Lucien Crochet
Writing of Sancerre in the mid-20th century Pierre Bréjoux, author and onetime Inspector General of the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine, described a relatively small vineyard around Bué, with just 100 hectares of vines. Writing in Les Vins de Loire (Parisienne d’Editions Techniques et Commerciales, 1956) he tells us that there were 62 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc, and about 10 hectares of Pinot Noir, curiously implying that about 28 hectares were planted to other varieties, I suspect most probably Gamay but perhaps also Chasselas (which was not confined to the vineyards of Pouilly-sur-Loire, no matter how intriguing that story might be).
That there are many more vines in Bué today is testament to how this appellation and in this village in particular has continued its post-phylloxera recovery and ascendency since Bréjoux’s visit. Today, for example, Gilles Crochet, who took over the running of the Lucien Crochet domaine in the early 1990s, tends more than 30 hectares, equivalent to about one-third of the entire 1950’s vineyard.
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