2020 Sancerre, Blanc, Domaine Vacheron, Loire
Critics reviews
Most producers can only dream of an “entry-level” wine that's this good. The 2020 Sancerre is a touch flinty on the nose right now, and offers pure fruit reminiscent of gooseberry, nettle and boxwood. This has a certain ease to it, conveying a mellow texture within its light-bodied frame.
Drink 2021 - 2028
Rebecca Gibb MW, vinous.com (Aug 2021)
This rich wine also shows great style and balance. Dense white fruits with a young herbal element are helped by tangy acidity. The wine has potential, so wait to drink until 2023. Organic and biodynamic.
Roger Voss, winemag.com (Jan 2022)
About this WINE
Domaine Vacheron
Domaine Vacheron stands proudly as one of Sancerre's elite properties, renowned for crafting white and red Sancerre wines of remarkable purity and definition. Leading the charge in this transformation are cousins, Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique Vacheron, who have spearheaded the transition to biodynamic farming since 2005, earning certification from Biodyvin.
Currently tending to 34 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and 11 hectares of Pinot Noir, the cousins have strategically acquired vines in coveted lieu-dits across the appellation, including Guigne Chèvre, En Grands Champs, Paradis, and Chambrates. Each parcel is vinified separately, allowing for nuanced blends that vary from year to year.
While Sauvignon Blanc takes centre stage, Pinot Noir is far from an afterthought; it's a focal point. Despite being just a stone's throw away from Burgundy, the cousins produce grand, expressive bottlings of Pinot Noir on their soils.
Sauvignon Blanc
An important white grape in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley that has now found fame in New Zealand and now Chile. It thrives on the gravelly soils of Bordeaux and is blended with Sémillon to produce fresh, dry, crisp Bordeaux Blancs, as well as more prestigious Cru Classé White Graves.
It is also blended with Sémillon, though in lower proportions, to produce the great sweet wines of Sauternes. It performs well in the Loire Valley and particularly on the well-drained chalky soils found in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, where it produces bone dry, highly aromatic, racy wines, with grassy and sometimes smoky, gunflint-like nuances.
In New Zealand, Cloudy Bay in the 1980s began producing stunning Sauvignon Blanc wines with extraordinarily intense nettly, gooseberry, and asparagus fruit, that set Marlborough firmly on the world wine map. Today many producers are rivalling Cloudy Bay in terms of quality and Sauvignon Blanc is now New Zealand`s trademark grape.
It is now grown very successfully in Chile producing wines that are almost halfway between the Loire and New Zealand in terms of fruit character. After several false starts, many South African producers are now producing very good quality, rounded fruit-driven Sauvignon Blancs.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Most producers can only dream of an “entry-level” wine that's this good. The 2020 Sancerre is a touch flinty on the nose right now, and offers pure fruit reminiscent of gooseberry, nettle and boxwood. This has a certain ease to it, conveying a mellow texture within its light-bodied frame.
Drink 2021 - 2028
Rebecca Gibb MW, vinous.com (Aug 2021)
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