@savoirpair Few better food wines than Sancerre. Takes Pesto to another level! #sancerre ♬ Nice and Easy - Louis Adrien
For a long time, I was a fan of three French white wines. Pouilly Fumé, Quincy and Sancerre. They were all dry white wines with beautiful floral notes on the nose, nice acidity and citrus, green fruit flavors, offset with some nice minerality. They all paired so well with chicken, fish and cheeses, and were just easy to drink without food too. It took me a visit to the Loire valley in France to figure out why I enjoyed them all. The three wine regions sit adjacent to one another! They have very similar climate and soils and they’re made from the same grape. Duh! Sometimes there’s a reason you like the wine you like. Sancerre sits between the other two regions, and it has its own AOC – a named appellation that is protected and regulated. White wines can only use Sauvignon Blanc, and have a minimum of 10.5% alcohol.
In my experience, it’s hard to find a bad Sancerre. That doesn’t mean there isn’t variation between winemakers, but they tend to have simliar flavor profiles. The one thing that can ruin a Sancerre is too much age. They’re meant to be consumed young. If the vintage is more than 3 years old, you might lose a lot of the floral and fruit characteristics that are so essential for the wine.
The one we picked delivers on all fronts. Les Sept Hommes (The Seven Men in English) has the nice acidity and floral and mineral notes that are the hallmark of the region, with some Apricot and lemon to boot. It’s perfect with the nutty, basil flavors and turkey. Because it’s so well-established and highly regarded, Sancerre isn’t always cheap. You can expect to pay more than $20/bottle – sometimes over $30, but if you shop around you can often find bargains. And since there are so many good ones, if you find a recent vintage on sale, just snap it up. You won’t regret it!