Pierre Martin Sancerre ‘Chavignol’ 2018

Story

Vigneron de Chavignol , the Sancerre from Pierre Martin is a great bottle of regional Sauvignon Blanc. It is a wine with a pleasant, delicate and elegant nose which reveals hints of fleshy fruits like white peach and pear all mixed with the delicate addition of white flowers and blossom. The palate is rich, with a creamy, rounded mouth feel – it is well-balanced and enhanced by the introduction on the palate of a nice minerality finish from the stoney limestone on which the grapes are grown. It has a lingering long finish and has acidity to balance, resulting in a thirst quenching glass of wine. This wine will be delicious when served with cold starters, seafood, fish (sushi, sashimi), veal or poultry and goats cheese.

For Chavignol, the grapes are grown on a stoney limestone soil and are mechanically harvested, before being sent to the winery where Pierre Martin’s father himself still sees over the wine making process in a consultancy role – after his son took over the 11.5 hectare estate. The grapes are pressed mechanically and the juice is run away by gravity. The wine is left for a cold settling before being fermented on natural, indigenous yeasts in small batches. It is done in small, temperature controlled vats. After this process is complete the wine is left on fine lees with battonage (wooden slats in the tank rather than left in barrel) to age and develop. Both Pierre and his father taste it regularly to ensure it is removed and bottled at the perfect moment.

Pierre Martin is the 4th generation to take over the family estate having taken over from his father Yves in 2004, who is still very much involved as mentioned above. Their estate is set in the heart of the appellation in the small village of Chavignol which, apart from wine, is very well known for its goats cheese.

Reviews