David Lawrason’s Weekly Wine Pick: a tart, refreshing Sancerre
David Lawrason’s Weekly Wine Pick: a tart, refreshing Sancerre
Henri Bourgeois 2010 Les Baronnes Sancerre
$24.95 | Loire Valley, France | 90 points
Early summer is sauvignon blanc season. There are many good offerings from New Zealand, Chile and Niagara, but I’m paying serious attention to the 2010 whites from France—an excellent vintage with lower yields that left flavours more concentrated. The limestone soils of Sancerre add a certain extra class.
The taste: This has an intense nose of green rhubarb and granny smith apple fruit, with asparagus, nettle and flint. It’s light- to mid-weight, firm, tart-edged and juicy, with excellent length.
How to drink it: Serve it chilled but not right out of the ice—it has the natural acidity and tension to refresh all by itself. Pair it with cold summer salads or some nice chèvre.
I enjoy reading your wine reviews, but most of the choices are out of my price range. Hopeful for some summer reviews of white varietals that are balanced and under $15.00
dear kate,
it is unfortuate the LCBO monopoly on alcohol results in good wine priced above its true market price. Your best bet is to look for underappreciated varietals. May I suggest a few:
White: Muscadet sur lie(loire), Pinot gris (alsace), Cava (spanish sparkling)….perhaps even vintage Riesling can be found on the cheap
Red: Beaujolais (Marcel Lapierre) Malbec (Argentina), Carmenere (chile)
best of luck
Henry