2011 Sancerre Rose

From old vines on and leading up to the high plateau between Chavignol and Verdigny, Francois Cotat’s 2011 Sancerre Rose had been in bottle for a month when I tasted it in April. Sour cherry, red currant, and herbs in the nose segue onto a palate unusually rich and creamy even by the standards of this estate, and with suggestions of veal stock that excite the salivary glands. Surprisingly, given the mid-palate richness, there is slight catch of tannin in the finish. This episodic rose may well need time – whether short- or long-term – to harmonize, but its prominent fruit and strikingly umami-rich character should help guarantee that it proves fascinating at table over the next half dozen or so 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