Centre-Loire Flashcards
Sancerre AOP covers roughly how many hectares of vineyards and is located on which side of the Loire river?
It covers just shy of 3 000 ha of vineyards on the west (left) bank of the Loire river.
What was the Sauvignon Blanc grape referred to as when first recorded as growing in Sancerre and Pouilly in 1783?
Sauvignon Fumé
Following phylloxera, large swaths of the vineyard area were replanted with which 2 grape varieties in Sancerre?
Chasselas (a lucrative table grape that was much desired in Paris)
Gamay
When was Sancerre granted official appellation status and for which grape exclusively?
1936 and exclusively for Sauvignon Blanc (better quality wine than Chasselas)
When did red and rosé wines made solely from Pinot Noir were incorporated into the Sancerre appellation?
1959
Where does Sancerre’s main divide (fault lines/”failles géologiques”) runs through and how are the terroirs different on both sides of it?
The Sancerre and Thauvenay fault lines (failles) run north-south just west of Sancerre.
The land on the eastern side of the faults (St-Satur, Sancerre, Monétréol-sous-Sancerre, Thauvenay) cascading toward the river, with flinty clay being the mail soil type here.
On the western side of the faults, the vineyards sit at around 200 to 300m on a rolling landscape with many different exposures with the hills here revealing layers of sedimentary rock with the bedrock generally being Jurassic limestone.
What are considered to be Sancerre’s 3 main soil types?
- “Terres blanches” AKA Kimmeridgian marls (clay+limestone) (named for the white appearance of the soils in the summer sunshine)
- “Caillottes” (or “griottes”) AKA limestone pebbles of differing sizes
- “Silex”, rich in flint
How do the vines grown out of “terres blanches” make wines that are different then those grown out of “caillotes”?
“Terres blanches” are relatively cool, and grapes take longer to ripen on these soils than on caillottes, so the Kimmeridgian marl tends to be more complex and fuller bodied, while “caillottes” typically produce more open, fruity wines.
Where are silex soils most commonly found in Sancerre AOP?
On the eastern slopes of Sancerre and the Sancerre fault, cascading east towards the river.
What style of wines do Silex soils generally yield in Sancerre?
Silex generally yields powerful, firm, and even lightly bitter styles.
How many lieux-dits are there approximately in Sancerre AOP?
400
What is the percentage breakdown in Sancerre by category of wine (white, red, rosé) produced?
White 85%
Red 10%
Rosé 5%
What was the main grape planted in Sancerre before the phylloxera and in which famous modern wine guide was this stated?
Pinot noir
In 1816, the Paris wine merchant André Jullien published Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, arguably the first modern wine guide, and noted that Sancerre “is surrounded by vineyards that produce [red] wines with good color, moderate alcohol and a good taste.”
What is the name of Alphonse Mellot’s serious rosé Sancerre cuvée?
Vingt Mille Pieds Sous Sancerre
(made from vines planted at the incredibly high density of 20,000 vines per hectare)
Name some of Sancerre’s most renowned producers.
Domaine Vacheron
François Cotat
Pascal Cotat
Alphonse Mellot
Joseph Mellot
Domaine Vincent Pinard
Pascal Jolivet
Henri Bourgeois
Domaine Claude Riffault
Château de Sancerre
Gérard Boulay
Domaine Delaporte
Domaine Paul Prieur
Domaine Fouassier
What are Chavignol’s 3 top single-vineyards?
Les Monts Damnés (La Côte des MD)
Cul de Beaujeu (Clos de Beaujeu)
La Grande Côte (La Côte)
Name some of Sancerre’s most known lieux-dits (excluding Chavignol’s 3 top sites).
Belle Dame
Le Paradis
Les Romains
Chêne Marchand
Les Vacherons
Sous le bois
Les Chasseignes
Can Pouilly-Fumé AOP produce red and rosé wines alongside whites?
No. Pouilly-Fumé focuses exclusively on still, dry white wines produced from Sauvignon Blanc.
There are 7 villages within Pouilly-Fumé’s borders, including Pouilly and the highest point, Saint-Andelain, which is home to which famous producer?
Domaine Didier Dagueneau
When has Domaine Didier Dagueneau started to label its wines as Vin de France?
Since the 2017 vintage
Where does the name Pouilly-Fumé comes from?
The name Pouilly-Fumé results from Sauvignon Blanc’s historic local name, Blanc Fumé de Pouilly, literally, “smoked white of Pouilly.” The name was given not because of the wine’s flavor but because the berries developed a harmless, smoke-colored bloom at maturity.
What is the soil type found around the high village of Saint-Andelin in Pouilly-Fumé?
Around the village of Saint-Andelain, home to Dagueneau’s famed Silex cuvée, the soil composition is predominantly flint-clay.
What are the soils like around the unassuming village of Pouilly-sur-Loire?
Clay-limestone Kimmeridgian marls peppered with oyster shells are common here. In these cooler soils, grapes ripen later and yield rounded, fuller-bodied wines that are typically longer lived.
What are the vineyards in the northeast of Pouilly-Fumé more likely to be planted on?
Limestone pebbles known as “caillottes”, make earlier-drinking, fruiter wines, as in Sancerre.
