Understanding Loire Valley Sancerre with Alphonse Mellot

Full 13' version available here :
vimeo.com/album/3455797/video...
Sauvignon Blanc magicians for 19 generations, both father and son are named Alphonse and are invariably first class icons who jump to mind at mention of Sancerre. Here we are treated to a wine tasting course at the Domaine de Moussière with Alphonse Mellot, where we learn for the first time to spit like a winemaker, while trying to understand the influences of limestone and flint in the wines. A passage in the cellar will help us understand the importance of choosing a cooper and of the aromatic complexity induced by the influence of oak, all before Alphonse Mellot clarifies a specificity of winemaking for us: blocking malolactic fermentation ... Oh yes, this is complicated! You follow?
Topics covered in this episode:
- Typicity of Sancerre.
- Alphonse, Father and Son ... A myth
- Wine tasting courses.
- Sancerre, limestone or flint?
- Learning how to spit like a winemaker.
- Differences between the father’s wine and the son’s.
- Importance of choosing a cooper and influence of oak on wine
- The Sancerre Pinot Noir ... As good as those of Burgundy?

[@gurgisjones1120]

I really enjoyed this, and the humorous moments (NZ growing SB, but not Sancerre). And at 3:34, the inferior approach and getting "a McDonald's wine". The moments with the limestone and getting up close and personal with the rocks was a big bonus.