1999 Gerard Morin Sancerre

[hotwine]

Decided to try this with chicken sauteed in OO and dirty rice tonight, and it was 'way too young: infanticide! Still green-apple tart and needing another couple of years in bottle. Good potential, but not there yet.

[Randy Caparoso]

May I say something? Most likely that Sancerre is not too young because most Sancerres tend to be what they are -- full of youthful, sprightly acidity. With very, very rare exceptions, these wines don't really "improve" much beyond a year or two, so it's as good as it's going to get. So if it's too acidic for you now, it will always be too acidic for you.

Of course, it could be that the dish you prepared would have been better with a softer acid wine -- something a little fruitier in the taste -- to achieve a balanced feel on the palate. In other words, simply a case of the right wine for the wrong dish (or vice versa). I wasn't there, but common sense usually tells you when things aren't "right."

[hotwine]

All true enough, Randy, but we've discussed here before the idea of bottle aging Sancerre for 3-4 years to soften them a bit. Last discussed in that context was the 1996 Dom. de la Rossignole, as I recall (of which contingent I still hold one lonely soldier).

[Randy Caparoso]

Well, I'm glad I missed that argument, then.

My inference was simple enough: over 90% (I'm just throwing numbers around, mind you) of the commercial quality Sancerres you see in the U.S. are meant for early drinking. This is not to say that the rare exceptions -- maybe those of Paul Cotat (especially his single vineyard Sancerre-Chavignols) and occasional vintages by Hippolyte Reverdy -- do not exist. But even the rare exceptions are not so much a matter of wines actually improving with age as the fact that they can still remain fresh after three, four years. It's great to live to 101, but it doesn't mean you can smack a tennis ball like you used to.

My original point, however, was that if a Sancerre is too tart when it's young, chances are it will be too tart when it's older. Why? Because the acidity doesn't go anywhere -- it stays right there in the bottle.

Last but not least, of course, is my point about food context, because this is just as crucial a point as the wine itself. A tart wine like Sancerre is less likely to taste acidic when eaten with a dish with, say, a little acidity (such as a vinaigrette) than it would with a dish with, say, lactic qualities (such as a creamy or buttery sauce). This is no different than a chocolate chip cookie tasting better with milk than orange juice, or a hamburger tasting better with vinegary ketchup than flabby butter.

For what it's worth...

[wondersofwine]

Glad to see you mentioning the Pascal Cotat sancerres. My usual wine shop carries wines from both Pascal and Francois Cotat and having been greatly impressed by the rose and rouge Sancerres from Francois Cotat, I am now going to try some of them in tandem with the Pascal Cotat wines (perhaps not until May or June as they make a refreshing summer sipper). I think I bought two white Sancerres from each Cotat.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 03-28-2002).]

[hotwine]

The last of the '96 Rossignoles went down tonight with a "chicken & whatever's in the pantry alfredo" (peas, flat noodles afredo sauce). Wow! What a gorgeous Sancerre, ripe and smooth as could be. Cut the capsule and saw mold aplenty, and thought it must be corked, but the cork pulled clean, without a trace of penetration, and the wine was absolute perfection! I've been ordered to find more, "Look in Houston, Dallas, wherever, just find it!" Yes, dear.