A palette of wine from Lucien Crochet being loaded in the centre of Bué

Some empties: Sancerre and a Champagne bottle

Part of the centre of Bué


Eau non potable (not drinking water)

Statue

Jean-Christophe Bourgeois (Henri Bourgeois, Chavignol)

Bertrand Minchin, La Tour Saint Martin – Menetou-Salon and Valençay

Not a full late harvest Sancerre but a later than the normal harvest date. Some Sancerre producers do make a small amount of a true late harvest, sweet white but grapes for this would not be picked until the end of October or in to November. Such wines cannot be called Sancerre as they are outside the rules of the appellation as they have too much residual sugar. In contrast this Vendange du 19 Octobre 2002 from Lucien Crochet is rich and opulent rather than being very sweet. Very aromatic with honey and honeysuckle to the fore this worked very well with chicken cooked in a rich cider, cream and mushroom sauce. Better, I'm sure, than a red which would have been overpowered by the rich sauce.

We opened this the day before New Year's Eve. This is certainly a rich white Sancerre with 14.5% alcohol. Impressively mouthfilling and well made but it lacks some freshness in the finish, which makes it difficult to drink more than one or two moderately sized glasses. We tried matching it with some smoked salmon but it overpowered the salmon. Instead I think it probably it needs rich fish or chicken dishes. Indeed a final glass was a much better match with a roast chicken today.

Some of the 2009 Sancerres may well be similarly rich as the Sauvignon Blanc was often picked at over 14% potential – one even reportedly at 15.5%