tannic structure enables it to age well as well. It is ideal with any meat as well as cheese and, if cooled, with fish.

Charles Bove Vouvray NV: The prestigious vineyard of Vouvray is situated between Tours and Blois in the Touraine region (see above). It stretches out over chalky slopes covered with clay and calcareous soils of the Loire River's northern bank; this is one of the best soils to grow the Chenin Blanc grapes of which this wine is totally made. The wine is made according to the Méthode Traditionelle. It matures on lathes for an average of 24 months, which gives it true elegance, good balance and very light bubbles. In the nose, the wine has apple aromas with a light touch of honey. This wine makes an excellent apéritif; it also goes well with all of your festive meals and with dessert.

Charles Bove Vouvray 2002: Wines from the Vouvray region have been on French kings' tables since the 14th century. The wine is made up of 100% Chenin Blanc and is a young, semi-sweet wine of a soft yellow color. Both the nose and the mouth benefit from soft flavors of apple and lime. This wine is exquisite as an apéritif but also goes well with foie gras, veal, fish, seafood, poultry and any creamy or saffron sauces. The wine should not be drunk too cold.

Website: http://www.monmousseau.com/

Our Growers:

Annick Coucharriere



	Our Growers: Annick Coucharriere Charles Bove
	The Monmousseau company, which makes the Charles Bove wines, was founded in 1886 in Montrichard, in the Loire Valley, France. The company specializes in sparkling wines but also has an extensive portfolio of still wines. While enjoying a very strong domestic market, the company exports 40% of its production all over the world-- USA, Ireland, Hong Kong, Scandinavia, Australia, Japan, Germany, Belgium, China and many others. Alcide Monmousseau founded the wine company in one of the largest chalky rock quarries, the stone of the area. This quarry, abandoned after it had been quarried for building the Loire Chateaux, offered him the finest cellars for wine making which a wine connoisseur could dream of: 15 km of underground cellars, with hardly varying temperatures of 12°C, summer and winter. The humidity inside is ideal for making and storing wines. The domaine buys juice after tasting vintages at each property. The wines are then put into their cellars where they are vinified, blended and then bottled. They optimize the intrinsic qualities of the different wines by blending them together in one single vat. Here the tannins, there the color, the aromas... Reserve stocks, made up with a desire to maintain a constant quality level, allow them to offset unknown weather conditions. At the end of the bottling operation during which the wine is topped up with liqueur de tirage, the bottles, capped with metal temporary caps, are stored in our cave-like
	cellars. They are "laid" on "lathes", that is to say stored horizontally, with each layer separated from the previous one by a thin wooden lathe. Over a period of about 4 months, a second fermentation occurs. It is during this that the yeast and sugar slowly are converted into alcohol and carbonic gas. Two processes are used in the cellars to lower the sediment in the neck of the bottle, formed during the second fermentation, and to eject it during the disgorging stage: - The ancestral method consisting of putting the bottles on racks - Using rotating racks. To avoid any vibration capable of precipitating these deposits in suspension these racks are installed in our cellars on a concrete free floor, consisting of chalky rock dust (stone) providing a real anchorage to the floor. The capped bottles are placed head downwards with the neck in a solution refrigerated to minus 25°C. Charles Bove Sparkling Wine is mainly composed of a selection of juice from the vineyards of the Loire Valley and is 100% Chenin Blanc. The wine is made according to traditional methods; during the bottle fermentation and maturation, it is kept lying on lathes for more than 18 months. The wine is a light golden color, with small, long-lasting bubbles. It is full and frothy upfront, with almond,fig and pear flavors. It is a great apéritif and goes well with salty foods. Charles Bove Touraine Tradition: The Touraine region, well-known because of its prestigious chateaux, has boasted magnificent vineyards for more than 15 centuries. The soil is made of tough chalky stone covered with granite sand, clay or flint, depending on the location. The semi-continental climate, with the oceanic breeze that comes up along the Loire River, is exceptionally mild. The wine itself is made up of 40% Cabernet Franc, 40% Gamay, and 20% Malbec. This blending of grapes gives the wine the name "Tradition." Vinification is done separately for each grape: the fermentation is short for the Gamay (10 to 15 days) and a bit longer for the other 2 grapes, allowing the extraction of aromas, tannins, and coloring substances. The wine has a very aromatic bouquet of red fruits. In the mouth, the Gamay provides ripe fruit and lightness, the Cabernet Franc body and a pleasant tannic structure, and the Malbec delicacy and softness. The Touraine Tradition is intended to be drunk young, but the tannic structure enables it to age well as well. It is ideal with any meat as well as cheese and, if cooled, with fish. Charles Bove Vouvray NV: The prestigious vineyard of Vouvray is situated between Tours and Blois in the Touraine region (see above). It stretches out over chalky slopes covered with clay and calcareous soils of the Loire River's northern bank; this is one of the best soils to grow the Chenin Blanc grapes of which this wine is totally made. The wine is made according to the Méthode Traditionelle. It matures on lathes for an average of 24 months, which gives it true elegance, good balance and very light bubbles. In the nose, the wine has apple aromas with a light touch of honey. This wine makes an excellent apéritif; it also goes well with all of your festive meals and with dessert. Charles Bove Vouvray 2002: Wines from the Vouvray region have been on French kings' tables since the 14th century. The wine is made up of 100% Chenin Blanc and is a young, semi-sweet wine of a soft yellow color. Both the nose and the mouth benefit from soft flavors of apple and lime. This wine is exquisite as an apéritif but also goes well with foie gras, veal, fish, seafood, poultry and any creamy or saffron sauces. The wine should not be drunk too cold. Website: http://www.monmousseau.com/