Francois Crochet

François Crochet, winemaker from Sancerre, Loire Valley
François Crochet's vineyards in 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
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
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.

Les Exils

Francois Crochet - 2021 Sancerre Blanc, ‘Les Exils’

Price: $56.00
Size: 750ml
Availability: 

Out of stock

Type of Wine: White
Style: High acid, Mineral

The Wine

Inside the bottle: The direct mineral impression of this wine easily stands apart from Francois' range. Given that this silex soil is his most unique soil, it also renders the most unique wine from this domaine. The nose is dominated with the smell of minerals, flint, stones and metal. Yes, there are other organic-type aromas, like high-toned citrus fruits, fresh grasses and forest floor, but this wine is dominated by its stoniness. The acidity is perhaps the most impressive in the range of wines and also most elegant. This is a real beauty of a wine.

Terroir: The anagram "Les Exils" comes from the stones that completely cover this vineyard, Silex. This flintstone, formed long before Fred and Barny existed, tens of millions of years ago. Silex is a brutally hard stone that has been used as a tool for cutting things for thousands of years because of its sharpness and hardness. In fact, when François plows this vineyard, the blades on his tractor end up in pretty bad shape. The anagram “Les Exils” was created because this is also a vineyard that is far away from every other vineyard in the Crochet stable. The vines and stones rest next to a forest, at the top of a south-facing hill on the south side of Sancerre, near the Loire River.

About The Wine

Inside the bottle: The direct mineral impression of this wine easily stands apart from Francois’ range. Given that this silex soil is his most unique soil, it also renders the most unique wine from this domaine. The nose is dominated with the smell of minerals, flint, stones and metal. Yes, there are other organic-type aromas, like high-toned citrus fruits, fresh grasses and forest floor, but this wine is dominated by its stoniness. The acidity is perhaps the most impressive in the range of wines and also most elegant. This is a real beauty of a wine.

Terroir: The anagram “Les Exils” comes from the stones that completely cover this vineyard, Silex. This flintstone, formed long before Fred and Barny existed, tens of millions of years ago. Silex is a brutally hard stone that has been used as a tool for cutting things for thousands of years because of its sharpness and hardness. In fact, when François plows this vineyard, the blades on his tractor end up in pretty bad shape. The anagram “Les Exils” was created because this is also a vineyard that is far away from every other vineyard in the Crochet stable. The vines and stones rest next to a forest, at the top of a south-facing hill on the south side of Sancerre, near the Loire River.