WTN: Thomas-Labaille Chavignol Sancerre Les Monts Damnés Loire France.

Thomas-Labaille Chavignol Sancerre Les Monts Damnés Loire Valley France 2005. 12.5% alcohol. Chambers Street Wines; $21.99. Asimov/Lyle bottle. Selected by Louis/Dressner, imported by LDM Wines, Inc., New York NY.

Pale yellow color, clear hue, elusive peach, pear and apple aromas, excellent fruit tastes with a bit of mineral and chalk, and hints of mint, very good acidity, medium mouth feel, relatively long finish. Just delicious. 4*+.

Notes:

100% Sauvignon Blanc.

"Chavignol is the best wine I have drunk. If all the people of my kingdom were to drink it, there would be no more religious wars." Henri IV about a Sancerre; quoted in A Wine and Food Guide to the Loire, Jacqueline Friedrich.

Wine News: "From its birthplace in France, the two primary styles of Sauvignon - ripe and somewhat tropical in Bordeaux and grassy and minerally fresh in Sancerre - have long been the reference points for the world's other top-notch production areas.... There is no mistaking the pungency of a Kiwi version, while California has largely shed excess oak, revealing generously fruited wines that could only achieve their hallmark ripeness in the Golden State. And Italy's little-known - even within Italy - versions from the northeast fall comfortably between the extremes. Perhaps the best attribute that Sauvignon Blanc shares wherever it is found is its wallet friendliness: With some notable exceptions - mostly in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley - the varietal is eminently affordable, usually ranging from about $15 to $30 per bottle."

Robert Parker: "Sancerre's success is justifiable in view of the number of high quality producers in this region. The only legitimate concern about Sancerre is the high price this wine fetches. The steep slopes of chalk and flint that surround Sancerre's best villages - Bue, Chavignon, and Verdigny - are undoubtedly responsible for the flinty, subtle, earthy character evident in so many of the top wines.... White Sancerre and the limited quantities of roses should be drunk within 2-3 years of the vintage, although some can last longer."

Jay McInerney: He has a writer's ear for the names of wines. For example, he describes how "gewürz" means "spice" and "Côte-Rôtie" "roasted". "I was considering these semiotic mysteries recently over a glass of Sancerre: To me the hissing double S sounds conjure the citric zing of the wine on the tongue, whereas its neighbor across the Loire, Pouilly-Fumé, is often a little rounder and deeper, likes its vowels and consonants." And somehow his words often describe a wine in both meaning and sound: "If it's red, French, costs too much, and tastes like the water that left in the vase after the flowers have died and rotted, it's probably Burgundy. Burgundy is to wine what the Balkans are to geopolitics. It's impossible to figure out." New York Times Book Review section.

Check out Gary on Wine Library, episode 202. http://winelibrary.com/reviewwine.asp?item=31067

Regards, Bob

Hi Bob,

I really enjoyed the 2005 Labaille too. This is another of those young Loires that really opens up with a few hours of air. I think the 2005 was much fuller and riper than the 2004 version, but with better acidity than the 2003. Should be interesting with a few years of bottle age, if I can keep my hands off them.

Thanks for all the interesting notes lately.

Marc

... and hints of mint ...

Six or seven years ago, I attended a Sauvignon Blanc tasting that featured samples from CA, NZ and France. I was sure I tasted hints of mint in one of those wines from France, and it really amazed me. It is a fascinating addition to the taste profile of these wines.

-- Clark

Thanks Marc. I've decided to post pretty much what I put in my own wine diary; in the past I thought the background stuff that I found so fascinating wouldn't interest more advanced wine lovers.

Now, I'll warn folks with Notes: that they don't need to read any further. I like the style for my own edification, and frankly I've cobbled the approach 100% from Robin Garr, who is a master at capturing the essence of a wine, and also placing it in its context.

***

I worried a bit about what I would eat with this wine, and found this extract from Hotchner's book which gave me an inkling:

"We had eaten lunch at the Course restaurant: Belon oysters, omelette with ham and fine herbs, cooked endives, Ponte-lEvéque cheese and cold Sancerre wine. We were not betting the seventh race and Ernest was leaning forward, a pair of rented binoculars swinging from his neck, watching the horses slowly serpentine onto the track from the paddock."

From Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir, by A. E. Hotchner.

Publisher's Note: They were friends, Ernest Hemingway and A. E. Hotchner. Between 1948 and 1961, they traveled together from New York to Paris to Spain, they fished the waters off Cuba, they hunted in Idaho, they ran with the bulls in Pamplona. And everywhere they talked. For fourteen years Hotchner and Hemingway shared a conversation. In it Hemingway reminisced about his childhood, recalled the Paris literary scene in the twenties, remembered his early years as a writer, recounted the real events that lay behind his fiction. And Hotchner took it down. His notes on the many occasions he spent with his friend Papa - in Venice and Rome, in Key West, on the Riviera, in Ketchum (Idaho), where Hemingway died by his own hand in 1961 - provide the material for this utterly truthful, profoundly compassionate bestselling memoir of the Nobel and Pulitzer prizewinning author. What emerges is an extraordinary portrait of a great writer who had, and determined, the time of his life.

Regards, Bob

Great notes, Bob! Very interesting to me to also read what people have said of Sauvignon Blanc. One of the most enjoyable I have had was of Jermann from Northeast Italy.

Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow night at La Grolla in NYC!

Here is a great food match my wife and I had recently with a Sancerre.

We made a salad from the following: shaved fennel, arugula, and some young chevre cheese that marinated a couple of days in olive oil, fresh herbs (rosemary and thyme) and peppercorns. The chevre was rolled in panko and baked, and served in the salad with the greens and the fennel. We dressed it with good olive oil and salt only. It helps to put the sliced goat cheese in the freezer for an hour or so before the oven.

This was one of those wine food combos that really did more than just compliment, but accentuated some things in both the wine and the food. The chevre is an obvious match, with the acidity washing the richness of the cheese, but the fennel highlighted the herbal side of the wine as did the spicy arugula.

Papa's feast sounded better, hard to go wrong with fresh oysters, but the salad was pretty good.

Another thing that I like with Sancerre is cilantro. Last week we had some green rice made with cilantro and mild roasted chilis, garlic, and onion. A little spicy, but the Sancerre held its own.

Marc,

Your food pairings sound so delicious! I have a question - what is "panko"? Never heard of it. No lemon juice or not even a splash of vinegar?

I have a question - what is "panko"?

Japanese flour/bread crumbs used for tempura. Finer than the typical Western equivalent.

Paulo -
OK, maybe a tiny splash of vinegar, but mostly olive oil.

Panko is Japanese style breadcrumbs. Like what Rahsaan said except the panko we use has a coarser texture, and better crunch than regular breadcrumbs. Very good for pan fried oysters.

I had a lot of cilantro this year, as it came up from last years seeds in the garden. I will post the recipe for arroz verde, it was really good.

Paulo, if you stop in Astor wines in NYC, try the Sella wines. A great version of Nebbiolo from northern part of Piedmonte, they have much more digestible tannins than the Barolos.

Best,
Marc

Thanks, Rahsaan!

Interesting - never heard of "panko", then I rarely eat Japanese as I am not a sushi fan, but enjoy tempura, so maybe I have had it without being aware.

I will definitely check out Sella wines later today at the store, Marc!

Interesting - never heard of "panko", then I rarely eat Japanese as I am not a sushi fan

But sushi is only one tiny slice of Japanese cuisine. Please do explore! Although you may not be able to take the Loire reds and the teroldegos with you, as gentler white wines or sparklers are more often a good match. And of course the obvious sake.

but enjoy tempura, so maybe I have had it without being aware.

Indeed you have had panko.

"Here is a great food match my wife and I had recently with a Sancerre."

Thanks for the ideas, Marc. I'll try those at home -- and Hemingway's at Saratoga later this summer.

Isn't life grand!

Regards, Bob

Thanks, Paulo.

See you tonight.

[Jenise]

Bob, agreed on this one. To your note, however, I would add the recommendation that the wine be decanted for about two hours before being consumed. It opens up quite a bit.

Thanks, Jenise. I noticed that in a backwards way -- I drank a bit and then got involved with something else for an hour. It was much more complex later on.

just fyi, when i tasted at delaporte in january (also in chavignol) i was told that the 2006's were the best since 2002. i certainly agreed. btw, i was surprised to learn that before phyloxera pinot noir was the dominant grape in the region. now, it is about 20% i believe.

btw, i was surprised to learn that before phyloxera pinot noir was the dominant grape in the region. now, it is about 20% i believe.

Interesting. I thought it was way too humid in the Loire for pinot noir to ripen "properly"/"regally", which must have been the same in the 19th century.

Perhaps this is a case of real learning over time and the limitations of "tradition".