Winemaker Notes
This wine with its gun-flint aromas and spicy bouquet is subtly wooded, rich in fruit, full-bodied, well balanced, and very reminiscent of the Sauvignon flower and grape. The richness and intensity of the flavor linger long and harmoniously on the palate. This prestigious selection has excellent bottle maturation potential and will continue to evolve for 10 to 12 years.
“La Bourgeoise” is a excellent companion to lighly spiced meals and fish dishes, such as John Dory roasted with fennel. A well-aged bottle of “La Bourgeoise” will be a perfect match for a farm hen in truffle sauce.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Vinified in oak and stainless steel (50/50), the 2015 Sancerre La Bourgeoise opens with a clear, precise and refreshing, pure and mineral bouquet that reflects the silex soils of Saint-Satur. Dense, lush and fresh on the palate, this is a full-bodied, elegant and salty Sancerre with remarkable finesse and a long, dense and salty finish. Very intense and long. Tasted February 2019.
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Wine Spectator
This has a solid core of grapefruit and lemon peel notes mixed with white peach and gooseberry flavors, backed by a bright honeysuckle edge and carried by a buried flinty spine. A light brioche hint weaves throughout for added range. Drink now through 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
Produced from old vines on the Bourgeois estate, this is a concentrated, rich wine. With its strong herbal character, it is intense, mineral, zesty and packed with gooseberry and lemon fruits. This flinty, textured wine is still developing. Drink from 2019.
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.