2016 DWWA Results –Villebois Sancerre made by Thierry Merlet best Sauvignon over £15

Details of the award winning 2015 Sancerre, Villebois 

made by Thierry Merlet

 Winemaker Thierry Merlet at the 

Salon des Vins de Loire January 2015 

The 2016 Decanter World Wine Awards are now out and I am delighted to see that for the first time since the awards started that a Loire wine has taken a best of show award. The 2015 Sancerre from Villebois made by Thierry Merlet took the Platinum Award for the best Sauvignon Blanc over £15 in the 2016 DWWA. The Sancerre is closed with a screwcap.

It is particularly pleasing to see this triumph for the very talented and likeable Thierry Merlet. I first met Thierry when he was at Levin, the winemaking venture of David Levin of London's Capital Hotel in Bourré close to Montrichard in the Cher Valley. Thierry had worked for Brian Croser and it was through Brian that Thierry came to work for Levin.

Very unfortunately Thierry's time at Levin did not end happily. There was a court case – inevitably an unequal contest between a wealthy man and a young winemaker. Thierry had to declare himself bankrupt to extricate himself. I don't intend to go into this history in detail but suffice to say that I will never buy a bottle of Levin's wine nor eat in his restaurant. 

Fortunately Thierry's talents were recognised by Villebois and he is now fulfilling his promise. In addition several of Villebois' other Sauvignon Blancs also won awards at this year's DWWA.       

Since January 2015 Villebois and Fournier Père et Fils have been linked together. 

Thierry at 2012 Salon des Vins de Loire

 

Thierry while still at Levin 

December 2008 

Brian Croser on natural winemaking

A quote from Max Allen's fine The future makers

Brian Croser: one of Australia's greatest winemakers and a longtime believer in the importance of terroir and site. Certainly relevant in terms of the Loire in view of the controversy over cryoextraction/cryoselection:

'I think there's a reaction building to all the manipulation going on in the industry now,' says Tapanappa winemaker Brian Croser. 'I see this reaction particularly among producers of what I call fine wine. You see, fine wine is – should be – a natural product. The concept of naturalness is an integral part of fine wine. Making fine wine doesn't mean using reverse osmosis, acid addition, tannin addition. It certainly doesn't mean using GMOs. The aim should be to do absolutely nothing to alter the composition of the wine. Naturalness is as important as hedonic quality in fine wine. The consumer needs to believe that the winemaker hasn't mucked around with it.'