Sometimes the best-placed plans of mice and men can go astray.
Many years ago on our first visit to the the beautiful hilltop town of Sancerre, my former business partner and I decided to check in to the Panoramic Hotel right in the centre of the town and on top of the hill. As its name suggests, the hotel boasts wonderful views of the vineyards and when on checking in, we were asked if we would like to pay a few francs more for a room with a vineyard vista, we readily agreed. The thought of a morning croissant and coffee on the balcony overlooking some of the most famous vineyards in the Loire would be the icing on a very beautiful cake. Except that as dawn broke we awoke not to sun-drenched vines but a thick blanket of fog. We could hardly make out the end of our balcony let alone any vines. Money not well spent.
Please don’t let that you put you off though. Sancerre is a gloriously beautiful place to visit, even if you are not a wine buff – it was voted France’s favourite village in 2021. Many of the wood-shuttered stone-built houses date back to medieval times, and you get the impression that little has changed in the past 100 years. This is bucolic France at its best.
Sancerre is on the west bank of the Loire and across the river is the town of Pouilly sur Loire, home to the wine Pouilly-Fume. The bridge that joins the two marks the central part of the Loire’s journey from the south to its Atlantic mouth in Nantes.
Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume can be found on wine lists throughout the world and I know as a wine merchant that these are two of the easiest wines in the whole of France to sell.
Unlike Saumur, Chinon, Vouvray and Anjou further west though, this is not cabernet franc or chenin blanc country. In Sancerre and Pouilly just one grape dominates – sauvignon blanc with reds and pinks being made from the pinot noir grape.
Some 70% of production is white and while you can get white, pink and red Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume has to, by law, be made from sauvignon blanc. A little white Pouilly is made from the chasselas grape but this has to be sold as Pouilly-sur-Loire. A pleasant enough dry white to sample if you are in the area but hardly world-beating.
One thing you will notice is that little is made of the grape varieties – you will rarely find them mentioned on the label. This is because the growers are far more interested in showing the terroir (the micro-climate in which the vines were grown) than in the characteristics of the variety. Many growers make different blends according to the soil in which they are grown.
The wines are far more subtle and complex than a sauvignon blanc grown in New Zealand or South Africa say – there is none of the pungent gooseberry or elderflower fruit of their New World cousins. Open a bottle of Sancerre and one of Marlborough sauvignon blanc and it’s hard to believe they are made from the same grape variety.
If anything Sancerre tends to be a little fruitier and open than Pouilly-Fume which often has a slightly smoky edge to it. As a wine writer once said: ‘Pouilly-Fume may be considered a lady, Sancerre a bit of a tart – it’s charms are a little more obvious.'
There are three main soil types in the region – clay, chalk and flint – and you will often find these indicated on the label, as the style of the wines will differ. Wines from vines grown in chalk or limestone will be a little more open when young than those grown in flint (silex) which need a few years under their belt to show at their best.
Although there are no official grand crus in either appellation, there are a number of areas with particular characteristics. I have always enjoyed Sancerre from growers in the village of Bue whose wines tend to be a little richer and plumper than other areas. The village of Chavignol is worth searching out too, not only for the quality of its wines (the Mont Damnes and Col de Beaujeau slopes are here and produce wonderful wine) but for the quality of its goats cheese – Crottin de Chavignol.
I am not normally a huge fan of goats' cheese but a salad of warm Crottin de Chavignol served with a glass of Chavignol-based Sancerre was one of those food and wine marriages made in heaven.
One of Chavignol’s most famous families are the Bourgeois whose wines I helped to sell for many years. They not only make great wines but run a hotel in the village with an excellent restaurant, La Cote des Mont Damnes – chef Jean-Marc Bourgeois trained in three Michelin starred restaurants and it shows. The wine list allows you to try not only the Bourgeois’ own wines but some of the most highly regarded names in the region.
Red Sancerre used to be very hit and miss in quality – the village was near the most northerly limit for pinot noir to ripen properly and in cooler years it was often pale and lacking in fruit.
Climate change has made this less of a problem than in the past and red Sancerre is now worth seeking out in the summer when it is best served cool. Try it with some charcuterie or creamy chicken dishes. Pink Sancerre always tugs my heart strings as it was the very first wine I helped to buy professionally and set me off on my wine adventure – expect a dry gentle pink wine with red fruits and a crisp finish – excellent on its own or with delicate fish dishes.
If you don’t have much time to visit producers, check out two spots in the village – the Maison de Sancerre has a shop with a terrace on which you can sample a glass or two – on a Friday with a few winemakers in attendance. There is also a wine bar called La Banque as well as Vignerons La Cave an independent wine shop set up by four growers.
Pouilly-sur-Loire is worth calling into if you want to visit a few producers but it is a much less charming place to holiday in than Sancerre – the A77 autoroute thunders through. Much better to base yourself in Sancerre and take a day trip across the river.
When checking into your hotel though, make sure you check the weather forecast first. You could save yourself a euro or two.
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