Please welcome Chris Miller, MS, to SommSelect. He was the ‘Best Young Sommelier in the World’ in 2008; a sommelier at Canlis in Seattle and then wine director at Spago in Beverly Hills for many years; and has 15 harvests under his belt as a winemaker. He now owns Seabold Cellars in Monterey, CA. I shared one of the greatest days of my life with Chris when we passed the Master Sommelier exam on the same day in 2012. We are incredibly honored to have such a talent join our team. — Ian Cauble
Even the most devout wine collectors usually aren’t aware that red wine production dominated the Sancerre region for its first 700 years, until the late 19th century scourge known as phylloxera wiped out vineyards across Europe. Today, Pinot Noir makes up a scant 10% of plantings, yet few vignerons have “the right touch” with the grape as do cousins Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent Vacheron. And it shows, year in and year out—how talented they are, and how much potential the region holds for serious red wine production. When the SommSelect crew asked if I’d be interested in giving my take on this wine, I jumped at the opportunity; as a Pinot Noir producer as well as a sommelier, I’d place this wine among the world’s benchmarks for the variety. That it remains so reasonably priced, given Vacheron’s deserved place among the elite, is a delicious bonus. I couldn’t ask for a better wine to start with as a contributor to SommSelect!
A common refrain you hear from great winegrowers is that you plant vineyards not for yourself, but for your children. Established in 1900, the third generation now oversees its 50 hectares of vines across the top climats of Sancerre, 11 ha of which are dedicated to Pinot Noir. Most of the vines cling to hillsides composed of chalk and flint (a unique regional composition going under the local silex moniker) and range from 30 to 50 years of age. The vineyards have been certified organic and biodynamic since the early 2000s; only natural compost fertilizers are utilized, and no synthetic materials are allowed inside the vineyards. These old vines eek out mineral-laden grapes that teeter-totter on the fulcrum of ripeness, just a few hours west of Burgundy.
Come harvest, all grapes are hand-harvested and brought into the cellar for a gentle maceration. Natural yeast fermentation takes place in wooden vats and stainless steel, before settling into large foudre and oak barriques—some as old as the Domaine itself. The wines go into the bottle unfined, unfiltered, and full of life. Not much else to be said about the winemaking, as all the real work has already been done the previous 11 months leading up to harvest.
There’s a subtle but unmistakable intensity here: smiling eyes across a crowded room, never shying from your gaze. Magenta-tinged bright ruby, fading to a translucent silver at the rim. A couple of hours in the decanter will coax out a wide fruit spectrum: pomegranate seeds will grow into lingonberries and just-sweet red plums, before settling into crushed mulberries. Aeration will transform a refreshing hyssop and roasted fennel note into lilac and pink peppercorns, with surprising bass notes of black tea and orange oil. For those seeking a journey, this wine will twist and turn with you for hours in the glass. Patience is a virtue with this wine, and for those that can resist popping all their corks in the first week, they will be rewarded. The sneaky, pleasantly integrated tannin here dovetails with refreshing acidity, providing both youthful vigor as well as a capacity to age.
Bright and fresh in its youth, 2+ hours of decanting (or 3-5 years in the cellar) will reward your patience. Serve at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems with prosciutto-wrapped roast quail, and stay tuned for more selections from me in the coming months (and check out
this demo I did with SommSelect’s David Lynch at the Napa Valley Film festival…we had a lot of fun geeking out).
