Sancerre – visits in October 2015: Luc Prieur of Domaine Paul Prieur

This is the start of a short series on producers who I visited when in Sancerre and Pouilly in mid-October – kicking off with Luc Prieur of Domaine Paul Prieur in Verdigny.

Given the sustained success of Sancerre you might imagine that the younger generation of producers might be inclined to rest up on the appellation's reputation. More interesting in buying monogrammed, turbo-charged lawnmowers than seeking to continually make better wines. There may, indeed be some who are inclined to take their ease. There are, however, a good number who are keen to further enhance reputations established by the previous generation. 

Perhaps it is the memory and history of the hard times in the Berry and how dramatically this area has changed over the past 60 years that helps to inspire and provide the motivation and work ethic to continue to try to improve not forgetting the constant competition from New Zealand and other countries. Even so it would be easy to be complacent.  

Amongst the established 'younger' generation in Sancerre, Florent and Clément Pinard, Alphonse Mellot jnr, Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent Vacheron, François Crochet, Arnaud and Jean-Christophe Bourgeois plus Paul and Benoît Fouassier obviously come to mind. It is good to see another wave of young producers coming through – Matthieu Delaporte and his friend Luc Prieur of Domaine Paul Prieur.     

Following an exchange of emails we went to see Luc Prieur at the domaine in Verdigny on Monday 12th October. There are now two Prieur domaines in the village of Verdigny – Pierre Prieur and Paul Prieur – where there once was one. Luc explained that in the 1960s/70s two separate domaines were created. 

Luc Prieur

In 2011 Luc spent in the England and South Africa before returning to the domaine to vinify the 2012 vintage. He took full charge in 2013 working with his uncle Philippe, who is also a musician. Luc is the 11th generation of the family to work their vines. His father Didier and grandfather Paul, now 93, are still present at the domaine. They now has 19 hectares of vines (14 of Sauvignon Blanc and 5 Pinot Noir) with parcels in some of the best sites in the Sancerre appellation including Les Monts Damnés, Bouffants, Les Garennes, Paradis and the home parcel of Les Pichons, which planted with Pinot Noir. 

Looking across Les Pichons with town 

of Sancerre in distance  

 Luc Prieur

 

"We haven't used weedkillers, insecticides or anti-rot sprays for the last three years," Luc explained. "We started single vineyard bottlings in 2012. My grandmother was the first in Verdigny to start bottling our wines."     

   

We had a slightly accelerated tasting as Luc had to leave early evening to catch a train to Paris. Amongst the Sancerres we tasted that impressed were the ripe and concentrated 2014 Vendange à la main, Sancerre (11€), the starting to evolve 2012 Monts Damnés (the first vintage) though it is still quite tight in the finish, the truffley and excellent 2010 Sancerre – very clean and precise and finally a superbly honeyed and rich 2014 Vendange Tardive with the grapes picked on 30th October with a potential of 21%. 

Luc is certainly a young producer to follow. We will doubtless be back!   

To come: Gérard Boulay, Catherine Corbeau Mellot of Joseph Mellot and Sébastien and Romain Redde of Michel Redde.  

 

#2015Loire: autumnal Sancerre

 

Looking down on Verdigny

Golden vines with part of the hill of Sancerre in background 

Looking down on Chavignol 

with the village of Amigny beyond

Sancerre from Les Monts Damnés

Golden colours in Verdigny with a hint of 

Sancerre in the background

Sancerre landscape from above Amigny: 13th April 2015

 Village of Amigny in middle ground, Sancerre right top 

 Sancerre town in top centre

(above and below)

 Vineyards between Verdigny and Saint-Satur

 Village of Verdigny just visible above trees left top

2011 Loires@France under one roof tasting

2008 Grande Cuvée, Fournier Père et Fils

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn't able to spend as much time at the annual France under one roof tasting on Tuesday as I would have liked. This is a pity as it can be a chance to taste wines from producers that I don't often get to try.

Having just been asked by Decanter to write a report on dry whites from the 2011 I spent most of my time at the tasting focusing on these. This reinforced my impression formed at earlier tastings that this is a crowd-pleasing vintage with softer fruit and less acidity than 2010. Although 2010 is one for Loire purists who like its precision, frequent austerity and its potential to age, 2011 is more flattering and will be easier to sell.

One substantial producer in the Central Vineyards, whose wines I don't often taste is Fournier Père et Fils, based in Verdigny. Indeed I think the last of their wines that I tasted was during last year's Decanter World Wine Awards when we gave a commended to a 2009 Tesco Finest Pouilly-Fumé and no award to Tesco Finest Sancerre also from 2009. In addition to their own domaine, the Fourniers also acquired Domaine des Berthiers in Saint-Andelain from Jean-Claude Dagueneau in 1995 and the following year Domaine de Saint Romble, whose vines are in Maimbray (AC Sancerre).

O.Moore & Co Ltd in Dorking import the Fournier wines into the UK and they were showing a range of six wines. I was impressed by the ripe and full 2008 Grande Cuvée Sancerre (approximate UK retail price: £12-£14.99), which now has gained additional complexity from time in bottle.

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2011 Emptying Cabernet grapes@Domaine Fouquet, Brézé (Domaine Filliatreau)

(Purely illustrative – not represented by Richards Walford but by Yapp Brothers)

*

I'm also including Adam Bruntlett's vintage report from UK agents and importers Richards Walford:

Loire Report 2011

Nul n’est censé ignorer la Loire

March 2012

When I arrived at Richards Walford just under 18 months ago, little did I imagine I would be writing my first Loire Report in what is just my second vintage looking after the various appellations dotted along the banks of France’s longest river. I must admit that when I began my aventure ligérienne, my eyes were not fully open to the true extent and variety of the region’s offerings. It is all too easy to concentrate on the big names of Sancerre, Pouilly and Vouvray, and in so doing neglect the enormous array of differing styles of wine produced from the assorted other appellations. The more observant of you will note that it has been a couple of years since our last Loire Report and will therefore, I hope, excuse the substantial length of this year’s missive on the basis that there is much to catch up on. I promise it is for your own good: after all, ignorance of the Loire is no excuse.

What a vintage 2011 was: summer arrived in spring, followed by autumn in summer and rounded off with the return of summer (albeit in the glorious Indian sense) in late September. Our growers reported that by the middle of June they were on average around three weeks ahead in comparison to the normal growing season. There then followed a couple of very dry weeks, which caused water stress in the vines and slowed development almost to a standstill. From mid July until the end of August, the temperatures were low and rainfall high. This was something of a double-edged sword: despite kick-starting growth again, the cool, damp conditions also brought about the threat of rot. When the time came to harvest - typically two weeks earlier than is the norm - the warmer temperatures meant that sugar levels rose rapidly as acidity plummeted, with many vignerons encountering the challenging phenomenon of all of their parcels reaching maturity at the same time. In both whites and reds, those who harvested by hand and worked hard both in the vineyard and the cellar, pruning and sorting meticulously, achieved the best results. With the reds, it seems as though those who had the patience to wait a little longer for the grapes to reach full maturity really benefited from the excellent weather conditions in mid to late September. I can certainly vouch for the warm weather in early October as I found myself in the unfamiliar situation of visiting our growers in my shorts, as opposed to the ensemble of multiple layers, scarf and gloves typically sported during our traditional January visits.

As an overall summary, it appears to be a decent vintage, against the odds, with the whites perhaps lacking the linear correctness of 2010 but having a little more roundness and immediate appeal than their predecessors. Judging by those wines I tasted in February, however, it is arguably a better – or perhaps one should say more approachable - vintage for reds: they are certainly précoces, already very appealing with plenty of soft, supple fruit and not a hint of the green, unripe characteristics that so often beset Loire reds of yesteryear. Whilst they perhaps lack the firm backbone of acidity and tannins required for vin de garde, it is clear that climate change is certainly helping in this northern outpost, producing appealing and fruit-forward reds in 2011.

Sancerre: views 30th August 2011

Looking down Les Monts Damnés to Chavignol: Sancerre's steepest slopes – in parts a rival to the Mosel but on a much smaller scale

Les Monts Damnés and Chavignol

Light and shade: Chavignol and over to Amigny

Down to Chavignol

Patterns of vines down Les MD

East along Les MD towards Sancerre

Looking west along Les MD

Vines mainly on the caillottes between Chavignol (right) and Amigny (left) with Grand Côte in background (?)

From Sancerre towards Verdigny

Across the vineyards of Verdigny and Sury-en-Vaux with nuclear power station near Cosne in background