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:
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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.
Sauvignon Blanc in Quincy 2008 – never in Savennières!
