2010 Sancerre Monts Damnes

The F. Cotat 2010 Sancerre Les Monts Damnes evinces gooseberry preserves, herbal essences, fresh apple, and honeydew melon in a tartly, faintly bitter-edged, but at the same time substantial and texturally polished palate performance. Caraway and celery seed, chalk and salt add interest leading into a long, juicy and invigorating – yet at the same time somehow soothing – finish. At 13.5% alcohol, here is the lightest of the classic Cotat terroir trio in its vintage. I would expect this well-concentrated, even-tempered, bright yet dense Mont Damnes to be worth following for at least 12-15 years. Given Francois Cotat’s (and before that, his father’s and uncle’s) penchant for late picking and the promoting of textural richness in sweetly ripe Sancerre, 2010 seemed destined to prove an ideal match for this estate, which began harvesting at the end of the first week in October, but did not finish until nearly month’s end. In the event, the wines that resulted are so diverse – in part extreme, even by estate standards – that generalization is fatuous. Cotat’s 2011s are good for some surprises too, again for being so different from one another, but also in how little marked one of their number is by the ripe manifestations of citrus and pit fruits one practically takes for granted at this address. After the 2010 vintage, Francois Cotat with regret pulled out the considerable expanse of impossibly unproductive 65-year-old vines that his grandfather had planted and that had in recent years contributed around 30% by volume to the Grande Cote bottling. But that still leaves vines of around 45 years average, and on their first appearance without their 65 year old elders, that team turned in a memorable 2011 performance. A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93