Sancerre, France: Earthly pleasures

It’s Sunday, the morning after the village of Reigny in the Sancerre AOC celebrated the end of harvest with sumptuous dinners and old bottles opened in homage to previous vintages. There’s a subdued and sleepy feeling in the air which not only contrasts with the carousing of the night before but with the bustle of the past two weeks. The odd tractor can be seen moving among the vines, but most of the residents are still behind closed shutters, enjoying a couple of extra hours in bed after the exertions of harvest.

There had been plenty of reasons to celebrate. August last year was truly dreadful: cold, with non-stop rain and unripe grapes hanging like little green pellets on the vines. But as they say in France, it is September that makes the wine, and September had been glorious: sunny, warm and dry, so the fruit had fattened and turned golden and sweet.

“Bud break in spring was really early,” explains Daniel Chotard of Domaine Daniel Chotard. “We thought we’d harvest early, but as summer progressed the start got later and later. We didn’t expect it to be as ripe as this. A lot of us were worried, but we’ve brought good fruit in this year.”

So, against the odds, the harvest, though smaller than some years, was still bountiful. No wonder the people of Sancerre had been singing, dancing and feasting the night before. They deserved every raised glass.

After a late breakfast, I need some fresh air so wander off into the vines, now bare of fruit, with leaves turning yellow, and make my way via a track to the top of the hill above the Chêne Marchand lieux-dits. Mist still hangs in the valleys, but the tops of the hills protrude above the creeping clouds. And there roosts the medieval village of Sancerre, a landmark that can be seen for miles around. Beyond, but out of sight, the Loire River curls through the centre of France before eventually flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

From this high vantage point it is clear why the region is broken down into different lieux-dits (literally, named places) and why terroir rules here. Everywhere you look, the hills rise and fall, one vineyard slopes sharply to the east, the next meanders south, and the sunlight is catching each plot at a different angle, ensuring the grapes ripen at different rates. I also know from my travels across the region that the soil types are visibly different.

There are just two grape varieties planted in Sancerre: sauvignon blanc being the lion’s share, with approximately 17 million bottles produced every year; and pinot noir which is turned into about 3 million bottles of red wine and 1.6 million bottles of rosé. But white wine is queen, and for the sauvignon blanc lover, this is a place of homage because, at their best, Sancerre whites have an integrity that comes from sauvignon blanc grown in its homeland. No matter how many ways the grape variety has been reinterpreted across the globe – from the oaky fumé blanc in California to the voluptuous, more fruity/asparagus wine in New Zealand – nor how estimable many of these wines may be, in the Central Loire sauvignon blanc has a cool-climate purity. Here the grape variety has kept its figure, and at its best is svelte and elegant, sometimes to the point of emaciation, but always crisp and fresh, with a mineral backbone.

But what makes the terroir special? The Sancerre region has a turbulent geological history, dating from the Jurassic period when the area was covered by the ocean, leaving thousands of minute fossilised shells in the soil when it eventually retreated. Fast-forward a few thousand years, during the Lower Cretaceous period, and the ocean is back, this time leaving a wide range of alluvial deposits in its wake. Moving on, the powerful upheavals in the Tertiary period created hills and valleys with myriad different soil types.

Thus in 21st-century Sancerre the soil type changes constantly. This combined with different vine exposure results in a range of wine styles, justifying the lieux-dit system. It may be complicated and mean that an interest in Sancerre has to include an interest in cartography, but above the Chêne Marchand lieu dit, it does make sense.

In broad terms, terres blanches, or limestone, is found to the west of the AOC. This soil makes complex, full-bodied wines that age well. Les caillottes, or pebbly limestone, is found in the central area and makes more light-hearted, fruity, floral wines best enjoyed young. Flinty-clay soil is found in the east, giving a harder edge to the wines – a more steely, flinty note sometimes with a touch of smoke or spice – making them superb with shellfish and goats’ cheese.

To further open the palate of sauvignon blanc flavours, visits to the surrounding AOC are worthwhile. Such as Pouilly-Fumé AOC to the east of Sancerre, again with a complex pattern of soils producing a range of sauvignon blanc styles.

In Pouilly-Fumé, serious “terroirists” should head to Domaine Michel Redde et Fils to compare three wines made on three different terroirs: marl with small oyster shells, which makes an opulent style; flinty shale for a lively, gunpowder/mineral example; and compact limestone for a fruity, aromatic wine. “My aim with these wines is to show off our fabulous terroirs at their most pure,” Michel Redde explains.

Then there are the AOC of Menetou-Salon, Quincy and Reuill, which can yield some excellent bargains for those prepared to delve deep.

The more time you spend in Central Loire, the more you realise that wine tasting becomes an exercise in assessing shades of difference, rather than radical variants. However, if you don’t like sauvignon blanc, your choices are limited. For those who are fans, you’ll find everything on the spectrum, from rich and opulent, to lean and mineral, via aged wines with curious iodine and honey aromas. Far from being tedious, tasting sauvignon blanc from Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and Pouilly-Fumé is a pleasure for both the intellect and the palate.

 

Wineries To Visit

Visiting wineries in the eastern Loire is not easy. Many places are hidden along twisting little roads, making map-reading challenging. And although most wineries are used to receiving English-speaking visitors, your French/sign language will be sorely tested. That’s the downside.

The upside is that in the hills of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Menetou-Salon you will taste a lot of very good wine and meet many talented, passionate winemakers. If you reciprocate by communicating your own enthusiasm for wine, you’ll find the barriers disappear and everyone begins speaking the international language of wine lovers.

DOMAINE HENRI BOURGEOIS
Chavignol, 18300 Sancerre, (02) 48 78 53 20, www.henribourgeois.com.
The village of Chavignol is probably as famous for its AOC goats’ cheese as it is for its wine, so make sure you eat/shop there too. As the old maxim states, “what grows together, goes together”, and there are few food and wine matches as perfect as a glass of crisp Sancerre with a creamy Crottin de Chavignol. Domaine Henri Bourgeois is the largest producer in Chavignol and turns out a wide range of wines. This makes it a great place to gain a real understanding of the quality steps that begin with a good but basic generic Sancerre and continue through to a top-end, single-vineyard wine.

DOMAINE ROGER CHAMPAULT ET FILS
Crézancy-en-Sancerre, (02) 48 79 00 03.
Domaine Roger Champault is clearly a working farm rather than a winery/wine shop. When I visited, Claude Champault and team were in the throes of transferring pinot noir juice from the fermentation tank via the press to the settling tank. Champault kindly stopped work to show me around, but obviously had doubts about the ability of a female English wine writer to understand the mechanics of his new filtration system. Well, no, I didn’t understand it, but Champault put his scepticism to one side and proved to be a generous and lively host in the tasting room.

DANIEL CHOTARD
18300 Crézancy-en-Sancerre, (02) 48 79 08 12.
Daniel Chotard, owner of the eponymous winery, plays the accordion with aplomb. It’s always hard for Anglo-Saxons to take this musical instrument seriously – it’s just too stereotypically Gallic – but in the hands of Chotard there was a beauty to the music, which was exuberant and full of joie de vivre yet also had moments of pure beauty and poignancy. His wines are not dissimilar. According to Chotard, “Wood masks the authenticity of the grapes and the vineyard they came from,” so these are hard-core, terroir wines: uncompromising, pure Sancerre. Yet this does not mean they are so Gallic that they are repellent to an Anglo-Saxon; Chotard’s wines are as appealing as his music: lively, fresh and fruity.

DIDIER DAGUENEAU
Le Bourg, 58150 Saint Andelain, (03) 86 39 15 62.
Heading east to Pouilly-Fumé, it’s almost impossible to visit this region without hearing about Domaine Didier Dagueneau because this winery has done much to establish the AOC’s reputation. Dagueneau bought the vines and winery in 1982 and focused on quality. Located on some of the best terroir in the region, the domaine now has a global reputation. This is rather surprising as Dagueneau is something of a hippy: long-haired, bearded, bright-eyed. He is keen on Maria Thun’s work on lunar cycles and follows this practice, including harvesting during a full moon and bottling during a sickle. He describes his wine style as “tight and fine”, and his wines are indeed elegant.

DOMAINE HENRY PELLE
Route d’Aubinges, Morogues, (02) 48 64 42 48, www.henry-pelle.com.
Travel west and the big name in Menetou-Salon, with 40 hectares, is Domaine Henry Pellé. The Pellé family have been pioneers of the AOC since its foundation in 1959, and they could easily rest on their laurels. But they don’t. Anne Pellé takes care of sales and administration, while her winemaker son Paul-Henry and co-winemaker Julien Zernott are constantly developing and changing their methods.

In 2007 they stopped destalking the fruit before pressing. “The stalks act as a drainage system in the winepress so we can keep the pressure lower. It is gentler,” Paul-Henry explains. The domaine is also adapting to organic methods and increasing the amount of manure it uses in the vineyard. “We’ll see what it brings,” he says.

DOMAINE VINCENT PINARD
Rue St Vincent, 18300 Bué, (02) 48 54 33 89.
Domaine Vincent Pinard is a smaller winery, but one worth visiting because of the quality of its wine. The winery has 16 hectares of vines growing on the slopes in the subregion of Bué. The company is gradually passing from the hands of Vincent to his sons, Clément and Florent. Along with this change of generation comes a change in winemaking. The house was once known for giving wine an oak influence, but times change, and now the wine is leaner. Harmonie is their best cuvée; the brothers generously open a bottle of 1996 for me to try. It is truly beautiful. The nose is distinctive with white truffle, seaweed and honey notes, the palate soft and subtle, with the oak influence still obvious. In 2006, the brothers reduced the use of new oak barrels from 100 per cent to 33 per cent and the wood influence on the wine is now just a whisper; adding complexity and spice but without overpowering the fruit.

MICHEL REDDE ET FILS
58150 Pouilly sur Loire, (03) 86 39 14 72, www.michel-redde.com.
The winery at Michel Redde et Fils will never win the prettiest winery award; it is too near the main road and the decor is dingy and retro. However, head into the vines and you’ll discover one of the most charming, circular cabane (a hut for working and storing) in the region. Now a tasting room, it’s an ideal spot to while away an hour with a glass of Pouilly-Fumé, particularly the three terroir wines.

 

Regional Wines

2006 Domaine Henri Bourgeois La Grande Réserve Sancerre Blanc
This is a good, classic, fresh Sancerre with plentiful yet not overpowering white fruit and a herbaceous, mineral character. It’s a finetuned wine with good length.

2002 Domaine Henri Bourgeois Le Chêne Saint-Etienne Vieilles Vignes, Sancerre Blanc
Le Chêne Saint-Etienne was a 435-year-old oak tree that was struck by lightning in 1993 and then bought by Domaine Henri Bourgeois, which saw its potential for oak barrels. The Le Chêne Saint-Etienne is a perfect marriage of wood and wine. Golden in colour, it has a lovely, rich, honeysuckle nose, a viscous-textured, soft and honey-flavoured palate and an exceptional finish.

2002 Domaine Henri Bourgeois Le MD de Bourgeois Sancerre Blanc
A rich, mineral-style wine from the steep-sloping La Côte des Monts Damnés lieu-dits. The plot was so difficult to work that in medieval days it was only the local monks who made the effort; now harvesters climb its dizzying slopes to complete the harvest. The terroir yields an attractive wine with expressive grassy, asparagus notes on the nose and the palate, rounded out with sultana tones.

2003 Roger Champault Côte de Champtin Sancerre Blanc
From the heatwave 2003 vintage, this is so weighty and rich that its texture is almost like chardonnay. The nose is complex and warm with spice and orange zest notes, and the palate is rich and soft too. An atypical but interesting sauvignon blanc.

2006 Roger Champault Les Pierris Sancerre Rouge
With this pinot noir, Claude Champault aspires to get “a balance of colour, structure, fruit and intensity”. He has succeeded. Unlike many Sancerre reds, which can be rather weedy affairs, this is an intense pleasure. It has soft plum pie fruit, grippy tannins and fresh acidity.

2006 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Blanc
Sancerre at its most pure, with a pungent perfume of grass and flowers on the nose. The palate is mineral and floral with a touch of fennel. Overall, this is a crisp, refreshing and satisfying wine. Served with a blanquette de veau, it is an outstanding food and wine match.

2005 Didier Dagueneau Silex Pouilly-Fumé
Probably Dagueneau’s best-known wine, from a west-facing slope strewn with huge lumps of flint. The Silex is a spicy, rich sauvignon blanc – fresh, clean, mineral and long, with an intriguing balance of wood. This is stylish stuff.

2005 Didier Dagueneau Pur Sang Pouilly-Fumé
From a small 3.5-hectare plot based on a bed of flint with a clay overlay, this wine is much softer than Silex. Its nose and palate are more floral, the latter bursting with apple and quince. A gentler, elegant wine that seduces rather than demands attention.

2005 Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard Pouilly-Fumé
Another flint-based vineyard, this one delivering bigger, fatter, more opulent wines. However, it also has some light citrus acidity that brightens the voluptuous exotic fruit flavours. A mineral kick on the end palate means the wine finishes on a refreshing, clean note.

2006 Henry Pellé Clos des Blanchais Menetou-Salon
A soft, subtle wine with a crisp, light sultana and white blossom aroma. The palate is intense, rich and pungent, with strong sultana-style fruit and a saline/iodine note that imbues the wine with a marine-like quality.

2005 Henry Pellé Clos des Blanchais Menetou-Salon
The extra year of maturity and the warmer vintage have brought out the seaweed/iodine notes on this Menetou-Salon. The palate is rich and honeyed with an oyster-shell note on the clean finish.

2005 Vincent Pinard Charlouise Sancerre Rouge
“I like to make very feminine pinot noirs,” Clément Pinard says. This wine may be feminine, but it is not shy. It has an intense, rich nose with a dark, meaty, gamy palate. A grown-up and sophisticated Burgundian-style pinot.

2005 Vincent Pinard Cuvée Nuance Sancerre Blanc
Made from 37-year-old vines, Clément Pinard describes this as a Sancerre à garde (Sancerre to age). It is rich and soft, with a lovely floral nose and distinctive beeswax note. The palate is soft and viscous, with delicious soft, white-fruit flavours.

2006 Vincent Pinard Harmonie Sancerre Blanc
This wine is oak-dominated because it was made before a change in house style. In the next generation of wine, just a third is aged in new barrels with the remainder in older barrels. Now wood adds a backdrop to the flavour, but the overall effect is an elegant, fine sauvignon blanc with plenty of fruit and good acid balance.

1996 Vincent Pinard Harmonie Sancerre Blanc
An 11-year-old sauvignon blanc offering a distinctive white truffle, seaweed and honey nose. The palate is soft and subtle with a pleasing chalky, mineral note and pretty floral fruit. The overall effect is absolutely beautiful, belying any ideas that aged sauvignon blanc is simply a curiosity and not a gustatory pleasure.

WORDS Katrina Alloway PHOTOGRAPHY BIVC

This article appeared in the February/March 2008 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE.