The Top of the Top: Vacheron Sancerre
It is a fact that not only are our partners at Domaine Vacheron the leading producers of red and white Sancerre, but they’re also a pioneer, with few peers in single-vineyard Sancerre wines — these latest notes and scores from Wine Advocate hammer these facts home. All notes come from the Wine Advocate March 2021 issue on the Sancerre region, by reviewer Stephan Reinhardt.
2019 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc — “… opens with a clear and highly attractive ripe peach aroma with coolish flint stone notes. Full-bodied and intense, with lingering salinity and sustainable structure, this is an already accessible Sancerre with a long and grippy finish.” – Wine Advocate
2018 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc ‘Chambrates’ — “… opens with a clear, refined and aromatic nose with ripe pear and delicate flint stone notes. Round, refined and elegant on the palate, this is a rich and full-bodied but perfectly balanced Chambrates with very fine tannins and lingering salinity.” – Wine Advocate
2018 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc ‘Guigne-Chèvres’ — “… opens with a dense and concentrated bouquet of dried white fruits, crushed stones and flowers. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, rich and intense yet crystalline, pure, fresh and salty Sancerre with fine tannins and a long, intense and iodine-inflected finish. Powerful, tannic and complex, this is an impressive wine to be cellared for a decade or two.” – Wine Advocate
2018 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc ‘Le Paradis’ — “… opens clear and with aromatic, ripe fruit on the slightly stony nose. Full-bodied, round and intense on the palate, this is a rich, intense, very dense and long yet remarkably elegant Sancerre with a long and well-structured finish. It is pretty attractive already now.” – Wine Advocate
2018 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc ‘Les Romains’ — “… opens with dried white fruit and iodine aromas on the intense and concentrated nose. Very elegant, salty and complex on the palate, this is a powerful and full-bodied yet finely structured and elegant Sancerre with a long and promising finish. The wine is clearly a 2018 representative but has a long life ahead.” – Wine Advocate
2017 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Rouge ‘Belle Dame’ — “… opens remarkably aromatic and ripe, with stewed or baked fruit aromas on the nose, tending toward plums rather than berries and a touch of caramel. With more aeration, the wine gets more precise, more flinty and piquant and reveals fresh cherry and potted strawberry aromas. Silky on the palate opening, this is a full-bodied, rich intense and persistent Pinot Noir with impressive concentration, freshness and finesse.” – Wine Advocate
2016 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Rouge ‘Belle Dame’ — “… offers a beautiful ruby color with a dark core and garnet shimmer. It is peppery and fresh on the pure, refined and spicy nose that reveals ripe and stewed cherry and just-ripe berry aromas with leafy forest and some peppery notes. The 2016 is a coolish, fine, elegant, silky-textured and intense yet crisp Pinot Noir with the architecture of a flint stone terroir. This has a vertical, tight and concentrated structure with a serious tannin grip and very good length.” – Wine Advocate
