I work with Philippe Gilbert of Menetou Salon. His entry level '11 white is tenacious in its grip, saline, and quite fine.
His '10 Renardieres Pinot Noir will amaze any pinot lover at the price.
This producers still continues to impress…I just had the 2020 Francis Blanchet ‘Cuvee Silice’ [Pouilly Fume] with chicken Francaise in a caper/shallot sauce and it was lovely. Light bodied, pale colored, yet lots of ripe and round flavors at 14.5% abv. I found it to be more on the grapefruit/pomelo side of the citrus spectrum, without an overt mineral feel. Acidity is balanced, and its a good food or sipping wine. My sister, who normally prefers CA or NZ SB, was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this North Berkeley Import but I had to warn her that it might cost a few bucks more than her usual choices. In my ledger, this gets a B+. I’d buy it again if I needed its type.
Nearly a decade later, and I still stand by my comments, both on the wine and Arsenal supporters.
So has a decade changed recs for anyone else? We drank quite a lot of Sancerre but kind of lost interest and moved to Italian whites such as Villa Bucci Verdicchio Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore
As a practical matter, I see much less of this category in the places I would buy daily drinker / blancs. Maybe local consumers can’t/won’t support the AOC, when pretty good CA SB can be had for $10-15, and the imports run $20+? Although a new strong dollar might bring that ratio back…
Can you share a few of the quality CA SBs I’m the $10-15 range? I can’t think of 1.
I’m sure my tastes are more prosaic than yours, but in that range I enjoy Mondavi, Alexander Valley Vyd., and Joel Gott (!), which all represent different styles (oaked, Loire-esque, and fruity - respectively). There was a long old thread on the topic here