Day 1-Loire-Hippolyte Reverdy

Our next stop was a good, long drive to the town of Sancerre, a beautiful city that rests atop a hill in the middle of some of the most beautiful hillsides I've ever seen resting on the Loire river. Sancerre is what Sauvignon Blanc is all about. Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume are the benchmarks of Sauvignon Blanc for the entire world. There just isn't any better than this. Michel Reverdy is an organic winemaker who tragically had to take over his father's winery after his dad died suddenly. His brothers were supposed to take over, but one brother killed himself over his grief from his father's sudden death and the other brother died of cancer a year later. Michel was left to run the winery himself and works every day to produce these amazingly balanced wines. There is no one to succeed Michel, so when he dies, the winery goes with him. Sancerre can be either Sauvignon Blanc for the white or Pinot Noir for the red.

Tasting:
2009 Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre tank sample-'09 is a much smaller harvest than '08
2009 Hippolyte Reverdy Rose tank sample-Pinot Noir rose, salmon in color
2008 Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre Rouge-100% Pinot Noir...really, really good
2007 Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre Rouge-also was really, really good

No fining or filtering was done with these wines.



Michel Reverdy



Michel Reverdy's cellar


Daniel Chotard met us at Reverdy and allowed us to taste his wines as well. Michel's hospitality must be abounding for such a quiet man, because he let his direct competition into his cellar to taste. Reverdy and Chotard both make Sancerre, the terroir is the same. So, what makes them different, why the personality of the wine-maker of course. Reverdy's is more floral and Chotard has a longer finish.

Tasting:
2009 Daniel Chotard Rose-tank sample, very small production, lots of minerality as well as strawberries
2009 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Blanc-tank sample
2008 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Blanc-great minerality, doesn't have the citrus the Reverdy contains.
2008 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Rouge-95% tank, 5% barrel, a very feminine Pinot compared to Reverdy's



Daniel Chotard