Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé: Panel tasting results

Jim Budd, Natalie Earl and Ben Llewelyn tasted 72 wines with 7 Outstanding and 31 Highly recommended.

Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé: Panel tasting scores

72 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 7

Highly recommended 31

Recommended 30

Commended 3

Fair 1

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé white wines, available in the UK with retail pricing at £19.99 or above.

Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are among the best-known – and most exported – Loire appellations, so it was interesting to see how wines costing £19.99 or above from the two appellations would show. Ben Llewelyn set the scene: ‘Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé have long been bastions of great, terroir-driven Sauvignon Blanc,’ he said. ‘Their respective sides of the Loire river remain meccas for wine lovers, tourists and gastronomes from around the world. As a result the names have almost become brands, which sadly have not always quite lived up to the hype.’

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé panel tasting

We tasted 72 wines: 49 from Sancerre and 23 from Pouilly-Fumé. There were 14 wines from the 2022 vintage, 41 from 2021, 12 from 2020, three from 2019 and one each from the 2018 and 2017 vintages. Wines from the sunny, early 2022 and 2020 vintages often showing opulent fruit were a considerable contrast to the later and cooler 2021 vintage with some zesty wines – 2021 was one of the rare years when Sancerre was badly hit by spring frosts.

Llewelyn said: ‘2021 provided a racier style of wine with lower alcohol but taut, more electric fruit with great energy. Where this was combined with concentration it proved a magic combination, and perhaps points to more selection of vineyard sites as a way of achieving this in future.’ Unfortunately, there were also some unripe, over-acidic wines.

With 10 of the 14 top-scoring wines, the results showed that Sancerre is the more exciting appellation. Natalie Earl commented: ‘There seemed to be a lack of inspiration in the Pouilly-Fumé selection, with the most interesting ones either having some bottle age, or with noticeable youthful concentration.’ Over the years I have generally found Sancerre to be the more exciting appellation, especially when young. Overall, the most successful Pouilly-Fumés here did tend to have some bottle age. It is often said that they need more time than Sancerre to show their best.

Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé: the facts

Sancerre

• Planted area: 3,025ha
• Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc 82%, Pinot Noir 18%
• Producers: 285 vignerons
• Production (2022): 187,643hl
• Soil types: Limestone, clay-limestone and flint
• Environmental: 33% of planted area certified organic or biodynamic or in conversion
• Export: 67% to 142 countries
• Top export markets: US (38.8%), UK (18.1%), Belgium (5.7%)

Pouilly-Fumé

• Planted area: 1,390ha
• Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc
• Producers: 135 vignerons
• Production (2022): 85,996hl
• Soil types: Flint, limestone, Kimmeridgian marl and sand
• Environmental: 24% of planted area certified organic or biodynamic or in conversion
• Export: 51% to 129 countries
• Top export markets: UK (25%), Belgium (20.7%), US (12.8%)

Source: Vins du Centre-Loire, 2022 

Roughly half the wines had seen at least some oak – a mix of barrels and larger wooden vats is becoming increasingly common. None of the 2022s had seen any oak, so for those that had, the greater maturation time in bottle meant the oak was generally well integrated.

Given the retail price level of these wines, we all commented that the 2022s would have had but a short time on their lees and that many would have benefited from being bottled later. It is significant that two of our top wines spent two years maturing before bottling. However, due to the reduced volumes in 2021, there may well have been a commercial need to bottle some of 2022 early.

See all the Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé wines from the panel tasting

There were many exciting, well-balanced wines here, particularly from Sancerre. Wines to be enjoyed young but also with a potential to age and gain further complexity, as the five older wines indicated. The best wines from these two appellations can give pleasure at 20-30 years or more.

Earl concluded: ‘Considering the elevated price points, the wines that had spent some time in oak, or with extended élevage, seem to offer the best price to complexity ratio.’

Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé panel tasting scores

The judges

Jim Budd has written for Decanter since 1989, specialising in the wines of the Loire, and is the DWWA Regional Chair for the Loire. Budd writes jimsloire.blogspot.com (now occasionally), is one of the five members of the Les 5 du Vin blog, and is also a photographer and a translator from French to English for producers in France.

Natalie Earl is Decanter’s Regional Editor for France other than Bordeaux and Burgundy, and is a keen advocate for organic, sustainable and natural wines.

Ben Llewelyn is managing director of wine importer Carte Blanche Wines, which specialises in terroir-driven, low-intervention wines from France and Spain.

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