Jean-Laurent ‘Le Homme’ Vacheron makes brilliant Sancerre in both colours. This was certainly up to his very high standards, but I feel it was not showing its best. A few more years and this should be most interesting.
Sancerre Rouge ‘La Belle Dame’ 2005, Domaine Vacheron
The nose is a bit subdued, but there is some good fruit there. The flinty, smoky minerality is most intriguing, this positively reeks of Sancerre. The palate has a reasonable amount of fruit, and some grassy, green acidity which is most Sancerre in character. It is not as expressive as it could be, I feel. Pinot Noir can go through a closed patch in its middle age and I feel this is what is happening here. I am enjoying this a lot, but with some more age it should be a even more fun.