Sancerre is a

French wine French wine is produced throughout all of France in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to th ...

Appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

(AOC) for

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

produced in the area of Sancerre in the eastern part of the Loire valley, southeast of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Sauvignon blanc grape. However both ''Sancerre Rouge'' and ''Sancerre'' ''

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...

'' are made, representing approximately 20% and less than 1%, respectively, of Sancerre's total output. The basis for both the red and rosé is, as in nearby

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

and

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, the red grape

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

.J. Ray
Top 10 Loire wines
'' The Telegraph, January 28th, 2009. White Sancerre was one of the original AOCs awarded in 1936, with the same area being designated for red wines on 23 January 1959. The AOC area has expanded fourfold over the years, most recently on 18 March 1998. The town of Sancerre lies on an outcrop of the chalk that runs from the

White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, depo ...

down through the

and Chablis. A series of small valleys cut through the chalk, each with their own soils and

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

and

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

. In the east are the "flints" that make minerally, long-lived wines. Between the town and Verdigny the soil consists of marl and gravel – "les caillottes" – producing fruity, well balanced wines. And in the southwest, away from the river towards Menetou-Salon, the chalky "terres blanches" (white ground) produce weightier wines. Most – but not all – of the Sauvignon Blancs are

unoaked Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a vess ...

.H. Johnson & J. Robinson ''The World Atlas of Wine'' pp. 122–123, Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005 .T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pp. 211–212, Dorling Kindersley 2005 .

History

Typischer flughafensnack lachsstulle und sancerre

The area around Sancerre was likely first cultivated by the Romans, perhaps in the 1st century AD, though the exact date is unknown. The foundations of two separate Roman bridges across the Loire can be seen at the river village of St-Satur, the port for Sancerre, marking its ancient position along a major Roman route. The chalk hill outcrop was not only a distinctive landmark known in Roman times but it also fit the profile of

that was usually the first to be cultivated – it was near an important town and had easy access to a navigable river. Most importantly, however, the steep sloping hills could provide the grapes with enough direct sunlight and warmth to fully ripen while allowing cold air to flow off the slope and pool into the valleys below.H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' p. 92, Simon and Schuster 1989 . The region was historically linked to the

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...

, which may have played a role in the introduction of Pinot noir vines to this area. Sancerre's position as an administrative centre, and the large nearby cities of Orléans and

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

(which was the capital of the powerful Duke of Berry) ensured healthy local markets for the Pinot Noir and

Gamay Gamay () is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire_Valley_(wine), Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as lon ...

wines traditional in the area. Demand further increased with the coming of the railway from Paris. In the late 19th century the phylloxera epidemic devastated the area wiping out the majority of the region's vines. While some Pinot noir vines were retained most of the Gamay was lost.A. Domine (ed) ''Wine'' pp. 230-231 Ullmann Publishing 2008 . They were replanted with Sauvignon Blanc, partly because it grafted better onto the American rootstocks. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the wines gained a reputation in the Paris bistro scene as an easy drinking white wine equivalent to Beaujolais. In the late 1970s and 1980s, a wave of quality consciousness helped elevate the reputation of Sancerre as an elegant and food friendly white wine that became a popular feature on restaurant lists across the globe.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition p. 605, Oxford University Press 2006 .

Climate and geography

Sancerre is part of the "central vineyards" of the Loire Valley, so named not because they are in the center of the Loire but rather because they are nearly in the center of France. Together with neighboring Pouilly-Fumé, the region makes up the easternmost extension of the Loire Valley. The area is more than 300 miles (483 kilometers) from the Atlantic Coast and the Loire region of Muscadet, and is actually closer to the Champagne wine region than it is to the Middle Loire city of

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

and the Vouvray and Chinon AOCs. The distance from the Atlantic gives this region more of a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

than typical of the rest of the Loire with short, hot summers and long, cold winters that may extend the threat of

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

damage into early spring. The most dominating geographical influence of Sancerre is the nearby Loire river which flows northward past the city before it curves westward at Orleans and makes its path to the ocean. Located on the west bank of the river, Sancerre nearly faces the neighbouring wine region of Pouilly-Fumé on the east bank of the river just a few miles upstream towards the south. The region is located north of the city of

Nevers Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...

and 22 miles (35 kilometers) northeast of Bourges,P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' p. 104, Firefly Books 2004 . To the northeast, the Burgundian wine region of Chablis is only 60 miles (97 kilometers) away and shares the same out cropping of chalk soil that extends all the way to the White Cliffs of Dover in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

.E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan ''"French Wine for Dummies"'' pp. 194–196, Wiley Publishing 2001 . Most vineyards planted on the hills around Sancerre are on south facing slopes at altitudes between 655 and 1,310 feet (200–400 meters). The soils around the area can be roughly classified into three categories. The far western reaches heading towards Menetou-Salon have "white" soils with

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Around the village of Chavignol (considered a cru of Sancerre), the soil also includes some

Kimmeridgian In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 154.8 ±0.8 Ma and 149.2 ±0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian ...

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

. Wines from these western reaches tend to have more body and power in their flavour profile. Heading closer to the city of Sancerre the soil picks up more

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

mixed with the limestone and tends to produce more light bodied wines with delicate aroma. The third classification of soil is found around the city of Sancerre itself which includes many deposits of

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

(also known as ''silex'') that add distinctive

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

components. These wines tend to be the most aromatic with the longest aging potential of Sancerres.

Viticulture and winemaking

As a cool

region, one of the main viticultural threats in Sancerre is springtime frost. Throughout most of the

growing season A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. Whi ...

, the nearby river

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

to the east and forest to the west help moderate temperatures. Vine growers in the area tend to utilize cordon or single

Guyot In marine geology, a guyot (), also called a tablemount, is an isolated underwater volcanic mountain (seamount) with a flat top more than below the surface of the sea. The diameters of these flat summits can exceed . Guyots are most commonly fo ...

vine training and tailor their

canopy management In viticulture, the canopy of a grapevine includes the parts of the vine visible aboveground - the trunk, cordon, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit. The canopy plays a key role in light energy capture via photosynthesis, water use as regulated ...

techniques to whichever style of Sauvignon blanc they are looking to produce. Grassy,

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

styles of Sauvignon blanc are more prevalent with large, leafy canopies, while producers wishing to minimize these qualities may need wide, open canopies. In cooler vintages, the growers may need to take the additional measures of leaf plucking and de-budding in order to thin out the canopy and produce more concentrated grapes. Pinot noir from Sancerre

The age of vine can also contribute to how much grassy character the resultant wine may have as well as how early the grapes are harvested. Many of the phenolic compounds and aroma compounds, such as pyrazine, that contribute to strong grassy flavours are found in the grape skins, eventually breaking down as it goes through its ripening process. Grapes that are harvested before they are physiologically ripe may have more overt grassy notes. How the harvest is conducted will depend on where the vineyards are located. As the steep slopes on which many Sancerre vineyards are planted make mechanical harvesting difficult, many vineyards are picked by hand. However, in the flatter vineyards located more towards the west of the appellation, mechanical harvesting is starting to become more prevalent.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pp. 180–182, Abbeville Press 2003 . The focus of Sancerre winemakers is usually to express the pure fruit flavours of Sauvignon blanc and the natural ''

'' of the region with very little adjustments taking place during winemaking.K. MacNeil '' The Wine Bible'' pp. 271-273 Workman Publishing 2001 . Most Sancerre is produced without

malolactic fermentation Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which Tart (flavor), tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation ...

and little oak influences. However, since the late 20th century more producers have begun experimenting with some degree of oak

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

or aging. While most of the wines in this area are produced dry, in exceptionally warm and ripe years (such as 1989) some producers have made a late harvest wine. However, these are very rare.

Wines

Wine expert Tom Stevenson describes the classic profile of Sancerre blanc as bone dry, highly aromatic with intense flavors of

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es and gooseberries. He describes Sancerre rouge as being light to medium bodied with floral aromas and delicate flavors. The Pinot noir based rosés are described as dry and light bodied with

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

and

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

notes. Other wine experts such as

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

and Hugh Johnson note that in recent years overproduction has introduced a lot of variable quality with some Sancerre blancs producing flavor profiles that are not that much different from generic Sauvignon de Touraine from the Middle Loire, though this varies depending on the producer and overall quality of the vintage. The styles of Sancerre will vary somewhat depending on what part of the wine region in which the grapes are produced. Around the village of

Bué Bué () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher Departments of France, department, located in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region, France. Geography A winegrowing and farming village situated northeast of ...

in the western reaches of the AOC, the soils tend to have more clay and produce more full bodied and rounded wines. The village of Chavignol, located to the northwest just outside Sancerre, has light soils that include a mix of limestone and gravel which produce more perfumed wines. Near Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre there is more flint deposits and the wines take on more mineral and steely notes. Within Sancerre the three villages of Bué, Chavignol and Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre (and sometimes Verdigny) have become so widely associated with distinctive and high quality wines that they are often referred to as "crus" even though Sancerre is not officially classified like parts of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and

. Still, restaurants in Sancerre will often specify which wines on their wine list come from which of these three villages, while wine producers also try highlighting bottlings from these vineyards by including the village name on the

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

Comparisons to other Sauvignon blancs

Sancerre is often compared to neighboring Pouilly-Fumé which also specializes in 100% Sauvignon blanc wines, and while there are some differences, wine experts like Robinson, Johnson and Karen MacNeil note that only very experienced tasters can distinguish the differences in a blind tasting. Broadly speaking, Sancerre tends to have a fuller body with more pronounced aromas, while Pouilly-Fumé wines are more perfumed. However, both wines have naturally high

acidity An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

and the potential to exhibit the minerally, flinty notes described as ''pierre à fusil'' or gunflint, as well as

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

and spicy notes. Similarly Sancerre is compared to Sauvignon blancs produced around the globe. According to Master of wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Sancerre tends to be less herbaceous and grassy than Sauvignon blancs from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and the Alto-Adige and

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

region of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Compared to Sauvignon blanc grown in Bordeaux, which are often blended with Semillon, Sancerre can be both more concentrated with more racy acidity. When contrasted with

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

examples from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Washington,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Sancerre tends to exhibit more assertive mineral flavours.

Appellation details

In 2006, the Sancerre AOC included . The AOC covers the communes of Bannay, Bué, Crézancy, Menetou-Râtel, Ménétréol, Montigny, Saint-Satur, Sainte-Gemme, Sancerre, Sury-en-Vaux, Thauvenay, Veaugues, Verdigny and Vinon. Within the appellation there are several highly regarded vineyards, such as the Clos de la Poussie, Chêne Marchand, and Le Grand Chemarin, but since the mid-1990s local regulations have prohibited producers from making

vineyard designated wine A vineyard designated wine is a wine produced from the product of a single vineyard with that vineyard's name appearing on the wine label. Throughout the history of winemaking and viticulture, the differences in quality between one plot of land ...

s in Sancerre. Some producers have attempted to get around this regulation by abbreviating the name of the vineyard as part of a ''

cuvée ''Cuvée''Or Cuvee on some English-language labels. () is a French wine term that derives from ''cuve'', meaning vat or tank.J. Robinson (ed), ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'', Third Edition, p. 218, Oxford University Press 2006, winepros.com. ...

'' designation such as Jean-Max Roger's bottling of ''Sancerre Cuvée GC'' from the Le Grand Chemarin vineyard. According to AOC regulations, only Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir are permitted as AOC classified Sancerre wine. While Sauvignon blanc represents the vast majority of the area's production, Pinot noir can account for anywhere from one-fifth to one-sixth of annual production depending on the vintage. The yields of Sancerre blanc are limited to a maximum of 60 hectoliters per hectare while Sancerre rouge and rose are restricted to maximum yields of 55 hl/ha. The minimum alcohol content of Sancerre blanc is 10.5% alcohol per volume while Sancerre rouge and rosé must maintain a minimum alcohol level of 10%. Wines made outside these AOC regulations must be declassified from AOC wines to '' vin de pays'' table wine such as Vin de Pays du Jardin de France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sancerre (Wine) Loire AOCs