I was planning a chinese beef dish for dinner last night and wanted a light, bright red. So I pulled this 2005 J. Pinson Sancerre (rouge) out of the cellar. Never had it before, but it's a Garagiste purchase which means I have the sales pitch handy. It's always interesting (for me, anyway) to dig it out and read it, comparing the masterful hype to what's on my tongue. Too often there's little correspondence, but this time I don't think he stretched the truth too badly. Here's an excerpt:
As in red Burgundy, the red wines of Sancerre are also made from Pinot Noir but many vintages can be downright “nasty” according to a palate weaned on sweet fruit and oak. Red Sancerre is usually a cacophony of tart minerality and is adored by eccentric enthusiasts of terroir - even revered by them. All of that is about to change with 2005 - a vintage that will make red Sancerre a star, especially for the price. If you are stocking up on the best 2005 reds from the Cote d’Or in Burgundy, you would be well advised to get a diverse selection of the mineral rich, intense but translucent 2005 Pinot Noir from Sancerre as well. If you like stony terroir meshed with lovely balanced extract, these are the wines to drink on an everyday basis while you wait for your 2005 Burgundies to mature.
Pinson makes this award winning Pinot Noir from steep, hillside terrain above the Loire river. Unlike most producers in Sancerre, he stakes his reputation on this wine not his white (which is also great but this wine won Gold at Macon, right in the heart of Burgundy, which is saying something). It is his best expression of Pinot Noir from the 2005 vintage and it is $18.99. In the Cote d’Or, you will have trouble finding top 2005 Bourgogne for this tariff, let alone a producer’s estate wine. The 2005 Pinson is a whimsical, bright and complex interplay of soil, vintage and varietal. It is densely textured but in a light handed, artisanal way. He captures the essence of what red Sancerre should be (stony and earth-laden) but also comes ever so close to a Volnay Santenots masquerading as Sancerre
What I thought: initial reticent nose of cherry and raspberry fruit with raw egg whites suggests pinot noir but not one you'd ever mistake for an American version. Similar on the palate with some hints of spice and violets that it was holding back. It let go and the fruit became deeper and sweeter instantly when I set out a variety of Armandino Batali's salume, and yet it never wavered from the description above of "densely textured but in a light, artisanal way". We were completely besotted by the end of the bottle. I'm very pleased to have five more bottles.
We also recently opened this bruiser from Australia, the 1998 Lloyd's Reserve from Coriole Vineyards in the Maclaren Vale. Coriole wines are almost never seen here in the U.S.--in fact I checked Cellar Tracker for other notes, and there was only one note, from an American who had it on a Down Under vacation. Ginormous, creamy black currant and blackberry fruit coat the insides of your mouth. But there's no slop, big but not rough tannins gird the structure very very well. This wine will last another decade, probably two. It's a shame I opened this now, but at least now I know to schedule my remaining bottle for 2018 or beyond.
... by Coriole, and by my own evident failure to call its ageworthiness with any accuracy at all. Dang!
Actually, the first half of your note disappointed me so much that I guess I skimmed the rest.