With the exquisite detail and perfect provenance of this afternoon’s wine, we are no longer reflecting on 2017. Instead, we’re looking forward with excitement to 2018. I’ve said before that the difference between a merely good dinner and a truly outstanding one is often dictated by the evening’s first wine.
In this regard, few secret weapons are as reliably lethal as Lucien Crochet’s world-renowned Sancerre standard-bearer, “La Chêne Marchand.” This bottle comes from one of Sancerre’s most historic families and greatest single vineyards—and, in 2015, an immensely powerful and expressive vintage. This wine’s precise minerality, invigorating brightness, and prismatic, Grand Cru Chablis-like structure make for a brilliant introduction to your next important meal—and to a truly happy new year. So, if you’re looking for the perfect bottle to welcome an uplifting and prosperous 2018, this is it!
The 2015 vintage was a warm and generous one that produced wines as bold and impressive in Sancerre as the rest of France. The vintage’s signature is immediately identifiable in the vivid fruit, mouth-filling depth and unusually long finish of Crochet’s “La Chêne Marchand.” This wine opens the show with textbook bright lime and green apple acidity, honeysuckle and green apple on the nose, then a refreshingly thirst-quenching finish. Still, the story quickly becomes more complex with exotic secondary notes of apple blossom, chrysanthemum tea, grapefruit pith, and a fine filigree of toasted bread and raw honey. I often think of Lucien Crochet as taking a ‘Burgundian’ approach to Sancerre and this wine’s elegance and complexity is a perfect illustration of that idea. This is a refined, “grown up” Sancerre. If enjoying in the next 2-3 years, decant for one hour and serve at 55 degrees in large Burgundy stems. This is squeaky-clean wine, and the perfect companion to a healthful dish like Salmon Poke. Crochet has a long track record of producing Sancerre whites that evolve gorgeously for decades, but my guess is that with this 2015 vintage, its “second wind” will come sooner, probably at 8-10 years. So, while those who cellar a few bottles will certainly be rewarded in the medium term, this is a wine which brings immense energy and optimism to your life today!