Domaine de la Thibaude, Sancerre, France

JEAN-MARC CROCHET; SANCERRE IN HEART & SOUL

Domaine de la Thibaude is located in the famous appellation of Sancerre, in the village of Bué. This village is one of the recognized top areas for the production of Sancerre. Domaine de La Thibaude, better known as Domaine Crochet, is one of the well-known, established names in the region. The winery is located on top of a limestone ridge, the vineyards are located right next to the estate, in the heart of Sancerre. The vines are planted in such a way that they give the grapes sufficient exposure to the sun, in a north-south direction. The vines have an average age of 25 years old .

For five generations, top-quality Sancerre has been cultivated here with a total of 10 hectares of vineyard holdings. Domaine La Thibaude has been in the Crochet family since the 16th century and is now headed by Jean-Marc Crochet . Jean-Marc lives across the street from his father, with a house built on top of the winery. Mathieu will be the sixth generation of the Crochet family to take charge of wine production.

SPECIAL BLANC BUÉ

The terroir around Bué is very varied and complex with the so-called “ terres blanches ” in the north; a combination of fossil limestone mixed with clay, which produces pronounced, finesse-rich Sauvignon Blancs with a long storage potential. The west is better suited to the planting of Pinot Noir due to the high lime content in the soil; this type of soil is also called ' Kimmeridge clay '. The south contains hard limestone, suitable for both Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. This is where real wines for storing come from. The eastern part of Bué contains more porous limestone and produces aromatic, fragrant Sauvignon Blanc.

PRODUCTION CROCHET

Jean-Marc Crochet has built his reputation mainly on the white Sancerre. This wine is extremely refined and of small production. The Pinot Noir planting amounts to 2 hectares. The wine production amounts to approximately 400,000 bottles per year, of which 90% are white wines, a small portion rosé and a small portion red wines. After full ripening, the grapes are picked by hand, after which a short maceration of the skins takes place before fermentation, for a duration of approximately six to twelve hours. After this, the wine is pressed and fermented in stainless steel vats, under controlled temperature. No wood aging is used in the production of Crochet's wines, because the focus is on reflecting fresh, clear Sauvignons. There is, however, a short ripening on the 'lees' (yeasts), which gives an extra dimension to the depth of the wines; extra complexity. Shortly after this, the wines are put away and stored until the first sale starts. Not an excessive amount of wine is produced in Sancerre. But to give the wines some world exposure, Crochet has three overseas export markets ; New York, Washington DC and Texas.

Of the elegant red Sancerre the production is around 13,000 bottles per year. A slow, temperature-controlled fermentation of 10 - 15 days, contributes to the finesse-rich taste.

Those Americans can count themselves lucky to be able to drink such a classic Sancerre amidst the 'overload' of other styles of Sauvignon Blanc. Fortunately, we at Dare Wines also have a sufficient supply of these beautiful Sancerres!