WTN: Riffaulting my feathers

[Jenise]

2017 Sebastien Riffault Sancerre Les Quarterons Sauvignon Blanc
Ordered half a dozen of these after enjoying a bottle in Nashville a year ago this month. And 'enjoy' doesn't quite cover it--we were totally blown away by it. Per the somm, the winemaker is some kind of crazy genius type who pushes all the norms. In this case, overtly ripening the grapes, encouraging botrytis, and all that. Recent TNs on CT enthuse just as we did a year ago, so I know other bottles of the wine are still strutting their stuff but of the three opened so far, we've had two that were dull and oxidative and one that at least threw off a few sparks even if it didn't give all the fireworks I feel entitled to. Friday night's bottle was another dull, oxidative one. Really sad.

We also tasted this:

2018 Famiglia Nunzi Conti Chianti Classico Chianti Classico DOCG Sangiovese
Very light, not much substance or character. Even at $15, overpriced.

[David M. Bueker]

Damaged in shipping?

[Jenise]

Possibly. They came out of the distributor's Seattle warehouse, but god knows what happened before then. They're not cooked so much as very very tired, and they shouldn't be.

Isn't he one of the no SO2 natural wine guys. I would expect variability once you drink the wines outside of Sancerre!

[Jenise]

Beats me, Rahsaan. Here are two notes from others in the last six months--will clue you in on my expectations.

10/17/2020 - KAROLINE.PHILLIPS WROTE:97 Points
This wine is a truly ethereal experience and a gloriously atypical Sancerre. 20% botrytis, wild yeast, stainless steel. Captivating bouquet - think bunch of seasonal flowers steeped in spring water, mandarin rind, grapefruit, passion fruit, quince, ginger. Some richness too (beeswax), and something vegetal, wet wood after rain. Medium++ acid, on the palate dew and flower, mandarin, pear, strong flinty minerality. Absolutely endless finish, sharp acid peak to start followed by a slow, long, intense descent. Gentle and warm on the finish. Extraordinary.


7/27/2020 - ELYCOHN LIKES THIS WINE:94 Points
I’ve heard for years about the wildly extroverted and extra-ordinary Sancerre wines from Sebastien Riffault. His wines are an outlier of ripeness in a sea of lean high acid chalky juice. Rich with an amber glow.He picks his Sauvignon Blanc at the last minute to reach a level of ripeness you’d never expect could come from the tiny cold pocket of the Loire. Now I like both styles, but this is super fun and something completely new to me. Think juicy peach, fresh apricot, and bright yellow pineapple. But still with high acid - nothing flabby.

As often when I read about an unfamiliar producer, I looked up Sébastien Riffault in my French annual guides and drew a blank. There is, however, a Claude Riffault was gets a lot of praise in both the RVF and Bettane/Desseauve guides. Googling shows that Sébastien is a producer of natural wines, which ensures a certain cult following, but also probably means a lot of bottle variation and sensitivity to transport and storage conditions.

Ripe and even botrytised SB can be interesting (see the Cotat special bottlings), but that ripeness and low sulphur/"Natural" could be a crapshoot.