The Cellar: Loire & More Day 8

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Steffen Rasch, GoLocalProv Wine Writer

 

Day #7 – Sancerre (Rouge)

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A vineyard in Sancerre

I spent yesterday and today in the picturesque wine region of Sancerre tasting white wines, as well as reds. Now, most of you will probably associate a ‘Sancerre’ with a clean, often razor sharp, flinty and minerally white wine made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape. And while that is absolutely the case, producers in this region also produces rosés and red wines made from the popular Pinot Noir grape. Historically, Sancerre Rouge has been suffering from something of an image problem. If you go on Wikipedia today you’ll notice how the word ‘quaffing‘ is still being used to the described the category. Based on the two dozen or so Sancerre Rouge I have sampled over the past few days I would argue that it is time for the image of Sancerre Rouge to change. I believe that the quality and value of Sancerre, compared to some of the cool-climate Pinots coming out of Oregon and Burgundy, is spot on. In other words, if you see a red wine labeled Sancerre – buy it!

Of the approximately 7.000 acres of vines planted in Sancerre 20% of them are planted with Pinot Noir. Now, this doesn’t mean that 1 bottle in 5 produced in Sancerre is red - far from it! Sancerre’s cool conditions, coupled with the fact that Pinot Noir is a notoriously difficult grape to grow, forces farmers to keep yields exceptionally low (as low as 1 ton per acre) to achieve optimal maturity. This means that less Pinot Noir is produced per acre than vineyards planted with Sauvignon Blanc.

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Once the grapes have been harvested and de-stemmed, which often happens by hand so as to avoid getting any under-ripe clusters or berries mixed into the cuvée, the grapes undergo a very soft pressing process. This is done to prevent too many astringent flavors from the seeds, including too many tannins from the skins, to get mixed into the delicate fruity juice. Sancerre Rouges are often aged in used or neutral oak barrels, as well as in bottle, prior to being released.

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The entrance to Domaine de la Perriere

Probably the best (newly released) Sancerre Rouges I sampled was the 2012 from Domaine de la Perriere. While still young, this €12.50 cuvée was stunningly well-balanced already; brimming with red and dark berries, wild spicy strawberries, wrapped in soft tannins and lively acidity. Nice!

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2012 Sancerre Rouge from Domain de la Perriere

Another great newly released red – albeit a lot more expensive - was the 2012 Sancerre Rouge from Vincent Pinard.

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2007 Sancerre Rouge Fournier 'Les Belles Vignes'

The best ‘aged’ Sancerre Rouge I sampled was the ’07 ‘Le Belles Vignes’ from Fournier. This wine was simply gorgeous displaying dense red fruit flavors with earthy undertones.

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The cellars of Domaine Vacheron

And the 375ml bottle was only €6.50! Other outstanding Sancerre Rouge’s sampled includes the single vineyard 2010 ‘Belle Dame’ from Domaine Vacheron, as well as Pinots from Paul Cherrier, André Vatan and Domenique Crochet.

Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related question or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings through the Providence Wine Academy.

 

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