Benoît Fouassier sampling his 2011 Sancerre 

I spent much of Thursday, all of Friday and small part of Saturday morning in Sancerre and Pouilly visiting as many producers as possible. I tasted juice and fermenting wine with a  number of the producers – all seemed clean with no off flavours. 

Here are comments from several Sancerre producers:     

Stephane Riffault – Domaine Claude Riffault

"We started on the 5th September and finished on 16th. Everything is picked by hand. We had to be very selective this year, especially with the reds, as grape quality fell away rapidly. On average the Sauvignon came in at 13% potential with an acidity of between 4.0-4.5 and with a ph of 3.20.   The Pinot Noir was between 12.5-13.0% potential with a ph of 3.40."

Benoît Fouassier, Domaine Fouassier:

Picking started on the 1st September and we finished on Wednesday 14th. For the white we had an average yield of 50hl/ha with potential alcohol between 12.5%-13%, acidity between 4 and 5 depending on the parcel and when we picked. The Pinot Noir was between 12.5-13% with a yield of 35-40 hl/ha. We had to be careful with the Pinot as there was rot, so it had to be picked over with the sorting table in the cellar. 

Benoît commented about the situation for some producers:  "Those who use artificial fertilisers or weedkiller their vines started to see rot in their grapes from the 15th August."

Certainly tasting the fermenting wines at Fouassier, who are now biodynamic, the wines were all clean and precise.   

Jean-Marie Bourgeois – the patriarch on the phone 

Jean-Marie Bourgeois, Domaine Henri Bourgeois
Tasted the 2011 fermenting wines with Jean-Marie on Friday. We went through much of the range from the Petit Bourgeois, their vin de pays launched back in 1995 (Sauvignon only at that time – a red followed later) through to MD and La Bourgeoise. As with Fouassier and Michael Vattan all the wines were clean and precise with differences between the parcels becoming apparent.  


Jean-Marie Bourgeois: 
"The secret of our Le Petit Bourgeois is that we always work with the same producers, who are serious, and we pay above the market price." We tasted two examples of 2011 PB – one from Faverolles-sur-Cher and one from Choussy, which is close to Oisly.    

A new Bourgeois cuvée?  

Jean-Laurent Vacheron

Jean-Laurent Vacheron: Domaine Vacheron

Jean-Laurent: This year it was very important to stop tilling/working the ground in our vineyards in July to let the grass grow and so absorb summer rains. We started picking on 1st September and finished last Tuesday (20th). There was quite a lot of rot in the Pinot Noir, especially at the end, so we had to be selective.

Ungrafted Sauvignon Blanc in the Vacheron's Clos just by Sancerre's remparts  

After a swift look round some of the vineyards we tasted the recently bottled 2010s – joined by Jean-Dominique Vacheron. Their range of single vineyard bottlings has been extended: Le Paradis (calcaire – caillottes), Chambrates (calcaire - thin soil), Guigné-Chèvres (Oxfordian limestone), Les Romains (silex - flint) and Pavé (argile-calcaire – clay limestone). At this stage my preferences among the 2010 was for Paradis, Guigné-Chèvres and Romains.

We also tasted the 2010 red Sancerre – attractive pure Pinot fruit – and the 2008 and 2007 La Belle Dame. The 2007 BD is drinking well now, while the 2008 needs time but has greater potential than the previous year.

 Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique Vacheron tasting their 2010 white Sancerres 

Jean-Dominique
**

Claude and Laurent Champault

Roger Champault et fils: Claude and Laurent Champault

Claude: "We were surprised by how well the vintage turned out because before the start we were worried by rot. We picked the reds first – those of the hillsides (clay and limestone) were healthy, while on the caillottes (pure limestone) there was more rot. The Pinot is around 11.5% potential alcohol with just under 5 acidity, while the Sauvignon is between 12.5-13.5%. Yields – 50 hl/ha for the Pinot and 65 hl/ha for the Sauvignon."

Jean-Laurent Vacheron: biodynamic vine cuddles!

(13 August 2008)
We spent our last morning in Sancerre with the Vacherons – Jean-Louis and son Jean-Dominique, Denis and son Jean-Laurent. I’m not sure why it isn’t Jean-Denis perhaps his parents decided that if everyone was called Jean it would be confusing but it does break the symmetry. Reminds me of when I was teaching in South London and, when arranging the classes, I put all the Jasons, then a popular first name, in the same class. Simplified matters as a call of “Jason!” covered nearly a third of the class ... but onto more important matters.

The Vacherons are a close-knit family and are amongst the leaders of the appellation. Quality has long been high but the younger generation, Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent, are taking the wines to new heights. In 1997 they started to convert the now 40 ha estate to biodynamics. This coincided with Jean-Laurent’s return from working for six months in Australia after having been in California for three years. Jean-Laurent was clearly busy in Australia as he spent time at a number of wineries including Plantagent (Western Australia), Bannockburn and De Bortoli (both Victoria) and Tatachilla (South Australia). Sarah and I started our morning visiting some of the vineyards with him.

New vineyard below Château de Sancerre

Most of the Vacheron vineyards, 40 parcels in all, are close to Sancerre. Indeed a circular tour around the conical hill of Sancerre covers many of them. We made a number of stops including La Belle Dame, Les Romains and a newish vineyard on the north east side of the hill of Sancerre, below the Château de Sancerre, planted four years ago, using selection masal vines. “The masal vines gives both us more sugar and acidity,” Jean-Laurent explained. The new plantings are at 9000 vines per hectare and we now use a cordon pruning system rather than the more customary Guyot. “We prefer the cordon because it reduces the amount of fruit and gives us smaller bunches,” Jean-Laurent explained. “The Guyot system can produce very high yields.”

Across to Fontenay

We visited the Vacheron’s compost and spray preparation plant. Natural composts and sprays are a central part of biodynamics. The Vacherons make enough for their own use as well as supplying others. “I like Noël Pinguet’s (Domaine Huet in Vouvray) pragmatic approach to biodynamics – using it because it works.," said Jean-Laurent. The sprays are dynamised before use. Stirring them up introduces oxygen, so increasing the amount of bacteria which makes the treatement much more effective.” Like most biodynamic producers I have visited recently they use a machine – like a large mixing bowl – for dynamisation. However, in the early 1990s I remember visiting a producer in Cahors who used a large wooden pole to dynamise – decidedly hard work, especially if you have to stir for 20 minutes or more!

While we were at the plant Jean-Laurent showed us a new device on one of their tractors that significantly improves the fuel efficiency. Details on: www.hypnow.fr

Rue des Puits Poulton, Sancerre

Vineyards visited it was back to the labyrinthine Vacheron cellars in the old part of Sancerre with its narrow streets. We started with the reds. “We are now searching for more finesse and less tannin,” Jean-Dominique explained. “We are very careful over the selection of fruit and have ten people around the sorting table. I think we went for too much extraction in the past. We have reduced the amount of new oak barrels that we use and we have opted for 600 litre barrels. We are also lengthening the time before releasing the wines – La Belle Dame will not be released until 24 months after the vintage.

The Vacherons have 10.75 hectares of Pinot Noir in some 11-15 blocks. It was Grandfather Jean, the first of the family to move from polyculture to concentrate on wine, who provided the impetus to make Pinot Noir an important constituent of the domaine. Of the several unfinished reds we tasted the spicy 2006 La Belle Dame was the most impressive – currently showing finesse and balance.

The move to fermenting the whites in conical wooden vats has moved them up at least another notch emphasising the purity and precision of the fruit flavours. This shows in the both the 2007 Les Romains, made from only 25 hl/ha but not yet bottled, and in the lovely minerality of 2006. By this time it was lunch, so time for us all to repair to La Tour and taste some older vintages in comfort.

Lunch@La Tour
Sancerre has three very good restaurants – La Tour, Le Pomme d’Or in Sancerre itself and La Côte de Monts Damnés in Chavignol. Unfortunately I haven’t eaten at the Pomme d’Or for some long time as it always seems to be closed when I’m in Sancerre. It closes mid-week and is shut at the end of January and the beginning of November. But I do continue to get good reports on the Pomme. The cheapest menu at all three is around €28 – offering very good value for money. As it is easy to eat badly in cheaper restaurants around Sancerre for around €22, I think it well worth spending the extra €5-€6 for a much better meal and much better value as you get all the usual additional mise-en-bouches, etc.

Centre of Sancerre looking towards Porte César.
La Tour is just to right of Lotto shop

La Tour is now run by Baptiste Fournier, who has largely taken over from his father Daniel. Under Daniel the restaurant was rather up and down. Now it is more consistent and over the past couple of years I have had some very good meals there. Happily our lunch, which included delicate oeufs poches avec girolles and perfectly cooked turbot with ginger and green vegetables, was excellent.

We were treated to a range of vintages. From Les Romains – the rich 2000, which suffered a bit in comparison to the racy 2006, the 2003 showing the richness typical of that heat wave year but with a good fresh finish, which is less usual, and ending with the wonderfully pure and precise 2004. With the reds we started with the 2006 Domaine with delicious Pinot Noir fruit. Then a series of La Belle Dame starting with the silky 1996 – proof that these reds benefit from ageing. 1996 was the last year the Vacherons did the malolactic in tank before the wine was transferred to barrel. From 1997 onwards the malo has been in barrel. Then to the smoky, richly fruited 1999 with still some wood notes – 100% new oak was used in this vintage. The 2002 is quite rich but needs time to open, while the silky textured has quite marked tannins, which need time to soften.

Denis Vacheron has a wonderfully dry and wicked sense of humour. Over lunch he made two very funny observations. The first featured vintages of the century. These, Denis explained, are announced if in late July it is hot and sunny in Burgundy when Parisian journalists pass through on their way to spending August on the Côte d’Azur and if the weather is equally good in Burgundy on their return to Paris. The serious point being that as far as the Loire is concerned it is September, which is crucial in determining the quality of the vintage. “Increasingly I think it is the first fifteen days of September that make all the difference,” said Jean-Dominique. In Bordeaux it is August that is the month that counts.

Denis then showed how statistics lie. “A man has his feet in a freezer and his head in a micro-wave. The statistical average shows that he is relaxed and comfortable but actually he is dead!”

After a great visit with the Vacherons Sarah and I headed back to Touraine via the vines of Quincy and Reuilly. Reaching Touraine in time to enjoy a glass or so of the Huet's Le Bourg demi-sec 1996.

Domaine Vacheron, Rue du Puits Poulton, 18300 Sancerre.
Tel: 02.48.54.09.93
Email: vacheron.sa@wanadoo.fr

Restaurant La Tour, 31 Nouvelle Place, 18300 Sancerre
Tel: 02.48.54.00.81
Email: info@la-tour-sancerre.fr
Web: www.la-tour-sancerre.fr