The Great French Wines: SANCERRE

Hi everybody, this is Agnes from No Sediment and today let's talk about perfumes, sunset whites and fashionable reds and roses. I consider sunset to be one of the classic French wine appellations offering great quality. However, what sets it apart from other classic French wine appellations offering great quality is that you don't need to cellar this wine in order to enjoy it. And while I do believe that sunset can age, and I will talk about it a bit later, it offers great pleasure when consumed young. It has lovely perfume of fresh lemons, white blossom and hints of freshly cut grass, crisp mouth-watering acidity and pleasant citrus fruit driven aftertaste. Sunset is actually a relatively small wine appellation covering just around 3 000 hectares of vineyards that are located in Loire Valley, way inland and might as well be one of the most famous Loire Valley wines. Because these vineyards are located quite away from influence of the ocean or any large body of water, the climate here is continental, thus experiences significant temperature differences between summer and winter. In some ways, sunset is closer to Chablis Burgundy than other notable Loire appellations, especially so if we're talking about soils, as here we can also find the Cimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone strongly linked to Chablis wine region. But sunset does not have a specific hierarchy system that rates its vineyards as we see in Chablis and rest of the Burgundy. And while many wines are blends of several vineyards, there are increasingly more single vineyards appearing on the label. These wines are often associated with higher quality, but they can also be great for seeing the difference between wine styles produced on different terroirs of sunset. Most famous wines of sunset are definitely those made of Sauvignon Blanc grapes. They make beautifully perfumed wines here with distinct minerality in terms of crushed oyster shells, wet stones, and refreshing acidity. While white are the dominant style of sunset, these wines can actually be pink and red in color as well. Reds must be made from Pinot Noir and could offer great value for those who enjoy Burgundy, although I find these wines to be lighter in style most of the time. Historically, Pinot Noir was more important grape variety here than Sauvignon Blanc was, and many documents and notes praise it. Unfortunately, after the devastation of phylloxera, it was never replanted to the same extent. Likewise, pink wines must also be made from Pinot Noir grape, and most of them offer great refreshment during the warm summer months. As I mentioned before, white sunset must be made from Sauvignon Blanc grape, and many consider sunset to be the ultimate expression of this grape. Depending on the producer and where the grapes are grown, sunset can be lighter in body, offering refreshment on the palate and a typical nose of fresh citrus fruit and occasional nettle. But it can also be fuller and richer in body, offering great structure mixed with ripe yellow apples, pears, and hints of mango peel. What's interesting to me is that sunset can stretch these traditional styles, offering variation of orange wine, hints of botrytis, and even playing with residual sugar. I would also like to note that when I first got into wine, it was taught to me that sunset should be enjoyed as fresh and young as possible, that Sauvignon Blanc did not age well and would quickly lose its bright fruit and floral aroma if kept in the bottle longer than few years. However, lately more and more wine critics and journalists note that this is not actually the case. While there are easy-drinking, fresh, and zesty sunset wines available, there are also great producers making exceptional wines that can be enjoyed young, but also can easily be aged in cellars to offer great flavor depth years later. And as mentioned before, pink and red sunset must be made from Pinot Noir grapes. While most rosés will be fresh and bright fruit-driven, made for immediate appeal, red wines are slowly changing from light-bodied and fruity towards more structured and concentrating, offering depth of flavors, though not all are there yet. Rarely ever will these wines have significant oak influence, and on those rare occasions when sunset is aged in oak, it will almost certainly be large and neutral, allowing fruit and terroir to shine. In my opinion, sunset in form of Sauvignon Blanc is quite versatile with food. The lighter and crisper styles well accompany fresh green salads in olive oil and lemon dressings. The riper ones will offer perfect zestiness to variety of seafood and freshwater fishes. You can even slurp oysters with a glass of sunset. But what is more important, don't forget to enjoy it with good quality local goat cheese, which here you will find a great variety to choose from. For me, a glass of refreshing sunset and fresh goat cheese has always been one of my favorite food and wine pairings. One of my favorites for quite a while has been Domaine Vacheron. They offer great regional sunset and amazing single vineyards. Widely regarded by many are Alphonse Melot, Henri Bourgeois, and dear to me Gerard Boulet. Dare I say, unique styles of sunset are offered by Francois Cotat, always ripe and sometimes even playing with residual sugar. Of course, there are many more producers offering freshness and zinginess that are worth trying. I mentioned in this video another great French winemaking region, Chablis, and here is my video about it.