Loire tasting @J&B

2011 Vendanges Entières, Sancerre Rouge, Vincent Pinard 

The annual J & B (Justerini & Brooks) Loire and Rhône tasting is certainly worthwhile. Although their Rhône list is more comprehensive than the Loire, there were a number of good things to taste this afternoon. Furthermore having tasted the Loire there was time for me to go and play and try a few Rhônes before departing.  

One of the highlights of the tasting was 10 Sancerres from Vincent Pinard – five white and five red. I particularly enjoyed the ripe and richly textured 2011 Vendanges Entières, Sancerre Rouge (£35.46). It still needs time but will be a lovely bottle in a few years time. At £25.46 the 2009 Charlouise is a little more evolved – again with seductive texture and charming Pinot fruit. 

Not easy to pick a favourite from the Pinard whites but I'll go for the 2012 Harmonie (£25.46) with good weight, concentration and length that will surely age well.

   

2009 La Croix du Roy, Sancerre Rouge, Lucien Crochet

2011 Le Cul de Beaujeu

Two wines from Lucien Crochet (represented by Gilles Crochet) impressed. La Croix du Roy (£16.96) is an old favourite and the charming, soft 2009 underlines again how good Pinot Noir now can be from Sancerre and other Central Loire vineyards – well worth considering given the increase in prices in Burgundy.

The other – Le Cul de Beaujeu, Sancerre Blanc – was new to me. The Cul de Beaujeu is the very steep slope that is directly above Chavignol on the other flank from the better known Les Monts Damnés. The Beaujeu parcel belongs to a cousin of Gilles' wife. He was a pilot with Air France but has just retired and intends to make his own wine from 2015, so Gilles has only been able to make six vintages of this wine – 2009 - 2014. The 2011 Crochet Cul de Beaujeu (£23.96) is noticeably richer and fuller than than the other Crochet Sancerres, although it is still quite tight in the finish and certainly needs time to show its best. 

J & B have reduced their Sancerre range as they are no longer listing the wines of François Cotat – not finding the recent vintages sufficiently convincing.  

2012 Anjou Blanc, Domaine Thibaud Boudignon (£17.46)

2012 Anjou Blanc à Francois(e), 

Domaine Thibaud Boudignon  (£23.46)

 

2012 Savennières, La Fougerais,  

Domaine Thibaud Boudignon

As at last year's tasting the startlingly precise wines from Thibaud Boudignon stood out in particularly his beautifully textured and long 2011 Savennières (£30.46).   

Other wines that impressed:

2012 Clos de Venise, Vouvray, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups (£22.46)

2008 Clos de la Dioterie, Chinon, Charles Joguet (£22.46)

 

2011 Les Fevettes, Saumur-Champigny, 

Château de Hureau (£16.46)

Loire 2012s@J&B tasting on 18.11.2013

Thibaud Boudignon – very fine Anjou Blanc and Savennières from own vines 

+ in charge of Château Soucherie 

The Justerini & Brooks Loire and Rhône tasting was a good opportunity to taste some Loire 2012s along with a few from 2011 and earlier vintages. The tasting showed that, although 2012 was a small vintage, some dry whites and reds were made, although the terrible weather during October meant that sweet whites were a wash-out. 

I was particularly impressed by the wines of Thibaud Boudignon – his Anjou Blancs but especially his finely precise, linear 2012 Les Fougerais, Savennières. Early this year Thibaud was in hospital with a bad back, so it is good to see him now active again. These wines come from the two hectares of his own vines. His main responsibility is looking after the 28 hectares of Château Soucherie in the Layon. Soucherie's 2010 Chaume won the 2013 Loire regional sweet wine trophy. 

The 2012s from Jacky Blot – Bourgueil, Montlouis and Vouvray – are looking promising, especially the Clos de Venise (Vouvray), Remus Plus (Montlouis) and the Clos Mosny (Montlouis) among the whites and the two Bourgueils shown – le Haut de la Butte and Les Perrières. 

Then on to the Sauvignon Blancs: standouts were – 2011 Sancerre and Le Chêne, Lucien Crochet (Gilles Crochet always ages his wines for an additional year before they are put on the market); and Sancerres from Vincent Pinard – 2012 Petit Chamarin and 2011 Harmonie. There were three 2012s from François Cotat  – Caillottes, Les Culs de Beaujeu and Les Monts Damnées – that I found underwhelming at this stage in their life. I have had wonderful bottles of Cotat in the past and these may well develop with time. However, on the evidence of this tasting I would rather pay £130 (a case of 12 in bond) for Le Chêne (Crochet) than £260 a case for Cotat's Les Culs de Beaujeu or Les Monts Damnées.  

Also on show were Château de Hureau's Saumur Champignys and Charles Joguet's Chinons with 2011 Cuvée les Fevettes (Hureau) and 2011 Clos du Chêne Vert and 2011 Clos de la Dioterie the standouts. In contrast I found the Joguet 2011 Cuvée Terroir rather green in the finish. It is, however, £45 for a case of 6 compared to £110 for the Dioterie.   

There was also a small selection of Loires already released. Here i picked out the finely balanced 2011 Anjou Blanc sec from Thibaud Boudignon, 2011 Clos de Venise (Jacky Blot) and the just lovely 2010 Les Onnis, Coteaux du Layon Chaume from Domaine des Forges – full of ripe apricots.   

 A rather soft focus Anne-Charlotte Genet, Domaine Charles Joguet

 Gilles Crochet, Domaine Lucien Crochet, Bué, AC Sancerre 

Jacky Blot

 

 

Jean Philippe Blot

Mid June 2009: some archive photos from a trip to Bué, Chavignol etc.

A palette of wine from Lucien Crochet being loaded in the centre of Bué

Some empties: Sancerre and a Champagne bottle

Part of the centre of Bué


Eau non potable (not drinking water)

Statue

Jean-Christophe Bourgeois (Henri Bourgeois, Chavignol)

Bertrand Minchin, La Tour Saint Martin – Menetou-Salon and Valençay

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.

2005 Cuvée Prestige, Sancerre, Lucien Crochet

We opened this the day before New Year's Eve. This is certainly a rich white Sancerre with 14.5% alcohol. Impressively mouthfilling and well made but it lacks some freshness in the finish, which makes it difficult to drink more than one or two moderately sized glasses. We tried matching it with some smoked salmon but it overpowered the salmon. Instead I think it probably it needs rich fish or chicken dishes. Indeed a final glass was a much better match with a roast chicken today.

Some of the 2009 Sancerres may well be similarly rich as the Sauvignon Blanc was often picked at over 14% potential – one even reportedly at 15.5%

2003 Cuvée Prestige, Sancerre Rouge, Lucien Crochet

This very deep coloured Sancerre Rouge is very typical of the very hot 2003 vintage. Powerful, concentrated and mouthfilling with rich pruney and figgy fruit, this is atypical of a Loire Pinot Noir – more reminiscent of a wine from further south in France. Although not typical, well made red Sancerre is delicious, incidentally another well-made wine by Gilles Crochet. The 2003 is drinking well now but I'm sure you could keep it for at least another four or five years. Vinve la difference!

2007 Lucien Crochet, Sancerre and 1982 Cuvée Napoléon, Côtes de Buzet

Tonight took a look at the 2007 Le Chêne, Sancerre from Lucien Crochet. This comes from vines grown on caillottes, which are often pure limestone with very little soil if any. Indeed there are parts of Sancerre that are just pure white rock. This has gooseberry and grapefruit flavours typical of quality Sancerre with minerality, a precision and cleanness of flavour that is typical of 2007. The grapes are picked by hand followed by an alcoholic fermentation of around 35 days in stainless steel vats. Bottled in September following the vintage.

Although this is not the top Crochet Sancerre it shows why Gilles Crochet is one of the appellation's top producers.




Then a wine tried last night – 1982 Cuvée Napoléon from the Cave Cooperative de Buzet. Remarkably silky wine with very attractive sweet evolved fruit. Although it lacks great complexity, it has kept remarkably well despite not having the best storage conditions. I suspect that I could pass this off as a classed growth. A blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

A few minutes to spare in Bué

Lane leading up into the vines

We arrived in Bué a good 20 minutes in advance of our 10 am appointment with Gilles Crochet (Lucien Crochet), so plenty of time to grab a quick coffee in the café in the square in the centre of Bué close to the church. We soon noticed that Gilles was busy loading a lorry parked in the middle of the square – time to take a few photos before starting to taste.

Side road in Bué

Gilles Crochet busy loading lorry

One lorry nearly loaded, while another waits up the road. Similarly we saw plenty of lorries in Chavignol – not too much sign of a crisis here, even though sales are down

Lucien Crochet's offices and cellar

Eau non potable – Bué's water may not be drinkable but its wine is!

Figurine clutching chicks with hen at her feet

Producer's sign

Once the lorry was loaded our tasting with Gilles confirmed my recent very favourable impression of his wines. To be covered in separate post along with details from the other visits we made to Henri Bourgeois in Chavignol and Albane and Bertrand Minchin (Menetou-Salon, Touraine and Valençay).

Sancerre does play a major role in its appellation

From the heights above Chavignol looking across vineyards to Sancerre with virtually all the vines in the photo within the commune of Sancerre

Eric Asimov (New York Times and The Pour) is one of my favourite US wine columnists. In mid-April his weekly article ‘Sancerre: Say It With Feeling’ 15th April 2009 was devoted to Sancerre and centred around a tasting of 2007 white Sancerres. I was pleased to see the 2007 from Lucien Crochet come out as the top recommendation. I think Gilles Crochet is currently doing a terrific job in all three of the colours of Sancerre. The runners up were Jean-Paul Picard, Domaine Vacheron and Pascal Cotat.

However, my attention was also caught by this assertion: ‘This is Sancerre territory, centered around the villages of Bué and Chavignol (very little wine comes from the town of Sancerre itself).’ (enboldened by Jim)

In this instance Eric Asimov is incorrect – some of the appellation’s biggest names are based in or around the town of Sancerre. I suspect that Sancerre producers like Château de Sancerre, Domaine Fouassier, Alphonse Mellot, Joseph Mellot, Domaine Vacheron and La Cave de Sancerre (co-operative) would take issue with him and I could throw in Pascal Cotat and Vincent Grall for good measure. Indeed four of Eric’s recommended producers (Vacheron, Pascal Cotat, Château de Sancerre and Thomas Labaille) come from the commune of Sancerre.

Leaving aside the producers the commune of Sancerre does also have some significant vineyards, in particular to the west, south west and south of the town. Famous sites such as La Moussière, Les Grands Champs, Les Romains and La Belle Dame are all in Sancerre.

Vines to west of town of Sancerre in the area that includes Les Grands Champs, La Moussière and Le Paradis

The commune of Sancerre also includes the villages of Amigny and Chavignol, although I suspect the inhabitants of Chavignol would insist that Sancerre is actually an adjunct or suburb of Chavignol and that French bureaucracy has made a mistake here. However until that decision is reversed, La Côte des Monts Damnés, Le Cul de Beaujeu and La Grand Côte are in Sancerre.

Lucien Crochet 2005 Cuvée Prestige Sancerre Rouge

Opened this excellent red Sancerre on Sunday night to go with slow roasted belly of pork. Domaine Lucien Crochet in the heart of the village of Bué is now run by Gilles Crochet. The 2005 Cuvée Prestige has lovely sweet ripe black fruits. It has opulent texture but is beautifully balanced with good freshness in the finish.

There has been some jokey comment recently on Tom Cannavan's wine forum that 2003 red Sancerres are good because it is one of the very rare occasions when Pinot Noir actually got ripe. Admittedly 2005 was a very good vintage but this beautifully judged red is shows that ripe Pinot is not that rare around Sancerre.

Sorting table@Lucien Crochet 6th October 2008

Alphonse Mellot rightly gets a lot of attention for his red Sancerres but, while Gilles Crochet makes less noise, his reds are certainly among the top four or five in the appellation. He is always one of the few in Sancerre to make an interesting rosé that justifies the price.