Lucien Crochet Sancerre 2022
About the wine:
• Appellation: AOC Sancerre
• Varietals: Sauvignon Blanc (100%)
• Average Annual Production: 100,000 bottles
• Average Alcohol by Volume: 13.5%
• Average Residual Sugar: < 2 g/l
In The Vineyard:
• Parcel Names, Slopes, and Locations: From multiple es- tate-owned parcels and purchased fruit throughout the Sancerre appellation; no parcels face north
• Soil Types and Compositions: A combination of Oxfordian limestone-clays (Griottes), Kimmeridgian limestone-gravels (Terres Blanches), and Kimmeridgian limestone-gravels (Caillottes)
• Vine Age, Training, and Density: Trained in single Guyot, planted at 7,000-8,800 vines/ha. Average vine age is 25 years.
• Average Yields: 55-65 hl/ha.
• Average Harvest Date and Type: Entirely manual, in mid-late September
In The Cellar:
• Fermentation: Wine ferments with selected yeasts in stain- less-steel tanks.
• Pressing: Pneumatic, whole-cluster direct pressing • Time on Lees: 10-12 months
• Malolactic Fermentation: Blocked by sulfur
• Élevage: 10-12 months in stainless-steel tanks
• Press Wine: Blended after pressing
• Fining and Filtration: Bentonite fined, cross filtered
• Sulfur: Applied at harvest, after fermentation, and at bottling; 25-40 mg/l total sulfur, with 25 mg/l free at bottling.
In The Glass:
The estate's village-level offering ties pungeancy of fruit and con- centration of flavor to the minerality and herbacious qualities that make its Sancerrois origins unmistakable.
The grapes for this basic cuvée of Sancerre are sourced from the vineyards in Bué, Vinon and Crézancy. After harvest, fermentation is done in stainless steel cuves at temperatures between 14 and 18 degrees Celsius. As with all the whites at the domaine, this wine sits in contact with the fine lies for a considerable period of time with the racking being done late in the spring following harvest. The first bottling occurs no earlier than July and frequently does not occur until September of the year following harvest.
About the producer:
Twenty-nine hectares are planted to Sauvignon Blanc and the remaining 9 hectares are planted to Pinot Noir. The soils are clay and limestone from the Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian eras. The vineyards are on slopes of varying severity and run from south-east to south to southwest in their exposure to the sun. Since 1989 only organic supplements have been used in the vineyards which are planted to a density of between 6600 (older plantings) to 8700 vines per hectare. The harvest is manual, the soil is worked immediately around the vine but the growth in the rows between the vines remains throughout the growing season.