2002 Vendange 19 Octobre, Lucien Crochet

Not a full late harvest Sancerre but a later than the normal harvest date. Some Sancerre producers do make a small amount of a true late harvest, sweet white but grapes for this would not be picked until the end of October or in to November. Such wines cannot be called Sancerre as they are outside the rules of the appellation as they have too much residual sugar. In contrast this Vendange du 19 Octobre 2002 from Lucien Crochet is rich and opulent rather than being very sweet. Very aromatic with honey and honeysuckle to the fore this worked very well with chicken cooked in a rich cider, cream and mushroom sauce. Better, I'm sure, than a red which would have been overpowered by the rich sauce.