Vincent Pinard is a young vigneron with about 15 hectares of vines around Bué just southwest of Sancerre. I'm not that familiar with the wines although I have tasted the Nuance (fermented in new, 1- and 2-year old barrels) and Harmonie (fermented in new oak - and boy did it show it!) with Charles Sydney (a local courtier) last year, both in the 2008 vintage. They were both very promising young wines, and ever since I've been thinking of revisiting the domaine in some way. So I recently popped these two to do just that. A slightly different line-up this time though; both are from 2007, first the steel-fermented Florés and then the aforementioned oak-fermented Nuance.
Vincent Pinard Sancerre Florés 2007: Fermented in steel. This wine has quite a pale hue in the glass. The nose has some appeal, showing a very clean style with crisp fruit, rather greengagey, a crunchy greenness with just a hint of lemon cream. There follows an attractive, broad, textured, barley-tinged palate, full and enticing with plenty of flavour. It has a decent presence here, but it is rather abruptly terminated in a short finish. A very capable food wine though, with a very firm, solid, well defined substance and its good acidity; it would be just fine with some smoked fish. 16/20
Vincent Pinard Sancerre Nuance 2007: Fermented in a mix of new and used oak. A pale, pale lemon-gold wine here. The nose is vibrant and yet also rich, with rather autumnal fruits, dried and a little honeyed, but always very open and expressive. In a similar fashion the palate is rich and full, and very structured, with well-defined and rather firm, punchy, aromatic dried stone fruits twisted with a little fennel, backed up by a good acidity and more than a little grip. Some of these characteristics seem oak derived, which has a fine and grainy presence at first, but which seems more integrated and composed with time. Broad, almost gritty, stylish, with a savoury substance and a very full, firm, dessert-apple acidity. Very good indeed. 17.5+/20