2007 Domaine des Caves du Prieuré Sancerre Les Chassenoys

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/24/2008, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (CHASSENOYS Sancerre Prieure) 2007 Sancerre Dear Friends, To start the day, we have a gorgeous bottle of 2007 Sancerre at a steal of a price - what would have been closer to $25 a few weeks ago (even from us) but the Euro drop has an opportunity in hand if we act this morning. Domaine des Caves du Prieure remains in very limited distribution in the US but that is where you gain. Without multiple layers of importation and handling, the prices are some of the lowest for their level in Sancerre. If you are looking for value but still wish for the rarest examples (that will not be on everyone's diner table), this wine is a great buy. I've whittled our margin down to the lowest level possible and for many of our more ardent terroir aficionados, the 2007 Les Chassenoys will be a contender for find of the year - Sancerre this reflective does not cost so little anymore, especially in 2007 (think of this as Prieure's Clos Beaujeu or even their Comtesse ). If you grabbed the 2007 Vrignaud Fourchaume last week (at the same price), you should strongly consider this. The Les Chassenoys bottling is their "grand cru" wine, culled from very specific plots of the oldest vines and it shows it with a lilting, mineral drenched character that only comes form the confluence of vintage and soil. The 2005 version of this wine was extremely popular as well - it was one of the more requested re-order wines last summer. If you can imagine the 2005 with even more filigreed minerality and a finer, taut and stony character, that would be the 2007 - one of the stars of a great classic vintage. As mentioned above, if you are into 2007 Chablis, you will be a big fan of this wine as the same nervous character that is pervasive in Chablis is present in 2007 Sancerre as well (I've tasted over 40 examples of the 2007 Sancerre vintage to this point and nearly every wine has been of very high order - albeit more expensive than I would like to see). VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as a top value from an appellation that has few examples of this ilk left under $20. ONLY 50 cases for the entire US (mostly for restaurants - very little for retail) (This is not the regular 2007 Caves du Prieure Sancerre - it pales next to the Chassenoys) 2007 Domaine des Caves du Prieure Sancerre "Les Chassenoys" Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Loire9240