Opened this excellent red Sancerre on Sunday night to go with slow roasted belly of pork. Domaine Lucien Crochet in the heart of the village of Bué is now run by Gilles Crochet. The 2005 Cuvée Prestige has lovely sweet ripe black fruits. It has opulent texture but is beautifully balanced with good freshness in the finish.
There has been some jokey comment recently on Tom Cannavan's wine forum that 2003 red Sancerres are good because it is one of the very rare occasions when Pinot Noir actually got ripe. Admittedly 2005 was a very good vintage but this beautifully judged red is shows that ripe Pinot is not that rare around Sancerre.
Sorting table@Lucien Crochet 6th October 2008
Alphonse Mellot rightly gets a lot of attention for his red Sancerres but, while Gilles Crochet makes less noise, his reds are certainly among the top four or five in the appellation. He is always one of the few in Sancerre to make an interesting rosé that justifies the price.
There has been some jokey comment recently on Tom Cannavan's wine forum that 2003 red Sancerres are good because it is one of the very rare occasions when Pinot Noir actually got ripe. Admittedly 2005 was a very good vintage but this beautifully judged red is shows that ripe Pinot is not that rare around Sancerre.
Sorting table@Lucien Crochet 6th October 2008Alphonse Mellot rightly gets a lot of attention for his red Sancerres but, while Gilles Crochet makes less noise, his reds are certainly among the top four or five in the appellation. He is always one of the few in Sancerre to make an interesting rosé that justifies the price.
