Patrick Noel Sancerre 2021
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Bright citrus, grass, and pineapple flavors are knitted together with intense minerality and a silky texture. This white wine has a fleshy midpalate with great concentration and vibrancy.
The domaine was created in 1988 by Patrick Noël in his native village of Saint-Satur, at the base of the Sancerre hill. Patrick is descended from more than three centuries of vignerons, all from the village of Chavignol. Historically, in the Noël family, the vines have always been transmitted from mothers to daughters. Patrick is an exception to this rule, but his daughter Julie, by choosing to take over the wine heritage in her turn, is part of a long matriarchal line. T
oday the domain farms over fifty plots totaling 18 ha in the appellations of Sancerre, Menetou-Salon, and Pouilly-Fumé. In Sancerre, their parcels are on three terroirs, Les Bouffants, la Côte Des Monts Damnés, and l’Orme au Loup. In Pouilly-Fumé, their vines are planted on silex soil in the village of Tracy-sur-Loire.
Domaine Patrick Noël bottles only estate fruit, fermented exclusively with native, indigenous yeasts and they have also implemented the certification of their plots through a new ecological farming certification program in France known as Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE). HVE is an approach that focuses on the ecology and balance of the vineyards with the surrounding ecosystems (see our farming guide for more information on HVE).
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.