Oaked Sauvignon Blanc, 2015: The Loire Valley
Although you can find Sauvignon Blanc anywhere from the vineyards south of Nantes, where Melon de Bourgogne otherwise dominates, up to the hillsides of Forez and Roanne, there is no question that Sauvignon’s dominion is centred around Sancerre. Here, along with neighbouring Pouilly-Fumé and Menetou-Salon, and the more distant appellations of Quincy and Reuilly (and others), Sauvignon Blanc rules.
The overarching style, as all readers will certainly already know, is tense, nervous and not touched by oak. Oak can act either as a softener, rounding off sharp corners and rough edges, or indeed as a body builder, adding structure and substance, the wine world’s equivalent of a protein supplement and a few hours in the gym. It also has a huge influence on flavour of course. None of these abilities are deemed part of the ‘conventional’ acid-driven, flinty, minerally style of Sancerre that consumers (and wine writers, it has to be said) have come to expect. This is the style that made Sancerre famous, and which inspired the viticulturists of New Zealand to plant the variety in Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, Martinborough and Central Otago.
So where and how did the oak come on the scene?
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