Daniel Chotard Sancerre Blanc Classique 2021

Blend of 3 terriors, 1/3 of each. Caillottes – Valley – Small stones over Marl/Gravel = Stone fruit, florals. Terre Blanche on the Hills of Kimmeridgian Clay (same as Chablis) –=Tense, Richness, backbone + Griotte – Caillottes/Cris small stones over Terre Blanche = White flowers, Mineral100% hand picked. Only a small racking. He keeps a large % of lees for fermentation. Wild fermentation, 60% Fermentation in Steel tank, 20% Fermentation in Acaia barrels, 20% in French oak. No new barrels, only vapoured inside, no toasting. Earliest bottling after 8 months elevage in tank. Only Sulphured at bottling.

The wood of Acacia barrels vs Oak is a lot more porous, allowing micro-oxygenation of the wine during fermentation/elevage. With no toasting it allows development of aromas and body without imparting ‘oak’ flavour. It doesn’t hide the aromatics vs French Oak, or at least in Simon’s opinion.

Also it’s to be noted that when Simon made this wine for the first time his Grandfather visited the cellar and an ironic smile and commentary began. Marcel Henri reminded Simon that in his generation Acacia wood was regularly used in Sancerre as trees were readily found in the region. Simon particularly believes Acaia works well with the Clay/Limestone soils of Callottes and Griottes, helps the expression of the site.

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