Jean Max Roger Sancerre Cuvee C.M. 2014
-
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
A blend of wines from caillottes stony soil and Kimmeridgian marl, this is an amalgam of ripe fruit and tense mineral texture. Together these two styles give a complex, impressive wine that has great concentration as well as aging potential. Drink from 2018.
Editors’ Choice
The Roger family comes from a long line of winegrowers from the village of Bué. The first texts that mention the family name date back to the early 17th century. Jean-Max Roger took over the four hectares of vines left to him by his parents in the early 1970s and expanded the estate to its current size, 26 hectares. Beginning in 2004, two of his three sons, Etienne and Thibault, came back to work at the estate after various professional experiences in France and abroad.
Today, the estate covers a surface area of 26 hectares in the Sancerre AOC, along the Loire River. It also includes 5 hectares of vines located in the Menetou-Salon AOC area of production where the first plantations date back to 1981. They produce white wines made from Sauvignon Blanc as well as reds and rosés made from Pinot Noir. They also sell Pouilly-Fumé, a neighbouring appellation located opposite Sancerre on the left bank of the Loire.
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.