Anjou Noir is so expensive?

[Jeff Grossman]

I don't see anything obvious about why Anjou Noir should be so expensive...but it is.

It certainly became much more talked-about with the 2018 vintage:Pascaline, Alice, Chris K.

The instigation is reputed to be a dismissive articleby Bettane in 2014.

And, as long as I'm on it, here's a very recent article on Dom. Belargus.

And a pertinent thread from another bored, including a greatest hits panoply of comments from Jayson, Chris K, VLM, and references to Richard Leroy.

Does this just come with 'being discovered' or is there more to it?

 

[Claude Kolm]

I can't say that this is directly causing the increased prices referred to above, but I think that demand is increasing for Loire wines:

The Burgundy and Beaujolais price situations have forced many people to look for better values in other wines, et voilà, Loire wines sitting right under their noses, so to speak.

Add to that the fact that recent hot vintages caused atypicality (judged by past standards, but they may become typical when looking back from the future) in many Burgundies and Beaujolais, but they worked to the advantage of many Chenin- and Cabernet-based Loire wines (more mixed for Muscadet and Sancerre).

Third, lots of new, talented producers being discovered leading to still more interest in the Loire.

In opposition to this increasing demand is the supply situation caused by short crops in some recent years.