Grapefruit: this is the dominant note that has impressed me when tasting this Sancerre La Vigne Blanche 2017 signed by Henri Bougeois. We are in the famous Loire Valley, a land of exceptional French wines including the noble and refined Sauvignon Blanc which is best expressed under the AOC Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.
This tasting was a real surprise for me, get used to associate Sauvignon Blanc with an essentially vegetable and bitter character such as tomato leaves, musk and pepper.
On the other hand, the Sancerre La Vigne Blanche grown in the small village of Chavignol just south of Orléans has a definitively different range of perfumes.
The clay-limestone nature of its terroir brings that pleasant mineral and fresh tone which together with the citrus notes of grapefruit, lime and also slightly balsamic hint as mint makes the bouquet of this wine extremely elegant and fine and with excellent persistence. The Bourgeois family has a wine history that has lasted for ten generations, attentive to traditions and precise in enhancing the personality of each of their wines and the specific features of their parcels.
A visit to their cellar is, at this point, a must.
In the meantime, I accompany my seductive Sancerre with a baked cod with capers and lemon. But I would not disdain a pairing with goat cheeses or even better with shellfish dishes.