Vincent Pinard: Tasting & Drinking
Starting with the white wines, I have to confess I find the range of cuvées presented here somewhat confusing, with no one cuvée that seems to serve as the house wine, and four named blended cuvées instead. To add to this confusion, there are now three site-specific wines also available.
I tend to think of the white wines, therefore, in three groups. In the middle we have Nuance and Harmonie, and from among all the blended wines these two give the best experience. Nuance is the top blended cuvée in the classic style, with fermentation in steel, with minimal influence from wood. In some vintages I have enjoyed this wine over the years, although on some occasions I do find the wood coming through a little too strongly, even though it is only a minor component of the élevage. It doesn’t take too much to overpower the fruit of Sauvignon Blanc, I find. As for Harmonie, where oak plays a larger role, this is a more complicated wine. In the past I have suffered the occasional anaphylactic reaction when it came to oaked Sauvignon Blanc, whether from Sancerre or elsewhere, but in very recent times I have come to understand these wines better. They need time to express themselves, the wines of Bertrand Minchin being very instructive in this matter. Harmonie needs to be viewed in this light, and it needs to be cellared.
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