Community Tasting Note

jdesimone4 wrote:

Friday, November 27, 2009 - The sweat is pouring off the Sancerre and I can't wait to get my hands around the neck of that bottle. I'm watching the minute hand crawl towards seven p.m. and then I'm going to jab that bottle with my corkscrew and fill a large goblet with that glistening, golden Sauvignon Blanc...aaah. Sancerre. I even like the sound of that word.

I've had a lot of Sancerre's over the years and Serge Laporte's is really something special. All of you seem to agree because I have to keep making space for it in nearly all of my containers. I've drunk a lot of Laporte over the past twenty years, yes that's right, I've been drinking this vintage in and vintage out for twenty years!

It's not that I just stopped looking for a Sancerre after I fell for Laporte. No, I've probably had a hundred, but they never measure up. And on top of that, Laporte's Sancerre is actually reasonably priced.

The best Sancerre does not actually come from the hilltop Sancerre village. The wines with more character and complexity come from Chavignol. It's all about the exposure of the vineyards and their soil of Kimmerdgian marl.

There is a substantial silkiness to this wine - somehow more viscous than a lot of Sauvignon Blancs I taste. Laporte's Sancerre has that flavor of several different citrus fruits blended together, but this wine is also honeyed and minerally and far more pungent than the usual Sancerre.

The Laporte vineyards are located on several different beautifully exposed sites in Chavignol. Terroir is important in Sancerre. Laporte's vines are planted in parcels of caillottes, a stony limestone with little soil, and also in parcels of argile-calcaire which is clayey limestone.

Each soil type contributes to the wine: caillottes produce wines that are forwardly fruity with finesse, argile-calcaire creates wines that are structured and long-lived. It is the dream combination. Serge picks the grapes by hand and vinifies them parcel by parcel so the individual flavors and aromas are accentuated.

I like to drink this Sancerre young when its acidity is lively and fresh. Since Serge Laporte's Sancerre is richer and more intense than most, you can eat anything garlicky or Asian and grilled peppers and fennel are quite fantastic with this wine.

Bingo! That minute hand just hit the seven (okay, okay, five minutes to seven) and I am armed with my corkscrew heading toward that bottle of Sancerre. Care to join me? Cynthia Hurley

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