Oaked Sauvignon Blanc, 2015: The Loire Valley, Tasting Notes
I had a secret concern regarding this tasting; although I knew the domaines well, and opted for a high-quality selection of cuvées and vintages, I didn’t know every wine on an individual basis. Would the older wines in particular perform well? Thankfully, the wines largely showed very nicely; although some from the 2002 vintage were a little muted at first, and I was worried that they were tired, they soon opened out and impressed. The wines from 2008 also proved themselves, despite this being a more difficult vintage. The youngest ‘old’ vintage, the 2010 from Lucien Crochet, showed not only that more vignerons are getting in on this style, it also showed what can be achieved even when starting out.
Looking at the younger vintage, 2012 in every case, these wines also showed well. My early encounters with oaked Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc at this sort of age were often confusing; seeing the Sancerre appellation on the label the palate readies itself for mineral and steel, but what it encounters instead are layers of smoky oak. Viewed in this simplistic fashion, it is easy to reject the wines as over-oaked. I had failed to understand that these were not wines for drinking young, but are intended for the cellar; they should therefore be judged as young white Burgundy, or young Graves, looking at their future potential. I worry that, although I realised this a few years ago, the mainstream wine press still pigeon-hole all Sancerre – oaked and unoaked – in the same ‘drink young’ category.
Having said that, I was impressed by how nicely integrated these wines were at this young age. They had already started soaking up the oak, much more than I had expected from my previous experiences with the wines, and the over-arching style was fresh, pure and defined, with good structure from the wood, but not a significant impact on flavour. (17/11/15)
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