Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre Blanc “Chambrates”
Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre Blanc “Chambrates”

Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre Blanc “Chambrates”

Loire Valley, France 2021 (750mL)
Regular price$74.00
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Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre Blanc “Chambrates”

Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique were relatively early adopters of biodynamic viticulture, having been certified back in 2005, and their natural approach is reflected in the purity and pulsating energy of their wines. They plow their soils, fertilize with natural compost, plant cover crops between the rows of vines, and hand-harvest much smaller yields than their neighbors. The pristine grapes are gently pressed then fermented with only natural yeasts in open-top wooden fermenters, and when fermentation is complete, the Chambrates is racked (transferred to another vessel) and then returned to those same barrels for a year of aging before bottling.

For those of you who may have snatched up one of Vacheron’s other single-vineyard wines (like the finely chiseled “Le Paradis” bottling), Chambrates is considered the broadest, most textured wine in the bunch. It still hums with Vacheron’s trademark mineral tension, but there’s a muscularity to it that owes at least in part to the full-south exposure of the site. This is high-impact white wine that is built to age: In the glass, it’s a classic straw-yellow with hints of green at the rim, leaping from the glass and grabbing you by the lapels with scents of white grapefruit, tangerine, lemon curd, fresh ginger, chopped green herbs, crushed chalk, and a touch of warm spice. It is medium-plus in body, with a taut structure right now—but after a 30- to 45-minute decant, its layers start to unravel and a tsunami of flavor and aroma floods the senses.



Domaine Vacheron, Sancerre Blanc “Chambrates”
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France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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