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Sancerre is a name most of us recognise. It smacks of quality and elegance. White Sancerre is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc and is rarely touched by oak. The flavours are restrained and pure. Sancerre seems expensive when compared to Sauvignon from the rest of France or around the world. It’s hard to see why New Zealand Sauvignon, which has more to offer in terms of flavour and aroma, is around half the price. As with other top quality products, understatement is prized and the knowledge that what you are drinking is classy and expensive, if a little austere, adds to the enjoyment.
This doesn’t mean that Sancerre drinkers are a load of deluded toffs. They drink it because it is so dry and mineral. While we can’t nail down many fruit flavours or recognisable aromas, the wines do have intensity and length of flavour, which in wine quality terms, are very important.
My panel and I are normal people, with normal spending criteria and we’re pretty savvy about what’s on the market, what’s discounted and what’s worth drinking. For us, wine for £9-£10 is not something we often buy, but we do push the boat out that far, when there’s something particularly interesting tempting us.
Our favourite wine was Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference, at £8.99. In fact, I prefer their Pouilly Fumé, which is the same price. The Sancerre had a fresh, pleasant aroma, a little more fragrant than the others and it had just a touch more residual sugar, making it more approachable. It is still searingly dry and acidic. Alex said it was “tart enough”.
Domaine Jean & Michel Naudet 2005 is £9.79 from Waitrose. The smell was disappointingly confected, which wasn’t at all what we expected. However, it had a pretty good taste, with more texture and grip than the others.
Aldi, Morrison and Majestic’s wines had practically the same marks. Aldi’s Les Fresnaies 2005 is only £6.99. It smelt of fresh elder and was very acidic. Betty, who wasn’t there, would have said it was a winky wine. We winked and grimaced and probably needed a tray of canapés but I had, sadly, not provided these. Morrisons Le Haugeard 2005 is £8.59 and didn’t have much aroma at all. The taste was light and fresh. Pleasant enough, but fairly short.
Majestic’s Neveu, Clos des Bouffants 2005 is £9.49 and smelt nicely mineral, or even chalky. The taste just didn’t do much for us. It was dry white wine and not unpleasant, but it finished short.
Our least favourite was M & S’s Les Ruettes 2005, which is £9.99. The wine reeked of drains. A nasty sulphur smell, which refused to go away until after the panel had gone home. I kept the bottle and worked away on a glass of it, swirling and sniffing and eventually, a couple of hours after I opened the bottle and with RSI threatening, the drainy smell did lift. The taste had been fine, all the time, but stinky wine is nasty and not what I expect from M&S.