Sancerre: Sauvignon Blanc Like You've Never Had Before

For all my talk of Sancerre in classes and on the podcast, I can't believe I've never written about it here. I think partially it's because whenever I get my hands on a bottle, I wind up downing it (along with a chunk of goat cheese or Brie, both great pairings) before I have a chance to write the kind of notes I like to write for the blog. Well fortunately, the other night I was finally able to restrain myself long enough to jot down some thoughts.

So here we are, back in France...the land of place names, not grapes. Given that, it should stand to reason that Sancerre is not a grape, but a place and an old place, at that. People there have been at this winemaking thing since the Romans picked a river-side site for vineyards to feed their legions of thirsty soldiers/pillagers/conquerors in the first century AD.

The vineyards are in the center of France, on the very eastern point of the Loire Valley (aptly, they're called the Central Vineyards -- see the very right hand side of the map below). The Sancerre area has a climate kind of like Champagne or Chablis in northern Burgundy -- continental, with warm summers and cold winters, where the threat of frost (hence total vineyard annihilation) is imminent through the spring and fall.

Map from http://www.terroir-france.com/wine/loire_map.htm

For most of history, Sancerre and its sister area Pouilly Fumé were actually linked to Burgundy (south of Sancerre) rather than the Loire Valley, of which it's now part for wine purposes. What did that mean for wine? Pinot Noir and Gamay (of Beaujolais fame), the reds of Burgundy, were grown here. With a cooler climate than Burgundy and more chalky soils, these grapes were like a smart kid with bad grades -- they never quite lived up to their potential.

Then something happened that could have been horrible, but actually worked out fabulously well: the serial killer bug that injects the roots of grapevines with its poisonous saliva, thus spreading vine murder and mayhem, landed in Sancerre in the late 1800s. Phylloxera, as it's called, devastated the vineyards. The Pinot Noir and Gamay died out and Sancerre was left with no choice but to start over.

I wish I could tell you that after extensive research and great spiritual quest they settled on a grape that could be one with the land, but as I've said before, wine business is all about the mighty coin. After phylloxera, these guys needed to turn a profit quickly. They needed something that was hearty and could be easily grafted onto American grapevine roots (which are immune to phylloxera, since the US is where the damn bug originates and from where it booked a trip on a ship overseas... the downside to a global economy). Their answer: Sauvignon Blanc.

It made sense. Sauvignon Blanc originated in Bordeaux, along the river banks. It likes cooler climates, so Sancerre's northern latitude and cooler winters were fine by this grape. When the vignerons (vin-yer-OHNs or winegrowers/makers) were looking for something to churn out in great quantities, this was an awesome solution to their needs. With a prolific grape and a location close to Paris, Sancerre became the "sipper" of choice in the bistros of the city of lights from the 1920s through the 1970s and kept them in business. From that point on, white Sancerre (80% of the area's production, with the other 20% very light Pinot Noir) has been 100% Sauvignon Blanc.

But things just kept getting better for Sancerre. Having made money by exploiting the Parisian market, some producers started to think more about quality rather than quantity. Sauvignon Blanc is really subject to terroir (all the things about the vineyard that make it unique -- sun exposure, soil, water drainage, slope, etc listen to the podcast for more on this). Grown in a special place, a special wine results. In Sancerre, it just so happened that the grape and the place were compatible beyond anyone's greatest hopes.

The terroir of the 15 villages that make up the area of Sancerre is particularly unique in that the soil varies, so the wine flavors are slightly different. For instance there is:

• Flint, which allows wines to taste like chewing on rocks
• Gravel, which makes more lemony, apple-like wine
• Chalk, which makes heavier floral, grapefruit-like wine, and
• Limestone and clay, which makes very high quality, rich, full more herbal wines (like fresh thyme or tarragon) that still taste a little like drinking from a waterfall.

Despite the nuance from each small vineyard area or town, all Sancerre has similarities: screeching acidity and a taste of minerals or rocks or waterfalls like no other Sauvignon Blanc in the world. Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand has high acidity, but unlike those ripe, fruity wines, Sancerre is barely fruity. Although there will be variation in each Sancerre you try, you're going to find these characters in them all -- it's the style of the place.

The harsh acids and mineral tastes can be rough to take if you have these wines without food. They may strip a little enamel from your teeth (I'm kidding, but they are freakin' acidic), and your mouth may water endlessly. Sipping them may even feel like sucking on a lemon. But all this changes with a small hunk of creamy cheese.

With a creamy food, the wine smooths out. It has a briny almost salty quality sometimes, that enhances the saltiness of the cheese and makes everything more harmonious. Thetexture of the wine and its light herbal and floral notes neutralize thegaminess in the goat cheese. The tangy acidity of goat cheese is countered well by the crisp acidity of Sauvignon Blanc. The cheesefeels lighter and more balanced with the wine.

So you're now that you're gunning to try this (with food, of course), here's a good one to look for:

The Wine: 2010 Domaine de la Perrière
(2010 was a solid year in Sancerre, with a cold winter followed by a good growing season. There was lots of healthy vines to pick from so you can find more consistent quality!)

The Grape: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Alcohol: 12.5%

Price: $18.99

Color: The wine looked like a cool climate, high acid wine. What does that look like? Good question! In cooler climates the grapes don't get as ripe and the skins don't get quite as much color, which means the wine is virtually clear. This lack of over-ripeness also usually means the grapes have higher acid. This wine was a little green too -- another indication that the grapes weren't over-the-top mature.

Smell: All I could smell was minerals and chalk. It was like sitting on a hot rock near a waterfall (I like to hike so that smell is familiar to me but if it's not one you know, just think of chalk dust). After a few more sniffs, then the wine smelled like flowers, grass, and a little lemon and grapefruit. My mouth watered just smelling this stuff. I love wines like this and the fact that my eyes were watering just by smelling it made me pretty excited.

Taste: Oh yeah... This wine had an acid burn. It was so acidic that I felt it in the hinge of my jaw. It taste like lemons, grass, and a little like minerals but the main impression was acid. My biggest criticism: it was a little watery. There wasn't the fuller flavor that I like in Sancerre to back up that acid bite.

Drink or sink?: Drink. Sancerre is always a little pricey, but it's worth it. I love this one and if you can find it, I'd highly recommend chilling it down, getting yourself some chevre (goat) cheese and rocking this out!