Alexis tackling just some of the 2011 red samples
I spent all of Wednesday tasting 2011s as well as this morning at the offices of the BIVC in Saint-Satur (Sancerre) in the company of Alexis Goujard of La Revue du Vin de France. Yesterday we concentrated on the 2011 whites from across the Central Vineyards appellations – Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Pouilly-sur-Loire, Coteaux du Giennois, Menetou-Salon, Quincy and Reuilly. Then this morning we tackled a smaller number of reds.
The tasting confirmed my impression that 2011 in white is a good commercial vintage with softer, less austere, precise wines than in 2010. 2011 is a vintage that is likely to appeal to a large number of people, whereas 2010 tended to appeal Loire amateurs. My guess is that 2011 in the Central Vineyards is not a vintage for long keeping but there are always surprises.
Regarding the reds 2011 looks to be a similarly easy drinking, approachable vintage. Although fascinating to have the opportunity to taste the 2011 reds at this stage, it is really too early in general to make judgments on individual producers as some of the wines we tasted hadn't finished their malolactic fermentation, there were very few in bottle and many were a a number of months before they will be ready to bottle. However, it is clear that there is continued progress being made with the reds from the Central Vineyards and that they can offer bargains when compared to their equivalents in Burgundy.
My thanks to the Bureau du Centre for organising the tasting and in particular to Céline.
Benoît Roumet, director of the BIVC, surveying all – above and below
See also Sarah Ahmed on a vertical of Sancerre 2005-1996 here.
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