Pinot Noir@Verdigny, Sancerre 2008Yields 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.
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.
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