2011 Edmond Vatan Sancerre Clos la Neore

Bittersweet and musky floral perfume, mint, and eucalyptus surge from the glass of 2011 Sancerre Clos la Neore – as tasted from tank – and combine with gooseberry preserves, fresh apple, and honeydew melon on a lush, faintly oily, subtly sultry, yet persistently luscious palate. A hint of salted chicken and mushroom stock add a mysterious sense of (Kimmeridgian) place, while the hint of gooseberry and apple skin lends welcome invigoration to a long, saliva-liberating, and hauntingly musky, floral finish. This ought to be one of those rare 2011 Sancerres that will reward attention for more than a decade. (It’s intriguing, incidentally, how distinctive from one another are the two lots whose impromptu blend in my glass is the subject of the above tasting note, even though they began as the same juice.) The entirely of Edmond Vatan Sancerre nowadays sojourns each vintage in two of the seven old steel tanks familiar to anyone who visited this grower over the past 20 or so years, and the young wine no doubt requires less looking-after by Anne Vatan-Foucault – who must drive three hours to get there from Chace – than do her parents. (I savored some sit down time with Edmond Vatan this year: he is moving slowly now, but still very much with us, and along with his charming wife is predictably full of fascinating memories.) A single associate tends the 2.5 acre section of Clos la Neore not far from the family home; and no doubt Anne’s husband – Nadie Foucault of Clos Rougeard fame, who tasted along with us this April – contributes some insights and efforts as well to the cause of perpetuating this venerable Sancerre. After alcoholically burdened renditions of Clos Neore in 2008 as well as 2009, it was a relief to experience the expressiveness and balance (albeit at far-from-shy 13.8% alcohol each) of the two wines that have followed. The 2011 was harvested September 13 and the 2010 not until October 10. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800