Alphonse Mellot snr drawing a sample of 2008 Sancerre Rouge

My fourth visit on the eve of the big Pinot Noir tasting on 19th December was to Domaine Alphonse Mellot where I tasted the latest cuvées with Alphonse snr. The visit reinforced the overall quality of the Alphonse Mellot reds as indeed the tasting the next day where the Mellot reds performed consistently well. As Chris Kissack recently asked, "How can you make red Sancerre this good?" Low yields and meticulous work in the vineyards is a large part of the answer. Another significant part of the answer is the vision and determination of Alphonse Junior, who, when he joined his father in running the business in 1993, told him that he wanted to make high quality Pinot Noir. Alphonse snr famously told him it wasn’t possible. Junior soon proved his father wrong

Alphonse Mellot snr

Tasting area in the Alphonse Mellot cellars

With Alphonse we tasted a number of impressive 2008 barrel samples both white and red as well as the just bottled Génération XIX 2007 Sancerre Rouge that had very impressive depth and finesse for this difficult vintage. Next was the trio of the Mellot top reds from 2006 – Les Demoiselles, En Grand Champs and Génération XIX. Although the first two were very good, particularly the rich and soft En Grand Champs, Géneration XIX had a balance and completeness that Les Demoiselles and En Grand Champs didn’t have.

Alphonse spoke about the importance of touch and feel in winemaking. “To make great wine,” you have to take a risk,” he maintains.

The bi-plane that dominates the Mellot tasting room in the cellars –
sadly ironic following Didier Dagueneau's fatal plane crash in September 2008

To be continued with more reports from my visit to Sancerre in mid-December 2008.

Sancerre: autumnal view across the vineyards to the town

I was emailed yesterday by Julia Harding MW, who works on fellow MW Jancis Robinson’s site. With Jancis currently wintering in New Zealand, Julia is probably particularly busy.

Anyway the following message had been posted on their forum page (subscription access only) and Julia wanted a little background on Sancerre change red to white after the scourge of phylloxera hit the region at the end of the 19th century.

‘I have just read Christy Campbell's book on Phylloxera and learnt much that I did not know. Little practical value, of course but interesting. I discovered, for instance, that among the many chemical and other attempts to control the bug, in Beaujolais schoolboys were brought out twice a day to urinate on the vines. It did not help.

There is one thing that I am still confused about. In Chapter 3, there is mention of the fact that when grafting onto American rootstock became accepted not all varieties of European grape vines took. "The once Pinot-dominated vineyards of Sancerre were remade on grafts of Sauvignon..." OCW says that until the mid 20th century, Sancerre produced red wines and while wines from the Chasselas grape.

Can someone explain the apparent contradiction?’

Bustling centre of Sancerre

Following a quick phone call Julia posted a response:

'Ken, there are a couple of different points here. One critical thing you omit from the quotation from the Sancerre entry in the Oxford Companion is a comma! I appreciate it may be too subtle to be clear at a glance but the sentence runs as follows:

Quote:
‘Until the mid 20th century, however, Sancerre produced red wines, and white wines from the Chasselas table grape. The comma after red wines is intended to make it clear that Sancerre made red wines [variety not specified] and it also made white wines from Chasselas.’

The second point, implied by your reference to the comments in Christy Cambell's book, is that Pinot Noir did not graft well onto American rootstocks and therefore Sauvignon Blanc became more dominant post-phylloxera. I spoke to Jim Budd about this. Jim is a Loire expert though he may be better known to some for his dedication to pointing out 'dodgy deals' in wine investment (see his website). [+ link]

He said that he had often wondered about this but believes the grafting problem may have been one of several factors. Growers in the area have given him differing explanations (some more commercial than viticultural) though it seems quite possible that grafting was an issue. But it may have been that they were using rootstocks that were not best suited to the chalky soil or to the scion variety.

Chasselas was certainly very important in the Loire for table grapes in the period between the arrival of the railway in the mid 19th century and the (late) arrival of phylloxera. Jim also reminded me that the Pouilly-sur-Loire appellation still exists for Chasselas, as a vestige of its earlier significance.’


I am indeed fascinated by the transformation at the beginning of the 20th century of Sancerre from a predominantly red vineyard to a predominantly white one. I suspect that the early grafts of Pinot Noir were problematic, while the Sauvignon worked well. There may have been a commercial impetus also – wanting to be able to offer white as well as red. It is, however, important to remember that Sancerre was then economically poor with polyculture as the norm – largely subsistence farming. Typically farmers would have had a few hectares of vines, some sheep, goats, vegetables etc.

Whatever, the impetus behind the change, there is no doubt that turning to Sauvignon Blanc in time made Sancerre’s fortune that wouldn’t have happened had Pinot Noir remained the majority variety.

Pinot Noir: Sancerre

I’m intrigued that Jancis says that Chasselas was the majority white grape in Sancerre pre-phylloxera. As far as I can remember no-one has mentioned Chasselas being planted in Sancerre. Before phylloxera there would have been a number of grape varieties planted, although Pinot Noir probably with Gamay were the predominant varieties. So Chasselas may well have been planted in Sancerre but I doubt if it was a major variety.

On the other hand Chasselas as a table grape played a very important role in Pouilly during the 19th century, in particular the 50 years leading up to the arrival of phylloxera around 1890. During the harvest large quantities of Chasselas grapes were daily sent by train from the station at Pouilly to Paris. But even in Chasselas’ pomp there were other varieties planted in Pouilly, including Sauvignon and even some red wine made.

PS: Christy Campbell's book on Phylloxera is extremely good – well worth reading.

On Monday I phoned Charles Sydney, the long established Loire courtier, to see whether he had any reds form the Central Vineyards that were being sold in the UK. The call rapidly turned to the quality and value of these reds with Charles maintaining that there were few decent reds from this part of the Loire and even fewer worth the money – a view that I certainly didn’t agree with, especially having tasted over 160 of them just before Christmas.

We did agree that we approached this from very different perspectives – Charles trying to interest British retail buyers that these wines are good and worth the money, which is particularly difficult as the UK market is increasingly price-driven. I may or may not have crosses to bear but I’m extremely glad that I don’t have to sell wine to UK supermarkets for a living. Charles and Philippa, his wife, have been doing this for over 20 years now. Amazingly they are still reasonably sane.

Salon des Vins 2008: cake to celebrate Charles and Philippa's
20 years in the Loire

I’m in the fortunate position of being able to approach wines from the perspective of whether they are interesting and well made. Price is, of course, a factor but it isn’t dominant and I certainly don’t have to worry whether I can persuade a grower, who has already proposed a fair price, to give a lot more in promotions, BOGOFs and to take the pain each time the UK Chancellor of Exchequer raises excise duty or sterling crashes throw the floor against the Euro. No wonder many fine producers are increasingly happy to ignore the UK market.

Over the past month I have posted a number of comments on Central Vineyard reds. The 2006 Sancerre from Domaine Serge Laloue is further evidence that there are a number of very enjoyable Pinot Noirs now being made in Sancerre and elsewhere in the Central Vineyards. Made by Franck Laloue from a reasonable 45 hl/ha and costing 9.20€ this has attractive, soft vibrant red and black fruits and definite Pinot Noir character. Looking for something comparable in Burgundy, I would suggest something from the Côte Chalonnaise.

The Laloue Pinot Noir was picked by machine. Perhaps this would be even better if picked by hand. Talking to Didier Barrouillet just before New Year he said that Chardonnay and Cabernet – both Franc and Sauvignon – were the two varieties that could best support machine picking, whereas thinner skinned varieties like Pinot Noir are best hand picked.

Pinot Noir@Verdigny, Sancerre 2008

Yields should not exceed 45 hl/ha and you need to pick by hand if you want to make good Pinot Noir in the Central Vineyards.

Looking at the results of the big tasting I did of Central Vineyard reds on 19th December with the details supplied by the producers, there is a marked correlation between the wines I picked out and the level of yield and hand-picking. Although there are one or two exceptions, this tasting shows that it is very difficult to make anything other than dilute, uninteresting wines from Pinot Noir once you go above 50 hl/ha.

I was certainly encouraged to see how many wines I picked out and that the overall standard of the reds has clearly much improved over the past five or six years. However there are still too many poor wines being made; it was also clear that in some instances good fruit was 'stuffed up' in the winery.

The one really disappointing appellation was the Coteaux du Giennois where only one wine out of the twelve excited me: the 2005 Michel Langlois. I’m sure it doesn’t help that the appellation rules for the Coteaux du Giennois insist on a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir, even though when this was a VDQS producers could make reds from 100% Pinot Noir. Quite why it was felt necessary to tie one hand of the Giennois producers behind their back is certainly beyond my understanding.

(28th December 2008)
Tried another Pinot Noir from the Central Vineyards last night. This time a 2007 Reuilly Rouge from Denis Jamain’s Domaine de Reuilly. Light to medium-bodied with bright, youthful red fruits this very enjoyable and easy drinking wine turned out to be a perfect match with a rissotto con radicchio. An instance of where a lighter style red works well where a heavier, more structured one would have overpowered the risotto.

I haven’t yet visited the domiane but from a search on the net it has 15 hectares of vines: 10.5 ha of Sauvignon Blanc, 3.5 ha of Pinot Noir and a hectare of Pinot Gris.

Denis Jamain, Domaine de Reuilly, Chenin des Petites Fontaines, 36260 Reuilly.
Tel: 02.38.66.16.74
Email: denis-jamain@wanadoo.fr

(27th December 2008)

2006 Sancerre Rouge Jean-Max Roger

It can be easy to overlook the length of time that Jean-Max Roger has been making good red Sancerre. Long before Alphonse Mellot jnr joined Alphonse snr in 1993 and then proceeded to produce transform the Mellot reds, Jean-Max was producing fine, age-worthy reds. I remember with pleasure the 1989 and 1990 vintages. These have never been blockbusting Pinots. Instead medium weight with good concentration of ripe fruit and well balanced. The 2006 Vieliles Vignes is in this same line with an attractively bright colour, soft raspberry fruit but with enough structure to allow it to age well, although it is delicious and seductive now.

Jean-Max Roger, 11 Place de Carrou, 18300 Bué
Tel: 02.48.54.32.20
Email: jean-max.roger@wanadoo.fr
Web: www.jean-max-roger.fr

(19th December 2008)

Just a few of the samples

Friday morning was taken up with an extensive tasting of reds from the Central Vineyards with wines from Sancerre, Menetou-Salon, the Coteaux de Giennois, Reuilly and Châteaumeillant. All were pure Pinot Noir, except for those from the Coteaux de Giennois and Châteaumeillant, which were either pure Gamay or with a varying proportion of Pinot Noir. Under the bizarre appellation rules the producers of the Coteaux du Giennois are not allowed to make 100% Pinot Noir. Instead it has to be a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir. Prior to becoming an AC in 1998 100% Pinot Noir was allowed and these were among the most interesting reds from the Giennois vineyards. The ways of the INAO remain shrouded in mystery!

Benoît Roumet and his team at the Bureau du Centre had assembled a record-breaking number of reds and the tasting was brilliantly organised with a full file of all the wines tasted to take away with me. My grateful thanks to Benoît and his equipe and also, of course, to all the producers who kindly submitted samples.

I tasted the wines blind, although I knew the appellation and the vintage. The overall impression is of encouraging progress being made, although there are big differences in both style and quality both within the five appellations and between them. I wasn’t surprised to find that most of the top wines came from Sancerre and I’m encouraged that many of my top picks came from well producers like Lucien Crochet, Alphonse Mellot, the Vacherons, Vincent Pinard, Dominique Roger and Jean-Max Roger. I was also pleased that my top picks were not confined to the ‘usual suspects’ but included Serge Laloue, Domaine de la Rossignole and Domaine Claude Riffault – their 2006 Antique was perhaps my top wine of the tasting.

(more to follow)

Vines and mist near Bué

Travelled across to Sancerre this morning prior to the big ref tasting tomorrow in time to make five visits. Starting with Gilles Guillerault, Caves du Prieuré in Reigny, followed by Pierre Martin in Chavignol, Christian Salmon in Bué, Jean-Marie Cherrier of Domaine de la Rossignole in the hamley of Chaudoux, Verdigny and then Les Alphonses in Sancerre. Unfortunately the weather got steadily worse during the day.

Pruning@Bué

Bué and Clos de la Poussie in the distance

This evening we were at La Côte des Monts Damnés. Again an excellent dinner with the lovely 1998 Clos de Beaujeu, Sancerre Blanc, Gérard Boulay and the rich but well balanced 2006 Terre de Maimbray Sancerre from Pascal and Nicolas Reverdy.

Pierre Martin, a producer in Chavignol, is delighted
with his 2007 Sancerre Rouge

Detailed notes on the visits to follow.

Pinot Noir, Sancerre September 2007

Off to Sancerre on Thursday to research on article on Pinot Noir in the Central Vineyards. The research will include a major tasting of PNs, which has been kindly organised by Benoît Roumet, the director of the Bureau du Centre. It looks like I will be quite well occupied on the Friday as producers in the various appellations have sent in 166 different Pinot Noirs, which will be tasted blind. Benoît tells me that this is a record, so I’m very grateful to all those producers who have sent in wines.

2008 Sancerre Rouge@Domaine Alphonse Mellot:

October 2008

It will be good to chart the level of progress that has been made with the reds here over the last 10-15 years. Certainly I’m pretty sure that even five years ago there wouldn’t have been so many samples sent in.

(8th October 2008)

Vines and the church@Montigny

The first time I met Henry and Cécile Natter was in the early 1990s. I forget the year – possibly 1994 – but it was a cold mid-January with visits in Sancerre with Tim Atkin MW and then I went on alone for a day and half in Pouilly. Henry, whose domaine is at Montigny at the far western end of the Sancerre appellation, was our first visit of the day. It was a cold, misty drive out from our hotel in Sancerre with hoar frost on the vines. The Natters had laid on a magnificent breakfast for us. Unfortunately we hadn’t been warned so we didn’t do the spread the justice it deserved we had already had a very undistinguished breakfast at our hotel. I remember being impressed with the purity and minerality of the wines, so it is strange that I hadn’t been back until this visit. Perhaps it is because the Natters are rather out on a limb in Montigny.

Vines and fields@Montigny

Invited on Monday to come back for lunch on Wednesday we imagined that it would be a simple meal with the harvest team but not a bit of it as, despite the harvest, we had a wonderful full five-course meal with the family – daughter: Matilde, sons: Auguste and Vincent.

The Natter family and their team of workers

Henry and Cécile Natter created the domaine in 1974. They now have 30 hectares including seven owned jointly by Auguste and Matilde. 90% of their production is exported with Europe as their main market. The Natter family are the only vignerons in the little village of Montigny that nestles at the foot of the ridge that carries the main road from Sancerre to Bourges. The Sancerre appellation touches that of Menetou-Salon here, with Menetou to the north of the main road and Sancerre to the south.

Vines on a steep slope@Montigny

Auguste, the eldest son, joined his parents full-time in 2004 having racked up considerable experience in various parts of the wine world: with Paul Culver in South Africa, Newton Vineyards in Napa and three years with Michel Rolland at Chateau Fontenil. Matilde looks after the marketing and communications, while Vincent, who is here for the harvest, is working at Château Vieux Robin in the Médoc.

We started with the crisp and lemony Domaine 2007 with characteristic mineral notes as an aperitif. Overall 2007 is a lovely vintage for fans of Loire wines but may be too austere for some uncommitted drinkers.

Then we drank the rich and concentrated 2006 Cuvée François de la Grange de Montigny Sancerre with the scallops. This cuvée comes from old vines of at least 50 years old. The wine is aged for 12 months in 50 hl wooden foudres and 1987 was the first vintage. Matilde had kindly fetched the scallops from a fishmonger in nearby Veaugues early that morning – and this is in the middle of the harvest! Veaugues is about seven kilometres east of Montigny.

If you have time and are travelling from Bourges to Sancerre, it well worth diverting off the main road just after Saint-Céols into Montigny and taking the much quieter and prettier road through to Veaugues and rejoining the main road just before Bué. This is a lovely drive through a mix of fields, vineyards and forests – particularly attractive with the autumn colours.

Sauvignon Blanc: Montigny

Every so often one of the family would get up from the round table and disappear either to fix the next course or to check on the harvest. “We started yesterday,” said Henry earlier, “and we have made a good start. The degrees are between 12 and 12.5, whereas last week they were at 11-11.5. The yields are fractionally less at 50-55 hl/ha instead of our normal 60. We try not to crop ate below 40 hl/ha as I think this puts the vines out of balance.”

Henry’s father was an English professor at the Sorbonne, who spent some time in Oxford during his son’s formative years. Henry was happy to reminisce about those times – Oxford, the River Cherwell and the Great Train Robbery, although none of us could at the time recall the exact date – August 1963. He recalled this father’s liberal approach to parenting and from the slight frisson around the table I sensed that Henry’s approach with his children had been rather more strict.

Henry also explained that his father was a friend of the father of Alphonse Mellot snr and he talked about the famous Maison de Sancerre in Paris that Mellot founded in the 1950s and which attracted many of the celebrities of the day.

Bell@the domaine

The Natters have four hectares of Pinot Noir. With the fish we drank the quite light but attractive Domaine Sancerre Rouge 2006. This wine straddles the divide between the very light traditional Sancerre reds and the much more structured and concentrated wines that an increasing number of producers are now making. It has a lovely spicy Pinot Noir character and rather more weight than you initially imagine. Their top red is a selection of the best juice and is called L’Enchantment – we were served the rich and soft 2005.

Henry Natter vines overlooking the village of Montigny

After lunch we went with Cécile and Henry on a brief tour of the vines up to the top of the ridge overlooking the village. “We are a little bit higher than Sancerre here,” explained Cécile. “Flowering usually occurs at the same time as Sancerre, while budbreak can be a little bit earlier. However, Sancerre is a bit warmer and the harvest here tends to be a week to ten days later – except in the exceptionally hot 2003 vintage when we harvested at the same time.”

If you are looking for a Sancerre producer to visit, who is off the main tourist drag, Domaine Henry Natter is cartainly one to try but you need to phone or email in advance. Open Monday to Friday.

Domaine Henry Natter, 4 Place de l'Eglise, 18250 Montigny
Tel: 02.48.69.58.85
Email: info@henrynatter.com
Web: www.henrynatter.com

(8th October 2008)

Report on our visit to Alphonse Mellot has been added to the Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and Touraine posting (8th October 2008) plus a brief visit to Henry Pellé and to Henry Marionnet in Touraine. Visit to Henry Natter will a separate posting.

Sign with hill and town of Sancerre in the background

8 October 2008
After seeing Alphonse Mellot snr and jnr in their cellars near Porte César, I walked westwards through the streets of old Sancerre until I got to the roundabout at the western end of the town. A couple of hundred metres on from there in the direction of Bourges is the headquarters of the substantial (55 ha) and long-established Domaine Fouassier, which for many years has been run by two brothers – Pierre and Jean-Michel.

Although they were all very busy, Benoît Fouassier, the son of Jean-Michel, had tine for a quick chat.

BF: “I’m happy with the quality. We started the Sauvignon Blanc on 30th September and the Pinot Noir the following day. We were hit by the hail – 15 of our 55 hectares were affected and here the crop has been reduced by 10%-15%. For the Sauvignon the average yields are 45-50 hl/ha with between 12.5˚-13˚ degrees. We pick all our Pinot Noir by hand and is coming in at between 12.5-13.5˚ degrees potential. The yield is 30-35 hl/ha compared to an average year of 45-50 hl/ha. We expect to finish the harvest sometime in the middle of next week – the level of maturity this year has been quite spread out.”

An invitation to taste and buy

I asked Benoît about their plans to go biodynamic. “We will be starting to convert 18 hectares next year and then the rest of the estate will follow soon afterwards.” With 55 ha this is a significant move bearing in mind that the Vacherons, amongst others, are already biodynamic. It looks like the new generation – Benoît and Paul, the son of Pierre

From the Pays Nantais through to the Central Vineyards the Loire is increasingly a centre of biodynamic viticulture. In addition there are also a lot of producers, who are organic and whose practices are close to biodynamics.

While we talked Pierre Fouassier appeared with Michael Ott, their UK agent in tow. Pierre had pressed Michael Ott, their UK agent here on his annual harvest visit, into service – helping out of the lorry. Before they departed for another bout of the lorries, I asked Pierre for a photo of Michael working on a lorry and I look forward to posting one the site soon. Jean-Michel also appeared briefly.

Construction of a tunnel from the tasting room
to a new reception area for groups

The domaine is involved in mesvignes (www.mesvignes.com) – a vine sharing scheme similar to 3d Wines or Andrew Gordon’s WineShare. “Last Saturday,” explained Benoît, “was the day that mesvignes’ customers can to pick their Pinot Noir. Unfortunately the overnight temperature had dropped to only 2˚. It was horrible conditions for picking!”

8 October 2008

More photos of the 2008 vintage in Sancerre:

Looking down the slopes to la Moussière. Alphonse Mellot's
are pickers in the distance. The line of trees mark the main road to Bourges.

Last morning of picking for the
Alphonse Mellot vendangeurs – a damp finish

Pinot Noir 2008

Pinot Noir 2008

Pinot Noir 2008

Adelaide Grall outside their very small winery in Sancerre

(12 August 2008)
At the end of our visit to La Maison des Sancerre there remained nearly a couple of hours before we could see its director, Denis Roumet. So we went to visit Vincent Grall, who we were told was Sancerre’s smallest producer with just three hectares of vines. Certainly Vincent and Adelaide, his wife, are one of the smallest but Pascal Cotat with just 2.5 ha looks to be the current contender for this particular crown. (If there is another Sancerre producer with fewer vines, please let me know.)

By now the weather had cleared up. The sun was out as Sarah and I walked down through the steep streets of old Sancerre to 149 Avenue Nationale – the road that sweeps round the base of the old town and either leads down to Menetreol or up to Porte Cesar and the central square of Sancerre. From the outside it looks like a normal town house, so I assumed that this was their tasting room and where the Gralls live. It is not until you get inside that you discover that it is also the winery with all the equipment crammed into what would normally be the garage – a true garagiste!

The Gralls' three hectares of vines are on both silex (flint) and clay with some limestone. They have just 25 ares of Pinot Noir – 100 ares make one hectare – the rest is Sauvignon Blanc. Vincent started his wine career with the Vacherons – he is a cousin – before becoming chef de culture (vineyard manager) for Alphonse Mellot. He left in 1999 to set up on his own having started to plant his own vines in 1988 – looking after them in his spare time. 2000 saw him as a full-time vigneron starting to develop his bottle sales. Now 50% of his production is exported.

Vincent Grall in his Le Manoir vineyard, Sancerre

We started with the quite rich and round Cuvée Tradition 2006. Unlike some 2006s it had good acidity to balance its richness. The 2007 was plus vif, more mineral – very clean, precise flavours and length. Then 2006 and 2007 of Le Manoir, the 0.6 ha vineyard that overlooks Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre and is, unusually for Sancerre, on a band of quite heavy clay. Again there were clear vintage differences with the 2006 rich, weighty and long with a hint of nuttiness compared to the minerally 2007. The wines are vinified and aged in 600-litre barrels (demi-muids). They used less battonage (lees stirring) on the 2007 Manoir.

Evening light on vineyards alongside the Route de l’Orme

Later, with Vincent, I made a quick visit to his vineyards. We started with those on silex by the Route de l’Orme just to south west of Sancerre. 80% of the Gralls' vines are on silex. The vineyards are grassed. Vincent aims for small and well aerated bunches of grapes.

Evening light@Le Manoir

with the vineyards of Pouilly in the distance

The presence of clay at Le Manoir vineyard was soon all too evident as my shoes were rapidly transformed into platform-heels of thick mud as the ground was particularly claggy following all the recent rain.

Vincent Grall, 149 Avenue Nationale, 18300 Sancerre.
Tel : 02.48.78.00.42 or 06.75.48.12.46
Email: info@grall-vigneron-sancerre.com
Web: www.grall-vigneron-sancerre.com

The wine village of Bué on a better day.

(Trip to Sancerre and Pouilly – continued: 12 August 2008)
Overnight the rain poured down incessantly and it was still raining steadily when we set off to Bué and our early appointment with François Crochet. François is already established as one of Sancerre’s brightest young vignerons. I first visited him in June 2006 when researching my Sincerely Sancerre article for Decanter (www.decanter.com/archive/109889.html). The purity of expression and the precise minerality of François’ wines impressed me then and they still do.

François has vines in Bué, Crézancy, Sancerre and Thauvenay – often in small parcels. There is just under 11 ha in total – one third Pinot Noir and two thirds Sauvignon Blanc. 70% of the vines are on the caillottes (often pure limestone), 20% on terres blanches (clay-limestone) and 10% silex (flint). François picks by hand and with his fragmented vineyards this presents problems. The customary quality option is to pick into cageots (small crates) but having lots of small parcels this is logistically nightmarish. Instead he uses small vibrating bins, which he is very pleased with as they keep the fruit whole with very little juice in the bottom of the bin.


François lamented the poor state of the Clos de la Poussie, Bué’s famous amphitheatre-shaped vineyard just to the north of the village. “It was cleared of scrub during the Second World War and replanted.” (* I assume that it was planted with vines before phylloxera and then abandoned afterwards. Les Monts Damnés at Chavignol were largely abandoned after phylloxera.) “The Clos was split between a number of owners until during the 1990s it was bought by Ladoucette.” (The Baron is Pouilly’s largest individual grower). Unfortunately the use of tractors on the steeply sloping vineyards has apparently caused some severe erosion as the ground has become compacted thus accelerating water run off. Parts of the vineyard are now so badly affected that the tractors can no longer be used. Next time I’m in Sancerre I’ll have to make a point of having a look at the Clos de la Poussie – certainly in September 2007 parts were badly affected by mildew – but then so were many vineyards as 2007 was the ‘best year’ for mildew for a long time.

Le Clos de la Poussie

However, it is disappointing if part of the area’s patrimoine hasn’t been looked after properly. François was clearly angry at what he saw as neglect – probably doesn’t help that the Baron L is from over the water (La Loire) so is un étranger in these parts. (Although Sancerre and Pouilly are near neighbours – around 16 km distance by road – they are separated by both the Loire and administratively – Sancerre is part of the Loire, while Pouilly is part of Burgundy. It can be a tense relationship – of which more later.)

Mildew affected vines and grapes in the Clos de la Poussie: Sept 2007

Where the vineyards are on steep slopes François uses grass to limit erosion, on the more gentle slopes the ground is tilled. “As a paysan you have to observe what works,” François explained, “and adapt accordingly. If you get very heavy storms you can’t avoid erosion but you can take steps to limit the damage as far as you can.”

We started our tasting with 2006 Sancerre Rouge ‘Tradition’, which comes from vines that average 25 years old grown on the terres blanches. François uses a cold soak for four or five days before fermentation begins. He doesn’t use pigeage (plunging). “It extracts rustic tannins that I don’t want.” The rich, concentrated and black fruited Maricigoué 2006 Sancerre Rouge is from limestone vineyards. It spends 12 months in 500 litre barrels with a total élévage of 18 to 20 months. This year the 2008 Tradition will be aged in conical wooden vats of 40 hls, with the barrels reserved for the Maricigoué.

The Maricigoué 2006 is another example of the red revolution that is gathering pace in Sancerre as an ever-increasing number of producers look to make more ‘serious’ red Sancerre rather than a light, easy quaffer. There ought, however, to be a place for the more traditional style – ready young and enjoyable chilled on warm, sunny days – as well as the ‘serious’ stuff.

As expected the whites were wonderfully pure and mineral. Once again the 2007s showed here what wonderfully razor-sharp flavours this vintage has in the dry whites.

“I’m looking for purity and precision,” explained François. “I’m sometimes reproached for not weight and volume in my wine. The Chêne Marchand vineyardon caillottes has a tendency to get over-ripe. The maturation is slow but then there is only a very short window to pick at the optimum moment before the grapes become too ripe. I think the Chêne Marchand 2007 is better than 2005 when the grapes were a little too mature, while in 2006 they lacked acidity.” I really liked both the grapefruit and saline 2007 Les Amoureuses (argile-calcere) and the 2007 Chêne-Marchand but the latter edged it with its concentration and extra racy minerality.

Before leaving we admired the foundations of François’ new winery that he is having built behind his house. To be ready for the 2009 vintage.

François Crochet, Marcigoué, 18300 Bué-en-Sancerre. Tel: 02.48.58.21.77

Jean-Marie Bourgeois

The retiring chairman!
(11 August 2008: Sancerre trip)

From a rising star to a meeting with one of Sancerre’s and the Loire’s most influential personalities – Jean-Marie Bourgeois. Doubtless Sancerre’s current fame owes something to it being easy to pronounce in English. But it was people like Jean-Marie, Alphonse Mellot and the Vacherons that continued the pioneering work of their parents – Henri Bourgeois, Alphonse Mellot and Jean Vacheron – who established the fame of Sancerre and brought it to the attention of English speakers. Their parents established the name in Paris, while it was Jean-Marie and his generation who took Sancerre around the world. In 50 years the life of this small corner of the Berry in central France – with Bourges 45 kilometres south-west of Sancerre claiming to be the centre of France – has been transformed completely. At the excellent Maisons des Sancerre (www.maison-des-sancerre.com) a number of vignerons reminisce about these early expeditions to sell Sancerre in Paris.

I well remember the time I first met Jean-Marie. It was towards the end of October 1989, that famously wonderful vintage – both summer and autumn. On my way to Chavignol with friends we drove up through Bué – the autumn colours on the steep hillsides were breathtakingly beautiful. The Bourgeois were in the middle of their vendange tardive. Despite this not being the ideal time to receive a newly hatched journalist, we spent a memorable two hours or more with him.

Jean-Marie says he is now in semi-retirement but he is still traveling the world, including New Zealand to check up on Clos Henri, the Bourgeois outpost in Marlborough.

We started with a quick visit to the Bourgeois winery that is steadily making its way up the steep road out of Chavignol. Back in 1989 most of the Bourgeois operation – winery and offices – was crammed into one building. In 2000 work started on the new gravity winery, just above the old one. It is impressively hi-tech and functional – more functional than trying to buy wine bottles these days. "At the moment we have to order 6 to 8 months in advance,” Jean-Marie explained. 40% of the harvest is by hand, 60% by machine with all of the Pinot Noir picked by hand. They are now equipped for screwcap bottles.

For a company that now has 70 ha of vines plus contracts with other growers in various appellations such as Pouilly-Fumé and Quincy covering another 70 ha and a total annual production of around two million bottles I’m always impressed by the consistent quality of the Bourgeois wines throughout the whole range, from Le Petit Bourgeois Sauvignon vin de pays upwards.

Back in 1950 the family had 2.5 ha of vines along with goats, rabbits and vegetables. The area of vines had grown to 3.5-4 ha in 1956 when Jean-Marie (J-M) started working full-time. The previous year (1955) they filled 15,000 bottles. “An enormous quantity for those days,” J-M explained. “In 1957/58 we started making deliveries en vrac (in bulk) in a Peugeot van to Paris. In 1965 my brother built the first cuve (vat).

We asked J-M about the change from Pinot Noir to Sauvignon Blanc at the beginning of the 20th century. “Chavignol always had more white than red. Les Mont Damnés was white. Sauvignon Blanc was planted so that growers had two wines to offer – a red and white.”

Plaque outside the tasting room in Chavignol

We tasted various wines including their Clos Henri from Marlborough, New Zealand, starting with Le Petit Bourgeois – the first of their French wines to go into screwcaps. I picked out the racy, minerally 2007 MD, the rich and weighty Jadis 2006 from a parcel of old Sauvignon Gris vines on the Mont Damnés, which is vinified in barriques of 3 to 5 wines and bottled unfiltered. We also tasted the 2000 MD again – this time a little fatter than the one we had drunk the previous evening in Touraine. However, the powerful and concentrated Sancerre d’Antan 2006 from silex vineyards in Fontenay (just to the west of Saint-Satur) and in Saint-Satur itself from vines planted between 1935 and 1939 was my stand-out white. "The silex of Fontenay is purer and harder than that in Saint-Satur, which has more clay," explained J-M. "My father was born in Fontenay and also had vines in Saint-Satur."

I have never felt that the reds from Bourgeois are at the same level as the whites but I think that recent vintages are showing increasing promise. The rich and spicy 2005 La Bourgeoise (old vines on silex) needs more time but shows considerable potential. I also liked the soft and supple Clos Henri 2006 with attractive black cherry fruit. I wonder if making two vintages of Pinot Noir a year is paying off. It will also be interesting to see what comes from their recent Pinot Noir plantings on the Monts Damnés once they are established.

We finished with the late harvest 1997 Vendange Saint-Charles, which has to be labelled vin de table. Picked on 4 November it has rich, honey and apricot flavours. Saint-Charles has been made in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997 and 2005. Despite the frequent mists around Chavignol these late-harvest wines are from grapes dried by the sun on the vine (passerillage) rather than botrytis. Depending on the vineyard site there are a few botyrtis late-harvest wines made in Sancerre by other producers.

Tasting over, Jean-Marie joined Sarah and I for a glass of Champagne in his son’s new hotel in Chavignol – the subject of the next post.

Domaine Henri Bourgeois, Chavignol, 18300 Sancerre. Tel: 02.48.78.53.20
www.bourgeois-sancerre.com

Stéphane Riffault

(11th August 2008: Sancerre – cont)
Our next appointment was mid-afternoon with Claude and Stéphane Riffault (Domaine Claude Riffault) in Sury-en-Vaux. This gave us plenty of time to book into our bed and breakfast rooms in Sancerre – Les Logis du Grillon (http://nadcharp.club.fr/sancerre.biz/index.htm). Les Logis is a charming house in a narrow street in Sancerre’s old quarter. Run by Nadia and Pascal Charpentier, the rooms are comfortable with a breakfast area and an attractive secluded garden with tables and chairs. Nadia is from a family of hoteliers in the Auvergne and is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Sancerre and its surrounding area. She also speaks English. Although they don’t take cards, this is certainly a chambre d’hôte to recommend.

We chatted with Claude Riffault, who now takes a back seat, while waiting for his son, Stéphane, to arrive. The estate has 13.5 hectares of vines – 10 of Sauvignon Blanc and 3.5 ha of Pinot Noir. 60% of their production is exported with Richards Walford as their UK agent.

We asked Stéphane about the history of red varieties in Sancerre and why Sauvignon came to dominate after the devastation of phylloxera, which arrived here around 1880. “Before phylloxera ¾ of the vineyard was planted with red varieties – mainly Gamay with a little Pinot Noir as well as Pineau d’Aunis,” explains Stéphane. Much of Sancerre was planted during the 1920s and 1930s after the First World War. At that time it was polyculture everyone would have a few goats, grow various crops and have some vines. You didn’t live from vines alone.” Such was the dominance of Sauvignon Blanc here during the 1930s that when the first French appellations were drawn up in 1936 it was only for whites. It wasn’t until 1959 that reds and rosé Sancerre from Pinot Noir were made an AC.

The Riffault harrow the soils in their vineyards as well as having a band of grass. The amount of grass that is allowed to grow depends on the paucity of the soils and the amount of competition that the grass provides for the vine. Stéphane is not a fan of green harvests preferring to get the vines in balance before then. It seems likely that Stéphane will take the vineyards organic or perhaps biodynamic. An increasing amount of their harvest is now being picked by hand – it will be around 80% for the 2008 vendange.

The Riffaults have vines in the three terroirs (terres blanches: the steep clay and limestone slopes; caillottes: often bare limestone; and silex: flint) of Sancerre, which they bottle separately. In all the three cuvées 15% is vinified in wood for six to seven months in barrels that have already had at least three wines through them

First up a trio of 2007s. We started with the soft, grapefruity Les Boucauds (terres blanches). Next the very minerally, brilliantly focused and long-lasting Les Pierrottes (silex), which for me was a real stand-out wine. Then quite rich Les Chasseignes (caillottes) with grassy and grapefuit flavours but not as long or focused as Les Pierrottes. We also tried the promising 2007 Antique (terres blanches) with 30% vinified and aged in wood for 12 months. The Antique 2006 was rich and fat with pineapple and grapefruit notes but lacked zip. I preferred the minerality and fresher 2007s.

Stéphane prefers his Sancerre to be young. “Not interesting to keep,” he said.

We had a quick look at La Noué rosé 2007. Stéphane observed that: “Although there is a big increase in demand for rosé in the UK, we are not seeing much of an increase in France.” I liked the black fruited and silky La Noue 2006 Sancerre Rouge with its attractive Pinot Noir character and delicate wood-notes. I was less keen on the more concentrated Antique 2006 with more noticeable wood and s light dry finish – extraction pushed a little too far. Doubtless Antique needs several more years in bottle but may show some of the danger of pushing Sancerre’s red revolution too far and too be fair Antique 2006 is not due to be bottled until November 2008. Certainly neither wine would have been made 15 years ago when few producers took their reds seriously preferring high yields and light wines. For the reds the Riffaults are moving to small conical, cement fermenting vats – interesting how previously reviled concrete is making a comeback, while stainless steel tanks are losing some of their gloss.

During our three days in Sancerre several people opined that they saw Stéphane Riffault is an emerging star, so clearly someone to keep an eye on.

Domaine Claude Riffault, Maison Sallé, 18300 Sury-en-Vaux. Tel: 02.4879.38.22

(1996 Sauvignon Blanc, Clos Roche Blanche)

(10th August 2008)
Sarah Ahmed, the wine detective (www.thewinedetective.co.uk) and fellow writer, arrived from London to spend a week visiting producers together. Monday to Wednesday will be spent in Sancerre and Pouilly. Thursday it’s off to Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Chinon. Friday is the 15th August – a national holiday, so no visits. We will finish with a day in Montlouis on Saturday.

To get ourselves tuned up for the Central Vineyards we looked at a number of aged Sauvignon Blancs, mainly Sancerres, over dinner. First up was a 1996 Touraine Sauvignon from Clos Roche Blanche, which is run by Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet. Although the 1996 had some evolved Sauvignon characters, it still had an attractive fresh minerality – difficult to guess that it was 12 years old. Farmed organically and previously biodynamically Clos Roche Blanche between the villages of Mareuil and Pouillé in the Cher Valley has long been a beacon of excellence and Catherine and Didier have inspired a number of other local producers like Jérôme Sauvète, Jean-François Merieau and Vincent Ricard.




A rich 1995 Côte de Champtin Sancerre from Roger Champault et fils was next up. The Champaults are based the small village of Champtin, which is just west of Bué. The Côte de Champtin is a steep, south-facing slope above the village. Roger Champault has now retired and the family vineyards are now run by his two sons Claude and Laurent.

Two contrasting vintages – 2000 and 1997 – of the MD of Henri Bourgeois from the steep slopes of the Monts Damnés that overlook the village of Chavignol. The 2000 was quite austere and mineral, while the 1997 from a hotter year was rounder and softer. Both accompanied our cold salmon trout with perhaps the 2000 as the better match.

We finished with the grape that dominated Sancerre’s vineyards before the arrival of phylloxera towards the end of the 19th century – Pinot Noir trying a bottle of Alphonse Mellot’s Generation XIX 2004 Sancerre Rouge. The concentrated but still slightly angular 2004 still needs time but to me shows how red Sancerres have progressed over the past ten to fifteen years. Sarah is less convinced citing the oak.

Clos Roche Blanche, 19 Route de Montrichard, 41110 Mareuil-sur-Cher. Tel: 02.54.75.17.03
Roger Champault, 5, Route de Foulot - Champtin, 18300 Crézancy. Tel: 02.48.79.00.03
Email: roger.champaultetfils@neuf.fr