François Crochet, 2018 Update
François Crochet seemed to burst onto the Sancerre wine scene a little over a decade ago, a classic example of the younger generation breathing new life into a familial domaine. His father ran one of the many Crochet domaines based in Bué, but it was not particularly distinguished. With the arrival of François, who brought his experience in Bordeaux, Burgundy and New Zealand back to the family domaine, things seemed to shift up a gear. The wines suddenly had more energy, and looked more serious.
Since then the range has expanded somewhat, François Crochet (pictured) having wisely followed the trend for single-vineyard cuvées, showcasing his many tiny parcels of vines which lie within on some of Bué’s most famous vineyards. As is the case with some of my other favourite vignerons in Sancerre, however, these wines are unfortunately not always easy to get hold of, especially those single-vineyard cuvées (each comes from a parcel less than a hectare in size, if I recall correctly) and they are thus produced in very restricted quantities.
The Wines
I kicked off with the whites, all from the 2017 vintage, and after a promising domaine cuvée I worked my way through an admirable range of single-vineyard wines all of which would happily give a poke in the eye to anyone wedded to the idea that great Sancerre can only come Kimmeridgian terroirs. These wines originate either from flint, or from Oxfordian limestone around Bué, and on this occasion (and not for the first time) Exils (from flint) hinted at a remarkable potential. The limestone cuvées were excellent as well though, with Le Chêne Marchand and Le Petit Chemarin a notch ahead of Le Grand Chemarin in this vintage.
