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A Sancerre to remember
A Sancerre to remember
by Dustin Soiseth by Dustin Soiseth
2020 Sancerre “Côte des Embouffants”
2020 Sancerre “Côte des Embouffants”
Domaine Roger Neveu France | Loire | Sancerre
A winemaking tradition as long as France’s is bound to produce a few historic vineyard sites here and there. But when some rosy-cheeked monk or abbot—the wine bloggers of their age—singles out a specific plot, you know you have something truly special. In his 1777 history of Sancerre, the abbot Poupart wrote that “the Bouffants hillside is one of the best I know in our Sancerre area.”
It is perfectly appropriate, then, that the “Côte des Embouffants” is now under the care of the Neveu family, who has roots in the village of Verdigny—just half a mile from the vineyard—since the 12th century. Today, brothers Éric and Jean-Philippe Neveu produce a fresh-cut-grass-and-citrus-inflected Sauvignon Blanc of incredible precision from this site. They ferment and age it only in tank and rack by gravity to preserve all the juicy, sun-ripened fruit and lively mineral snap conferred by this steep, limestone-covered hillside. The generously perfumed and incredibly refreshing 2020 vintage suggests that, nearly 250 years later, our old pal Poupart may have been onto something.
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Sauvignon Blanc |
Appellation: | Sancerre |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Domaine Roger Neveu |
Winemaker: | Éric & Jean-Philippe Neveu |
Vineyard: | 20 years average, 18 ha |
Soil: | Limestone |
Aging: | Wine aged for 3 months before first racking, aged for 8 to 12 months in total |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
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About The Producer
Domaine Roger Neveu
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
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2021 Bourgeuil “Cuvée Beauvais”
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2022 Chinon “Les Granges”
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2021 Bourgueil “La Dilettante”
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2022 Chinon Rosé
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2022 Vin de France Brut Nature “Elle est pas bulle, la vie?”
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.
Inspiring Thirst, page 171