Guillerault-Fargette Les Panseillots 2015
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The family domaine now extends to nearly 20 hectares with plantings in Crézancy and Bué. The vines are rooted in two distinct soils in the region. The first is referred to as Caillottes. It consists of small rocks or gravel with a high portion of limestone. This soil gives the wines of Sancerre their freshness and nerve. The second soil type of the estate is simply called Terres Blanches or literally “White Earth”. Terres Blanches consists of clayey-chalky soils and from this the Sauvignon Blanc derives its fruit and structure.
Gilles Guillerault and Sébastien Fargette are commited to sustainable viticulture. Natural grasses are grown between the rows and the soils are worked manually. No herbicides or pesticides are used. Each year, the harvest is brought in and carefully sorted on their sorting table before being pressed. The juice is allowed to settle by gravity before fermentation in stainless steel tanks follwed by a period of aging in tank before the bottling.
At Guillerault – Fargette, their holdings are planted 75% to Sauvignon Blanc with the remainder planted to Pinot Noir. From their plantings of Sauvignon Blanc there is the first wine called Les Panseillots, as well as two other offerings, Chassenoys – an old-vine cuvée made from the same source as Les Panseillots, and Facétie – a Sancerre that is vinified and aged in barrel. From the Pinot Noir vines, two reds and one rosé are made. The red Panseillots is made in stainless steel, and Les Marnes made from their oldest vines, is aged in barrel.
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.