As the readers, who are wine connisseurs will know Sancerre is best known for its incredible wines. Like champagne must actually be from Champagne, only wines made from grapes grown in the Sancerre area can be labeled Sancerre wine.
On Friday, I went to a wine tasting at one of the local vineyards. The grape harvest is underway so the visit offered us opportunnities that you don’t usually get. In fact there was so much included that the wine tasting was just like a cherry on an ice cream sundae. I like to have it, but I’d enjoy the ice cream sundae just about as much without it.
We visted Henri Bourgeois, which is a family operation. Today, it is operated by the grandchildren of the original Henry Bourgeois.
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| The Remants after Grapes are Pressed Being Discarded |
Our tour was organized by my school and led by Gérard, the co-proprietor of the school. Gérard is a wine expert and known personally by the Bourgeois family. In fact a son and grandson stopped to talk with him while we were on our tour. Gérard did a fabulous job of explaining the continum of winemaking, beginning with growing grapes and ending with actually making the wine. I learned that intense regulation applies even to the growing process. For example, you can’t pick your own grapes until some entity tells you it’s time. He continued by explaining the harvesting process. It sounds like France is even more aggressive in regulating how workers are treated than the U.S.
As you can see from the pictures the vineyards themselves are beautiful. Not all of these vineyards belong to Henry B. In fact, a few rows may belong to one person and the next few rows to someone else. While we were there they were picking the grapes. We saw trailers going by full of grapes and lots of activitity. We saw grapes coming from the field going onto conveyor belts to be pressed. We saw the huge storate vats. We saw the leftovers being moved by a conveyor belt out of the factory. In addition, we saw a barrel made from a 400-year-old tree in an amazing cellar.
The wine tasting at the end was nice. I learned that some roses are good. If you don’t think so, I’d recommend you try Henri Bourgeois’s Les Baronnes 2010. (One of the things I learned is rose you want to get the most recent year available.) For those of you who like a wine that is a little sweet but not too sweet, his Vendange de la Saint-Luc 2007 would be my recommendation. (This one is a little pricey but I think worth it.) For a more reasonably priced white that would be a good example of Sancerre wine you could get the Les Baronnes 2009. And for those that just have to have red, I’d recommend Les Baronnes 2008 or La Bourgeoise Magnum 2002. One of the great things about Coeur de France is that the school is totally plugged into this community. As a result every one makes you feel at home and your experience during your time here is enhanced by interactions with the community.
It has been fun being here as the town is a buzz with activity related to the harvest. Today as I was walking around, the trailors continued to come by one way filled with grapes and come back empty. The first time I saw the grape vines, which are all around the town, they were full of bunches of grapes. Now, of course, they are empty. When you are in this type of environment, the tie to the earth and the changing of the seasons is more apparent than in city life.
If you want to learn more about Henri Burgeois, try this link.http://www.henribourgeois.com/
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