Loire Sauvignon Blanc: Panel tasting results

Jim Budd, Rebecca Gibb MW, and Chris Kissack tasted 90 wines with two outstanding and 31 highly recommended.

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release Sauvignon Blanc wines from specified regions of the Loire Valley, priced from £7.50 in the UK

The verdict

Growers in the Loire Valley have enjoyed a string of good vintages, but tasters arrived with a degree of trepidation about the 2018 wines – happily unfounded, it transpired.

‘It was a hot vintage, and there were some high alcohols, so I did have a question mark over the freshness of the wines,’ said Jim Budd. ‘But with one or two exceptions, the wines did show freshness, even though there was clearly a richness there.’

‘At the very least I was expecting the 2018s to be a mixed bag,’ said Chris Kissack, ‘with some showing flabbiness, excessive ripeness and low acidity. But the opposite was true, and most showed good freshness and good acidity. As for the other vintages, 2019 was as I expected (fruit-rich and ripe) and 2017 also (acid-defined).’

Sancerre was the undoubted star performer, with its far higher cost for vineyard land reflected in the inherent superiority of the wines, as Rebecca Gibb MW confirmed. ‘They were superior in terms of concentration, class, elegance and texture, and had a lovely harmony and phenolic character,’ she added. ‘The Pouilly-Fumés were far more mixed in quality.’

Budd pointed out that Sancerre is often ready to drink earlier than Pouilly-Fumé and can be more vibrant. That said, he felt the 2019 Sancerres need a little more time in bottle to show at their best, even just a few months longer. He was optimistic about the vintage’s potential for longevity, and all tasters encouraged readers to try these wines with age.

‘It’s a question of whether you want young, fresh and fruity, or a more complex and evolved style,’ said Budd. ‘Younger wines are better as aperitifs, while the older ones work brilliantly with food. They become rounder, softer and more vegetal with age – that’s vegetal in an attractive way.’

Gibb was in agreement: ‘Everyone thinks Sauvignon Blanc is a fresh, fruity, drink-early style and I find that really frustrating,’ she said. ‘These wines stay alive. They have inherent acidity and if they have enough concentration, they can go the long haul, developing a honeyed, toasty, limey, almost Semillon-like character. Whether the warm-vintage 2018s will develop like that remains to be seen.’

The best place to look for wines at the cheaper end of the spectrum, to drink over the next few years, is Touraine, agreed our panel. ‘There are lots of talented young producers there, because land is affordable,’ explained Gibb. ‘There’s lots of exciting stuff happening there – you just need to find the right producer, and you can get real value for money.’

There weren’t many submissions from Menetou-Salon, Quincy or Reuilly, but what there was impressed, said Kissack. ‘I found good typicity in these wines,’ he said. ‘Quincy had velvety, creamy fruit; Reuilly showed vivacious, limestone-derived freshness.’

‘Quincy and Reuilly tend to have less complexity than Sancerre, though Quincy can take on weight after time in bottle,’ observed Budd. ‘The overall standard is best in Sancerre though, partly as it’s the best equipped technologically – this means that growers are best geared up to deal with hot vintages like 2018.’

If you like a sense of place in your wines, the Loire is the place to come for Sauvignon Blanc, concluded Kissack. ‘Loire and New Zealand are the only two regions that have a level of fame for this grape. New Zealand clearly has stronger varietal expression.

‘But in the Loire you’re getting a terroir-driven, mineral style that rewards exploration.’

Discussion copy by Amy Wislocki

See also wines tasted here

The scores

90 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 2

Highly Recommended 31

Recommended 50

Commended 6

Fair 1

Poor 0

Faulty 0

About Loire Sauvignon Blanc

The eastern section of the Loire Valley region is home to some of the wine world’s most famous names, which happen to be whites made from Sauvignon Blanc. Jim Budd details the essential knowledge

The land of Loire Sauvignon Blanc runs eastwards from Tours through Touraine along the Cher Valley across to appellations Menetou-Salon, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Coteaux du Giennois. The forested Sologne area makes a substantial gap in the middle. Appellations Quincy and Reuilly are to the west and south of Bourges.

Sauvignon is planted in the small appellations of Cheverny and Valençay – although wines from 100% Sauvignon Blanc are permitted, they are often a blend of Sauvignon with about 20% Chardonnay. There is some IGP Sauvignon planted in western Touraine and in Anjou, but it is not a major variety, nor do producers have any great ambitions for the wines they make from Sauvignon.

Touraine and the Central Vineyards are part of the clay limestone Paris basin. The proportion of clay varies from virtually nothing – the pure limestone of the caillottes – to the terres blanches, chiefly on the higher slopes, with a much higher amount. Flinty silex soils are also found across the region.

Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are closer to Chablis (about 100km) than they are to Tours (180km) – Pouilly-Fumé is administratively in Burgundy. This means Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé have a much more continental climate than do the vineyards of Touraine, which benefit from the moderating influence of the Atlantic.

Furthermore, at Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire, the river flows northwards and moderating influences are blocked by the high hills around Sancerre. This results in colder winters and curiously more rainfall and slightly hotter summers. Bud-break is a week or more later here than in Touraine.

Essence of Loire

Sancerre is the wealthiest of the Loire appellations, with the last decade being particularly kind as it largely escaped the frosts that hit the others. Sancerre’s many steep slopes ensure that during spring frosts the cold air drains down. In 2016, frosts severely impacted the other Central Vineyards, including neighbouring Pouilly-Fumé and Touraine, yet only slightly affected Sancerre. Although parts of Pouilly-Fumé are as high as the equivalent in Sancerre, the slopes are generally more gentle, so more frost-prone. In Touraine, many of the vineyards are on the region’s gentle sloping plateau, so are also at risk.

Loire Sauvignon Blanc appelations

Central Loire vineyards (2018)

Sancerre Total AP 3,003ha; Sauvignon 2,408ha; export 62%. Pouilly-Fumé Total AP 1,342ha; export 47%. Menetou-Salon Total AP 603ha; Sauvignon 414ha; export 12%. Quincy Total AP 317ha; export 10%. Reuilly Total AP 278ha; Sauvignon 140ha; export 15%.

Coteaux du Giennois Total AP 194ha; Sauvignon 121ha; export 22%.

Touraine (2018)

Touraine Sauvignon 2,442ha; export 40%. Touraine Chenonceaux Sauvignon 111 ha. Touraine Oisly Sauvignon 36ha.

(Source: BIVC Vins du Centre Loire; InterLoire)

Loire Sauvignon: Know your vintages

2019 Climatically difficult with poor flowering conditions followed by drought and sharp heat spikes. Amazingly wines have a remarkable freshness despite the hot summer.

2018 Very hot year, very clean grapes but high alcohol levels a problem for some, resulting in a lack of acidity in some wines.

2017 Good harvest – attractive wines with restrained finesse.

2016 Mildew plus devastating April frosts especially in Coteaux du Giennois, Menetou-Salon and Pouilly-Fumé, often a tiny crop. Normal quantity in Sancerre.

2015 Smaller harvest than 2014 with very healthy, ripe grapes. Rich wines.

2014 A miracle vintage after a miserable wet and cold August. September was hot and dry with an east wind resulting in very well-balanced wines.

Increasingly, many producers are bottling either single-vineyard or single soil-type wines, such as those from Sancerre’s Les Monts Damnés and Le Chêne Marchand sites. These are well worth trying, but come with a price premium.

Outside France, the chances of finding a Loire Sauvignon Blanc in Pouilly-Fumé or Touraine are slim, as the export percentages in the box (above) show. Touraine from a reputed producer is your best alternative option, unless you can find a Coteaux du Giennois.

There has been an unprecedented run of six good vintages in the Loire, even in those years hit by frost. Good-quality Loire Sauvignons can age for 20 years or more.

Top scoring Loire Sauvignon Blanc wines from the panel tasting

See also wines tasted here

The judges

Jim Budd

Contributing to Decanter since 1989, Budd is the DWWA Regional Chair for the Loire. He writes the award-winning blog Jim’s Loire, while also exposing the dangers of drinks investment via his www.investdrinks.org website. He is a keen photographer, and is one of the five members of the Les 5 du Vin blog in France.

Rebecca Gibb MW

Gibb is a wine writer and author with a particular interest in New Zealand and the Loire. A regular Decanter contributor and DWWA judge, her first book, The Wines of New Zealand, was published in 2018 (£30, Infinite Ideas). As a co-founder of The Drinks Project, she offers stategy and consultancy for brand owners.

Chris Kissack

Kissack has published www.thewinedoctor.com since 2000. He has focused on Bordeaux and the Loire Valley for many years, and has been a frequent visitor to both regions since 1993. In the Loire, he writes regular first-hand reports on domaines and vineyards, as well as detailed annual vintage assessments.