Domaine Vacheron, 2018 Update
The name of Vacheron is one of the most renowned in the Sancerre appellation, the family having been turning out top quality wines here for decades. It was one of the domaines I visited on my first ever trip to the region, the domaine cuvée – at that time the only white wine they were producing – a regular feature of my cellar in the years that followed. Even so, in more recent times the family have raised their game, being early converts to biodynamic viticulture in Sancerre, and they have been instrumental in developing the concept of individual terroirs in the region, in the style of the Côte d’Or, rather than blending the entire harvest in a homogenised, appellation-wide cuvée.
For this reason I try (and usually succeed) to check in on the latest releases from this domaine at some point during the year. The wines I report on here were tasted with Jean-Dominique Vacheron in early 2018.
The Wines
Jean-Dominique (pictured) poured a selection of white wines largely from the 2016 vintage, followed by a trio of reds from three different vintages. We kicked off with three single-vineyard whites, all of which showed the incisive tension that is the Vacheron trademark. The 2016 Les Romains, from flint, and the 2016 Le Paradis and 2016 Guigne-Chèvres, from limestone, all showed a very similar level of quality, the first two a touch more herbal in style, while the latter impressed with a fresh and floral definition. A little step up in the same vintage was the 2016 Le Pavé, from vines on a Cretaceous marl. Those who insist on the best, however, will want to see out the 2015 L’Enclos des Remparts. Despite this cuvée originating from a warmer vintage it has fantastic precision and poise, and it deserves a place alongside some of the greatest wines of the region in the Sancerre hall of fame. There is a problem though; with only 600 bottles in this vintage, both availability and price may be a stumbling block.
