Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc vines planted on the three types of soil of the Appellation, that is 80 % chalky soil – locally known as “caillottes”, 10% clay chalky soil and 10% flint. The vines are 25 years old on average. Hand-harvested. Pressed and fermented with natural yeast. Aged on its fine lees for 9 months in stainless steel. Unfined/unfiltered.
Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. ‘Le Petit Chemarin’ is the name of a south and south-east facing vineyard with highly chalky soils, regarded as one of the best vineyards in the village of Bué. Vines are 45 years old; fruit is hand-harvested. Pressed and fermented with natural yeasts. Aged on fine lees in neutral foudre for 18 months. Unfined/unfiltered. The finest and perhaps most regal of the wines at the domaine.
Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. ‘Le Petit Chemarin’ is a south/south-east facing chalky soil vineyard, regarded as one of the best in the Sancerre village of Bué. The vineyard has been farmed organically for several years and is officially AB certified since 2017. Conversion to biodynamics since 2020. In farming, hoeing is performed to remove weeds between each vine in the row. Debudding in Spring. Grapes are hand-harvested and rigorously sorted. Whole grape pressing is done in a sequential program to allow for a very gentle extraction. After a settling period, the juice is racked and the alcoholic fermentation – with natural yeasts since 2019 — takes place in a ‘tronc conique’ oak vat. When completed, the wine is matured on its fine lees for 18 months since vintage 2019 (vs 11 months up until 2018.) Cold settling and filtering on cellulose plates before bottling. Unfined.
Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic. 100% Pinot Noir. Average vine age of twenty years, planted on clay and chalky soils. Fruit is hand-harvested, then whole-cluster pressed. Fermentation and aging in stainless steel for six months. A great example of finely hewn Sancerre rosé—not the cheap pink stuff of which oceans are made—this wine drinks beautifully now, but this paler version of Sancerre Rouge will age very well for a few years, too. Brief maceration on the skins for this wine results in notes of kiwi, fresh baby rose, wild strawberry, and clean green herbs.
Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic. 100% Pinot Noir. Taken from vines growing on chalky and clay-chalk soils, 25 years old on average. Grapes are hand-harvested and fully de-stemmed. Spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel tanks after cold maceration of the fruit, then the wine is aged in ‘tronc conique’ oak vats for 18 months. This wine is deeply Burgundian, dark-fruited and elegant, with a fair amount of power despite the minerally origin of the vineyard parcels. Worth aging, definitely worth decanting.
Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The vineyard is 18 years old and has been farmed organically for several years and was officially certified AB in 2017. Practice of biodynamics since 2018 and official conversion in 2020. Grapes are hand harvested and rigorously sorted. The harvest date is set after analysis of the juice and tasting of both grapes and juice in order to get perfect maturity. Grapes are carried to the cellar in a bin fitted with a vibrating system and transported into the pneumatic press by conveyor belt. Whole grape pressing combined with a sequential program allow a very gentle extraction of the juice. After a settling period the juice is racked and the alcoholic fermentation with natural yeasts takes place. When completed the wine is matured on its fine lees for 11 months in an oak vat. Cold settling and filtering on cellulose plates before bottling.
Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. A single-vineyard wine and one of the most moving at the domaine: ‘Les Amoureuses’ takes its name from the vineyard’s soil type; it has distinctly heavier clay content than Crochet’s other parcels. ‘The lovers’ is a reference to how much clay in the vineyard sticks to one’s boots when working there. Vines are 55+ years old; fruit is hand-harvested. Pressed and fermented with natural yeasts. Aged on fine lees in neutral foudre for at least a year and a half. It’s the most robust of Crochet’s wine, with robust candied citrus notes, texture and power. Rich on the palate but balanced with great acidity.