2009 SANCERRES BLINDTASTED - Tom’s House, Palo Alto, California (3/31/2011)
I have to admit to being pretty bored with Sauvignon Blanc in recent years. It’s easy to grow and has become ubiquitous, so perfectly decent versions of it are available from everywhere: California, Washington, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Italy and, of course, France. Most of the oceans of Sauvignon Blanc taste pretty much the same, though–grapefruit, lime, tart citrus, maybe some tart gooseberry, in a word: predictable. And most of it is not particularly subtle. Hence, I tend to avoid it. Sure, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is often distinctive for its gooseberry and “cat pee” nose, but why the heck would I want to smell cat pee in my wine? It’s bad enough I have to clean out the litter box once a week.
Another problem I have with Sauv Blanc is that it is not particularly ageworthy. Even the great, concentrated Pouilly Fumés from Didier Dagueneau tended to be delicious only for two to three years and then to go markedly downhill. Even those that last three or more years don’t develop any interesting secondary characteristics with the additional age. And, sure, Sancerre is the perfect pairing with goat cheese, but how often do I eat goat cheese? So when the organizer of my regular blindtasting group planned a Sancerre tasting, I at first thought, “Here’s some more Sauvignon Blanc I can avoid.” This was Sancerre though–one of the few places where, grown on limestone soils and predominantly south-facing slopes, Sauvignon Blanc can show some terroir-driven minerality and complexity, as well as subtlety not often found in Sauv Blanc from everywhere else. So I went to taste nine new releases of Sancerre, and I’m glad I did. They restored my faith in Sauvignon Blanc when grown in the right places, by thoughtful producers.
2009 was a pretty fabulous vintage throughout France, especially in Burgundy and Bordeaux. It was excellent in the Loire too, although parts of Sancerre were hard hit by hail. April and May were quite warm, June and July were average, while August got quite hot, leading to hydric stress in some areas. Harvest started September 21 and extended to October 3. Yields were on the low side, but fruit concentration levels were reportedly the highest since 1947. Malic acid levels were low.
Sancerre, by the way, has not always been Sauvignon Blanc country. Up until the mid-20th century, it was planted mainly to red grapes, especially Pinot Noir, and to Chasselas table grapes. Once Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre took off in popularity from the late 1970s and early 1980s, the amount of Sauvignon Blanc grown there soared.
In this tasting, everything was blind. We started with a couple of whites, one of which seemed like it had to be a New Zealand Sauv Blanc, and the other of which probably a Chenin Blanc. The first one, though, turned out to be an '07 Sancerre. We then tasted nine 2009 Sancerres, including two from the great Les Monts Damnés Vineyard. We finished with a blind red that seemed likely to most of us to be a very good Burgundy, but which turned out to be Pinot Noir from Sancerre instead. For the details on the wines, producers and the group’s and my rankings, see below.
Starter blind wines
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2007 Patient Cottat Sancerre Vieilles Vignes - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Light yellow color; cat pee, tart gooseberry nose; tight, tart grapefruit, tart gooseberry palate with less than medium acidity; medium finish 88+ points (tasted blind, I wrongly guessed from the nose and palate profile that it was a NZ Sauv Blanc) (88 pts.) -
2008 Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Cuvée de Silex - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Light yellow color; mature, ripe apple, mineral, tart green fruit nose; ripe apple, gooseberry, ripe lime, mineral palate; medium-plus finish (89 pts.)
Group scoring and my TNs
All the wines in this flight were good wines, with even my lowest ranked wine (and the group’s), the Pascal Cotat Les Monts Damnés, meriting at least 88+ points. Nearly all had the minerality, complexity and subtlety I rarely find in Sauv Blanc grown elsewhere. Our first place Sancerre (my fourth place) was the Claude Riffault “Les Boucauds.” The Domaine, now run by Claude’s son Stéphane, owns 33 plots on steep hills in four villages. Most are on limestone soils, but some are on flint soils. The plots are vinified separately and then assembled to make three different cuvées. The Les Boucauds we had in this tasting was harvested exclusively from limestone soils, with 30- to 40-year-old vines. It’s fermented in steel tanks. It had good minerality, acidity and poise, and can be found locally for a very reasonable $22.
My favorite was the elegant Thomas-Labaille Chavignol Les Monts Damnés, with its floaty nose and minerally, concentrated palate. It’s a Louis Dressner wine. Jean-Paul Labaille has taken over as winemaker from his father-in-law, Claude Thomas. They have excellent sites, including Les Monts Damnés, thought to be Sancerre’s greatest vineyard, and they use essentially neutral, two- and three-year-old barrels for fermentation, as well as concrete vats and stainless steel. This wine is also available for about $22, which is a steal for a wine this good and minerally.
The Sylvain Bailly Terroirs was both the group’s, and my, second place wine. It’s one of three Sancerre cuvees this producer makes. It comes from limestone soils and is aged on its lees before racking. The local price on this wine is only $20.
I didn’t rate the group’s third place, Vincent Gaudry L’Esprit Rudolf, as high as the group. It was only eighth for me, but still merited 89+ points. This domaine, which owns seven hectares planted to Sauvignon Blanc, has recently been certified as biodynamic. The L’Esprit Rudolf is one of four Sancerre cuvees they make, and it sees a year of barrel aging.
The group’s fourth place (my fifth) was Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy. This is a Kermit Lynch wine, and had a distinctly smoky nose, as well as good minerality and cut. Michel Reverdy has been in charge since his father’s untimely death (and his brother’s suicide, out of grief over their father’s death). The domaine has 11 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc, the vines average 30 years old, and they produce two cuvées.
The group’s fifth place was my third, and I think it’s quite a good value for about $17. It’s the Etienne Daulny, and it has good density and minerality. The domaine owns 15 hectares divided among 50 different plots. This regular bottling is a blend of different plots, with different soil types. It is fermented and aged in steel tanks, with no malolactic fermentation. Daulny also makes a single vineyard bottling, called Clos de Chaudenay.
The group’s and my sixth place was the Pascal & Nicolas Reverdy Cuvée Les Coûtes. Pascal and Nicolas took over the domaine from their father, but Nicolas died in 2007 as a result of an accident when the two brothers were cutting down a tree. The domaine currently owns 14 hectares, 11 of which are planted to Sauvignon Blanc, with vines averaging over 25 years old. They produce four white Sancerre cuvées, of which ours, Les Coûtes, is from a single hillside vineyard with vines averaging about 50 years old.
The group’s eighth place wine, my seventh, was the Château de Thauvenay. This is one of the older Sancerre producers, currently owned by the sixth generation Count and Countess Georges de Choulot. They have 14.5 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc vines averaging around 25 years old, on both chalk and clay soils.
Our last place wine in this tasting was intense and very odd and high pitched on the nose. It was more like a heavy Sauv Blanc from everywhere else than a subtle Sancerre to me. It is from the great vineyard, Les Monts Damnés, from a 1.5 hectare parcel with 35-year-old vines, and the producer is Domaine Pascal Cotat. This domaine picks later than other producers, which may be why this wine, from a very ripe year, was so much more intense and unsubtle than the others in the lineup. Some years their wines have so much residual sugar and/or high alcohol levels that they can’t be sold as Sancerre under the appellation’s restrictions. They ferment in very old demi-muids.
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2009 Claude Riffault Sancerre Les Boucauds - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #1 (my #4) – 24 pts; 3 firsts, 1 second, 2 thirds, 0 last places – very light yellow color; nice tart grapefruit, mineral, tart citrus nose; poised, tart citrus, tart grapefruit, mineral palate with medium acidity; medium finish 91+ points (91 pts.) -
2009 Sylvain Bailly Sancerre Terroirs - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #2 (my #2) – 26 pts.; 3, 4, 0, 1 - light yellow color; ripe grapefruit, green grape, fresh, very tart green apple nose; crystalline, very tart apple, ripe grapefruit, mineral palate; medium finish 92+ points (a great value at about $20) (92 pts.) -
2009 Vincent Gaudry Sancerre L’Esprit Rudolf - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #3 (my #8) – 40 pts.; 1, 1, 3, 0 - light lemon yellow color; tart yellow apple, mineral, peach, saline nose; tart peach, grapefruit, mineral palate with low notes; medium finish 89+ points (89 pts.) -
2009 Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #4 (my #5) – 40 pts.; 0, 0, 1, 0 - light yellow color; focused grapefruit, mineral, smoky nose; focused, tart grapefruit, mineral palate with cut; medium-plus finish (91 pts.) -
2009 Domaine Etienne Daulny Sancerre - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #5 (my #3) – 44 pts.; 1, 0, 2, 1 - light lemon yellow color; intense wet wool, tart citrus, lime rind nose; tart grapefruit, mineral palate with density and medium-plus acidity; medium-plus finish (terrific value for about $17) (92 pts.) -
2009 Pascal & Nicolas Reverdy Sancerre Cuvée Les Coûtes - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #6 (my #6) – 45 pts.; 0, 2, 0, 0 - light yellow color; ripe citrus, tart peach, lime nose; tart, concentrated grapefruit, ripe grapefruit palate, needs a year or so; medium finish 90+ points (90 pts.) -
2009 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Chavignol Les Monts Damnés - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #7 (my #1) – 50 pts.; 1, 1, 1, 0 - bright, light lemon yellow color; light, floaty, lemon, grapefruit nose; tart pear, ripe grapefruit, lemon, mineral palate with good concentration; medium-plus finish (93 pts.) -
2009 Château de Thauvenay Sancerre - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #8 (my #7) – 58 pts.; 0, 0, 0, 0 - light lemon yellow color; seawater, saline, oyster shell, minerally nose; saline, tart grapefruit, tart kumquat, mineral, lavender palate; medium finish ($14.50 at Costco) (90 pts.) -
2009 Domaine Pascal Cotat (Pascal & Francis) Sancerre Les Monts Damnés - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Group’s #9 (my #9) – 76 pts.; 0, 0, 0, 6 - light yellow color; odd, very high pitched, grapefruit pulp, tart lime, minerally nose; intense, tart grapefruit, very tart gooseberry, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 88+ points (88 pts.)
Final blind wine
This was a great wine to end with, reminding one that great, minerally Pinots with good acidity come from elsewhere in France besides Burgundy. It was from an excellent Sancerre producer, Lucien Crochet, and I’m only sorry we didn’t get to taste one of their white Sancerres in our lineup as well.
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2006 Lucien Crochet Sancerre Rouge La Croix du Roy - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre Rouge
Medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; lovely, tart red fruit, tart cherry skin, rosehips nose with a touch of brett; tasty, poised, tart cherry, mineral, cranberry palate, very Burgundian; medium-plus finish (91 pts.)
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