Please click the thumbnails to view large images.
|
|
|
Winemaker(s): Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique Vacheron (cousins)
ORGANIC WINERY
The Vacheron family has been influential in Sancerre since the turn of the century--from day one, this has always been a family operation. Great-grandfather Maurice Vacheron tended a few vines in the silex-rich soils of his hometown back when Sancerre was but a forlorn stop on a village road. His son, Jean Vacheron, was the first of the family to specialize in wine production. Moving from cultivating grain to Pinot Noir, Jean is one of the main reasons why the family's Pinot Noir bottlings are some of the finest in the region. (The Vacherons today as well are one of the largest producers of Sancerre rouge.)
Jean's sons, Denis and Jean-Louis, established the Vacheron winery as we know it today--these brothers ran the estate jointly, sharing many of its duties. Denis today is the president of the Sancerre appellation, and is especially involved in managing the family's vineyard holdings--as of 2006, the family tends 11 hectares of Pinot Noir, and 29 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc. Jean-Louis managed the family cellars; today you will still find him there, tasting from cask as well as pouring samples of their award-winning wines for visitors.
Denis' son Jean-Laurent, 32 years old, started working full-time at the estate in 2002. Well trained by both his father as well as by his experiences abroad (he spent a few years in California assisting Aubert de Villaine with his own estate there), Jean-Laurent, with his cousin Jean-Dominique (son of Jean-Louis), truly do everything at the estate. Jean-Dominique came on full-time in 1993, when he was 21 years old.
Organic viticulture has been a goal of the family for a number of years; as of 2003, the entire estate was certified organic. The following year the winery was converted completely to biodynamic agriculture--to be sure, you won't find more terroir-driven Sancerre anywhere else in the appellation. Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent Vacheron are ably leading the domaine to ever-loftier winemaking heights. The wines speak for themselves—always consistent, the quality of Vacheron Sancerre continues to astound.
The region’s soils are rich with silex, a flinty rock that rests on a bed of clay and limestone. The family’s “Les Romains,” a single-vineyard Sauvignon, is grown on 100% silex soil. The Vacheron Sancerre rouge is 100% Pinot Noir and raised primarily in tank. The “Belle Dame,” comes from 40+ year old Pinot Noir vines that grow on a severe, southeast-facing hillside. With possibly the oldest vines in Sancerre, this vineyard produces some of the most concentrated Pinots in the region.