Francois Cotat: Tasting & Drinking
It is difficult to know where to start with the wines of François Cotat. There was a time when I believed the mantra that all Sauvignon Blanc tasted of gooseberry bush and cat pee, and at the same time I believed that Sancerre was a wine that had to be drunk young.
When it comes to the first of these two dogmas, this is most certainly not true. Across the appellation the most interesting wines are those that reflect their terroir, and not those that are rich in the thiols, aromatic characteristics which are, even at the best of times, of questionable value in my opinion. Surely nobody comes to Sancerre – not top-end Sancerre, anyway – for varietal wines? These are wines where we want to taste the minerals, the soil, the chalk and the flint. François can deliver that, wrapped up in the fruit of ripe Sauvignon Blanc, which is very different to the prevailing greener style. Expect to find orchard fruits, citrus and even tropical complexity at times; more than once I have found notes of pineapple in these wines.
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