Francois Crochet

Name: 2019 Coteaux Giennois, Les Perrois
SKU: FCCG19
Price: 24.00 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

François Crochet, winemaker from Sancerre, Loire Valley

François Crochet's vineyards in Sancerre, Loire Valley

Mixture of limestone marl, chalk and flint from François Crochet's vineyards

Rocks in Sancerre composed of Kimmeridgian, an ancient tiny sea creature that closely resembles today’s oyster

François Crochet walking through his vineyards in Sancerre

François Crochet's vineyards in Sancerre

Kimmeridgian rocks in Sancerre from François Crochet's vineyards

François Crochet's vineyard rocks in Sancerre

Old wine bottles of François Crochet's Sancerre blanc

Sauvignon blanc vines from François Crochet's vineyards in Sancerre

François Crochet vineyards contain a mixture of limestone marl, chalk and flint.

Photography and writing by Ted Vance.

The first time I met François, he was very quiet. Then, I made the mistake of telling him that his French was articulate and very clear- a much easier accent to understand than those from the south of the France. He smiled, then an eruption of extremely intense French came at me like a philosophical freight train. His bright blue laser eyes dug in and his mouth was moving a mile a minute. It was that moment that I understood how intense of a perfectionist François is. He is one of the most passionate people I have ever met.

François graduated from the famous enology school in Beaune, France. After school, he cut his teeth by working at Domaine Bruno Clair. François took over his father’s winery not too long ago and has been turning heads everywhere, first in France and now here. He is one of the first to pick in Sancerre so the acidity of his wines rage. Counterintuitively, the wine doesn’t have the green pepper notes that one would expect from wines harvested so early. I don’t know how he does it, but the wine finds such a perfect balance of power, beauty and finesse.

Sancerre is one of the most famous places in France for white wine. It is located on the left bank of one of France’s most famous rivers, the Loire. Sancerre is one of the fastest selling wines in the market because they offer great value for the price. While Sancerre makes red wines from the Pinot Noir grape, it is most famous for the white Sancerre made from Sauvignon Blanc.

The Sancerre region sits on top of a series of hills and small valleys that were once under the ocean. The ocean deposited all sorts of calcium rich shells from ancient sea-life. In the case of Sancerre, the most famous rock here is called Kimmeridgian, which is made primarily of an ancient tiny sea creature that closely resembles today’s oyster. The rest of the vineyard land is a mixture of limestone marl, chalk and flint. One can also find quite a lot of red and brown clay soils that are clearly marked with a good dose of iron.

Scroll up for more details on the producer, region, and additional photos

Francois Crochet - 2019 Coteaux Giennois, Les Perrois

Price: $24.00

Size: 750ml

Availability:

Out of stock

Type of Wine: White

Grape(s): Sauvignon Blanc

Style: High acid, Mineral

SKU: FCCG19 Category: Francois Crochet Tag: Dry Click to see what states we ship to

The Wine

François Crochet's Coteaux Giennois is no ordinary wine. It’s a special parcel on the left bank (east side) of the Loire River, just across from Sancerre and north of the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. Its soils are composed of glacial morraines littered with rounded silex rocks, rather than the jagged ones found on the southeastern area of Sancerre.

What’s most unique about this vineyard site is its genetic material. With all the talk we make about geological imprints on wine, differences within the plant material can influence a wine in different ways. Ancient cultivars have had a difficult road within the last century as many low-production, high-quality cultivars of a specific grape type were ousted for those with a greater production than quality—a common challenge in much of the more successful European wine regions since World War II.

François Crochet’s Les Perrois Sauvignon Blanc comes from a communal nursery project that began almost twenty years ago. It’s planted to Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Gamay, the three grapes that can legally bear the Coteaux du Gennois appellation. Within the vineyard is planted a collection of around two-hundred and fifty massal selections (well-adapted, ancient strains of a grape variety) collected by the local, well-known viticultural consultant company called, Ceps-Sicavac. The Ceps-Sicavac team, led by one of the most talented progressive viticulturalists of our time, François Dal, worked with many vignerons in this part of the Loire Valley to isolate some of the oldest vine parcels and to observe them over a three-year period before making the selections to preserve and cultivate within Les Perrois.

François Crochet preserves Les Perrois’ fresh, bright characteristics by fermenting and aging it in stainless steel for six months before bottling. Its general profile falls within the classic Sauvignon nuances of the region that includes iodine, wet stone, flint, citrus, and in 2019 a more generous helping of taut white and yellow stone fruit.It's interesting to try wines from Saint-Bris compared to those Sauvignon Blanc appellations in the upper Loire River, because they are a geological match to much of Sancerre’s kimmeridgian limestone wine country known as Terres Blanches, located on the left bank (west side) of the Loire River to the north of the village.

Description

About The Wine

François Crochet’s Coteaux Giennois is no ordinary wine. It’s a special parcel on the left bank (east side) of the Loire River, just across from Sancerre and north of the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. Its soils are composed of glacial morraines littered with rounded silex rocks, rather than the jagged ones found on the southeastern area of Sancerre.

What’s most unique about this vineyard site is its genetic material. With all the talk we make about geological imprints on wine, differences within the plant material can influence a wine in different ways. Ancient cultivars have had a difficult road within the last century as many low-production, high-quality cultivars of a specific grape type were ousted for those with a greater production than quality—a common challenge in much of the more successful European wine regions since World War II.

François Crochet’s Les Perrois Sauvignon Blanc comes from a communal nursery project that began almost twenty years ago. It’s planted to Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Gamay, the three grapes that can legally bear the Coteaux du Gennois appellation. Within the vineyard is planted a collection of around two-hundred and fifty massal selections (well-adapted, ancient strains of a grape variety) collected by the local, well-known viticultural consultant company called, Ceps-Sicavac. The Ceps-Sicavac team, led by one of the most talented progressive viticulturalists of our time, François Dal, worked with many vignerons in this part of the Loire Valley to isolate some of the oldest vine parcels and to observe them over a three-year period before making the selections to preserve and cultivate within Les Perrois.

François Crochet preserves Les Perrois’ fresh, bright characteristics by fermenting and aging it in stainless steel for six months before bottling. Its general profile falls within the classic Sauvignon nuances of the region that includes iodine, wet stone, flint, citrus, and in 2019 a more generous helping of taut white and yellow stone fruit.It’s interesting to try wines from Saint-Bris compared to those Sauvignon Blanc appellations in the upper Loire River, because they are a geological match to much of Sancerre’s kimmeridgian limestone wine country known as Terres Blanches, located on the left bank (west side) of the Loire River to the north of the village.