Sancerre and Pouilly – some further reflections

As well as posting here on Jim's Loire about Andrew Jefford's fine blog on Sancerre and Pouilly last Monday I also used this as my weakly post on Les 5 du Vin, which happily provoked some discussion. This caused me to reflect (yes I know unusual...) further on these two neighbouring appellations.

Firstly I should have made it clear in the initial post that there are fine producers in both Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, who despite the commercial success they enjoy are always determined to push the limits to make their wines better. I am always impressed by this as the human temptation to sit back on your success and take it easy must at times be strong. 

Having looked at the differences between Sancerre and Pouilly, I realised that there is another area that I hadn't considered – wine tourism. Once again unfortunately Sancerre has very much the upper hand. Sancerre and the appellation of Sancerre have much to attract the visitor from the bustling town of Sancerre to the picturesque villages of Bué and Chavignol – both crammed with producers and, especially in the case of Chavignol, with cafés, restaurants and an excellent hotel.

In contrast Pouilly-sur-Loire is as I have already detailed unfortunately moribund – a victim of a small town being by-passed by the Autoroute A77. There remain just a few tattered vestiges of its glory days when it was a staging post on the N7 – the road from Paris to the sunshine of the Mediterranean. 

Apart from La Tour de Pouilly – a wine tourism centre – and visits to wine producers there is unfortunately little to attract the visitor to Pouilly-sur-Loire.

Nor does it have a village like Bué or Chavignol with a concentration of producers also with a café and restaurant to attract visitors. The picturesque hamlet of Les Loges and perhaps Saint-Andelain are probably the closest but neither have a café.

So again it is Sancerre that holds the tourism cards.  



 

    

Henri Bourgeois (Chavignol) – one aspect of their success

Jean-Christophe and Arnaud Bourgeois 

19th September 2017 – during the harvest

One of the big characteristics of wine production in the Loire is the continuing importance of the family. Many of the domaines are family owned and run. For me this is one of the charms and attractions of the wines from the Loire Valley.

Obviously when families work well together they can find great success. Equally when things go wrong, as almost inevitably they do within some families from time to time, the splits and consequences can be particularly bitter and rancorous. 

Cousins Jean-Christophe and Arnaud Bourgeois feature in the photo above. I have the strong sense of a team of team working well together. In September I saw Jean-Christophe at the highest level of their winery in Chavignol where grapes are unloaded, sorted and pressed. He rapidly arranged for Arnaud, when he was free, to come and let me taste the 2017 juices. 

Arnaud, the youngest son of patriarch – Jean-Marie Bourgeois – is increasingly the public face of Henri Bourgeois, while Jean-Christophe is in charge of wine-making. Lionel, Arnaud's elder brother, is in charge of the vineyards and has a much less of a public profile than Arnaud. 

Henri Bourgeois based in Chavignol, part of the commune of   

If there are any tensions with the Bourgeois family operation I have never been aware of them over the many years I have been visiting – I first met Jean-Marie Bourgeois in late October 1989. 

I am sure that the ability of the Bourgeois family to work together on complementary roles and tasks has been a major contributory factor in their enormous success. 

In contrast one only has to look at the very sad and acrimonious split within the Couly family at Couly Dutheil (Chinon) between the late Jacques Couly and his son Arnaud and Pierre Couly, Jacques elder brother, and his son Bertrand – now Pierre and Bertrand Couly.  

Jean-Marie Bourgeois 

in a vineyard above Chavignol late October 2014

 

 

 

Gérard Boulay: two magnificent 2014 Sancerres

2014 Monts Damnés

2014 La Côte 

Saturday evening two friends – Suzie and Mark – came for apéros. They are now Epeigné-les-Bois' sole wine producers with their bijou vineyard – Clos Chossay.

I thought it would be interesting to try two of Gérard Boulay's single site wines – Monts Damnés and La Côte – both from 2014.

I decided to serve the Monts Damnés first as it is more austere and mineral, while La Côte, which is the last of Gérard's vines to be harvested, had a little more weight. Both were excellent and still young with many years ahead of them. 

Les Monts Damnés site is now well known but La Côte (La Grand Côte) is much less well known – in part because it is off the beaten track unlike Les Monts Damnés.

 View of Chavignol (nestling below the surrounding hills in the distance)

Les Monts Damnés are to the right of the village in this photo,
while La Grande Côte is round to the left towards Amigny

  Part of Les Monts Damnés 

looking towards Sancerre

Gérard Boulay 

    

Pierre Martin 2014 Les Monts Damnés, Sancerre

 2014 Les Monts Damnés.  Sancerre, Pierre Martin (Chavignol)

Last night we enjoyed three pizzas at Bona in Forest Hill and we were kindly allowed to take along this fine bottle of 2014 Les Monts Damnés, Sancerre from Pierre Martin. This is another good example of the mineral and well balanced style of the 2014 vintage with vibrant fruit balanced by racy acidity. Ideally we should have waited another year or more before drinking this wine. However, Pierre kindly gave us this bottle when we visited him in Chavignol at the end of the vintage in October. 

Pierre and Lauriane Martin 

Excellent meal and lovely Red Sancerre @La Côte des Monts Damnés

 

The dining room @La Côte des Monts Damnés


Jean-Marc Bourgeois

 

On Monday night CRM and I had a wonderful meal at La Côte des Monts Damnés in Chavignol, where we were staying overnight. Jean-Marc Bourgeois is the chef and his food always impresses but Monday night it was exceptionally good. The standout dish for me was the beetroot gaspacho with crab – looked stunning and tasted equally good!

After a very agreeable 2015 Grand Reserve, Sancerre Blanc from Henri Bourgeois with the considerable weight of the 2015 vintage, we chose the 2014 Sancerre Rouge Le Cul de Beaujeu from Domaine Vincent Delaporte now run by Matthieu Delaporte, grandson of Vincent. The Delaportes are the only growers to have Pinot Noir planted on the steep slopes of Le Cul. I thought the 2014 might be a bit young. However, although I'm sure it will age well it is drinking superbly now with mouth filling silky fruit.  

Mise en bouche

Langoustines looking towards Asia-Pacific 

Gaspacho de betterave rouge et tomate, émiette de 

tourteau au basilic de cervelle Canut à l'huile d'olive 

 

 Rack and saddle of lamb with a special spicy sausage  

Deliciously flavoursome lamb

 Côte de veau

 2014 Sancerre 'Le Cul de Beaujeu' Vincent Delaporte 

 

 

Soufflé chaud à la mandarine et Grand Marnier 

 Le coup de grâce !

This morning – Sancerre town as an island....

Sancerre rising through the mist on the left

We stayed overnight in Chavignol and were completely unaware that Sancerre and much of the surrounding area was in thick mist as it was Chavignol. It wasn't until we drove up to the viewpoint above Chavignol at the top of Les Monts Damnésthat we were aware of the mist making the top of Sancerre town appear as an island. A little later when we drove across to Pouilly it was thick mist.  

 Looking down the Monts Damnés with Chavignol 

below and islands including Sancerre out of the mist

 

 Les Monts Damnés and Sancerre

 Bright sunshine on the vines above Chavignol – 

often Chavignol is in the mist and Sancerre in the clear

 Mist swirling over the vines towards Amigny 

The row of trees marks the main road from Sancerre to Bourges 

with a flock of birds flying through the white layer of mist 

Other Sancerre photos  

Pierre and Lauriane Martin 

with 2016 Sancerre juice in their glasses  

Picking on the steep slopes of the 

Clos de la Poussie above Bué

 

 The Clos de la Poussie is in a better state than it was 

but there are still many missing vines here 

Pattern of vineyards close to Bué

 Chavignol – harvest over it is time to clean up

Picking may have finished but spiders are still busy

A glimpse of the Loire with Sancerre in the 

distance from above Les Loges (AC Pouilly-Fumé) 

 

Lovely 2014 Sancerre from Gérard Boulay

Despite being the basic Sancerre (AC Chavignol!!) from Gérard this is wonderful. It has an ethereal, delicate quality – with none of the overt, obviousness that can be a trait of Sauvignon Blanc. At the same time, however, it has some weight and concentration – just beautifully balanced. It is also very reasonably priced for the quality and once again underlines that nobody makes better Sancerre than Gérard Boulay. There may some Sancerres equal in quaiity but none, I think, surpass him. 

Gérard Boulay   

France and Lebanon: memories of happier times

 

Chavignol and Sancerre in December 

Following the deadly ISIS attacks in Beirut and then in Paris here are a few photos that bring back happier memories:   

 Smoke across the landscape around Chavignol

 Répas des rétraites: Epeigné-les-Bois

 Finishing a randonnée@Epeigné-les-Bois

 Epeigné-les-Bois: band @the inauguration of Le Lézard Vert

(above and below)

 June: Laurent Herlin & Xavier Courant @Café de la Promenade

 The extraordinary temple of Baalbek: Lebanon 

(above and below)

Beirut: newly married couple @Lebanese wedding