Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with fish tartare, mussels "à la Charentaise", pike with white butter sauce, chanterelle mushroom omelette, baked Norway lobsters, trout meunière, pike in saffron, braised ham with white sauce, tripe cooked the Caen way, Chavignol goatsmilk cheeses, and puff pastries.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
From dense white-chalk soil, this wine lies at the heart of this producer’s range. It is a generous, full-bodied wine that is both rich and stylish. The pure white fruits and tangy acidity are impressive. Drink from 2023. Organic and biodynamic.
Cellar Selection
-
Decanter
Alphonse Mellot is based in the heart of the town of Sancerre. La Moussière is a large parcel of vines planted on marls overlaying Kimmeridgian limestone to the west of the town. The domaine is certified both organic and biodynamic. Grapes are hand-picked and 50% is vinified in new barrels and the rest in vats. Wine is matured on fine lees for 7-8 months. The 2020 is a very rich, ripe, powerful and complex with a long finish. Still young with considerable potential to age. Pair with rich fish dishes.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Sancerre La Moussière opens clear, intense and elegant on the nose, with fully ripe, yellow-fleshed stone fruit aromas (mango, peach) intertwined with refreshing phenolic and also algae notes. Full-bodied, intense and powerful on the palate, this is a mighty but elegant and finely refreshing Sancerre from Kimmeridigian marls. The finish is stimulatingly pure, fresh and saline. 14.5% stated alcohol. Diam cork. Tasted in January 2022. Best after 2022.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
Marked by its charming hilltop village in the easternmost territory of the Loire, Sancerre is famous for its racy, vivacious, citrus-dominant Sauvignon blanc. Its enormous popularity in 1970s French bistros led to its success as the go-to restaurant white around the globe in the 1980s.
While the region claims a continental climate, noted for short, hot summers and long, cold winters, variations in topography—rolling hills and steep slopes from about 600 to 1,300 feet in elevation—with great soil variations, contribute the variations in character in Sancerre Sauvignon blancs.
In the western part of the appellation, clay and limestone soils with Kimmeridgean marne, especially in Chavignol, produce powerful wines. Moving closer to the actual town of Sancerre, soils are gravel and limestone, producing especially delicate wines. Flint (silex) soils close to the village produce particularly perfumed and age-worthy wines.
About ten percent of the wines claiming the Sancerre appellation name are fresh and light red wines made from Pinot noir and to a lesser extent, rosés. While not typically exported in large amounts, they are well-made and attract a loyal French following.