This wine was expensive at $40 however, it was pure, energetic and deep, with plenty going on to keep interest in the course of drinking a bottle. I have always known the Ladoucette wines as sound, although unexciting and expensive. It was the Sancerre Comte Lafond from Baron de Ladoucette, a big Loire producer better known for its Pouilly-Fumé, a neighboring appellation of Sancerre, also made with the sauvignon blanc grape. Our top bottle was something of a surprise. Possibly, the grapes came from soils with more clay, which contributes to fleshiness and fruit. It was quite different from the Cherrier, with a richer texture and fruitier flavors, albeit focused and refreshing. It has much still in reserve, to emerge over the next few years. The Cherrier seemed the epitome of a superb, straightforward Sancerre, resounding with stony mineral and herbal flavors. Michael felt the wines that rose above the others were distinctly in the minority, but I was encouraged by the number of wines I liked, and happy to discover some producers who were new to me, like Paul Cherrier and Karine Lauverjat, our second and third favorites. Our favorites were energetic and deep with enticing textures and resonant savory, mineral flavors - wines that transcended the variety and showed a sense of place.Īnnie was especially attuned to the textures of the wines she liked best, which she attributed to the terroir rather than to the various winemaking methods. We certainly had our share of dull wines, simple and pungent in the way of sauvignon blanc around the world, with few characteristics that spoke of Sancerre. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two guests, Annie Shi, wine director and a partner at King, in SoHo, and Michael Madrigale, a partner at Grande Cuvée, a new app that is intended to help people find good bottles in their local stores.Īlmost all the wines in our tasting, which our tasting coordinator, Bernard Kirsch, bought retail, were $20 to $40, a lot more than they cost 20 years ago when they were a typical bistro white of Paris. To examine the sort of Sancerres one might casually encounter, the wine panel recently tried 20 bottles from the very good 2017 vintage. I rarely see these expensive wines on restaurant lists. They can vary from the more familiar bright, lively wines, which exude citrus and minerality, to more contemplative, powerful, expensive wines, which need a decade or more of aging. That leaves Sancerre, a special case because the wines cannot be so easily dismissed, even though they are rarely objects of desire.
While mass-produced chardonnays richly earn the eye rolls they receive, we are still talking about the grape of white Burgundy, which makes the sort of coveted, cherished bottles that might saturate a sommelier’s dream Instagram account. Similarly, the sommelier class’ antipathy toward Prosecco is matched only by the cynicism of the producers who make this often-insipid wine.Ĭhardonnay occupies a middle ground. I have searched high and wide for decent, reasonably priced pinot grigios, with scant results.
Whatever contempt wine professionals may feel toward the wines is partly deserved. Maybe they can do even better, they think, by helping guests achieve an unexpected, heightened experience. Sommeliers can achieve this goal by giving guests what they want. More than anything, hospitable sommeliers want their guests to enjoy themselves, and to come back again and again. Regardless, they know that Sancerre by the glass or bottle will become the most-ordered wine on the list. The comfort that comes from spotting a pinot grigio or Sancerre on the list is exactly why these wines are so despised in some quarters, namely by the sommeliers who have worked so hard to put together exquisite bottles that will both flatter the food on the menu and reflect the ethos of the restaurant.
Who can argue with this logic? Nobody should be made to feel anxious about wine.
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