It is worth noting that this is our most RE-ordered white wine. One case is never enough - better stock up!
My parents first started drinking Serge Laporte's Sancerre-Chavignol about twenty years ago. They had been trolling for wine around the gorgeous hill of Sancerre, which is in the eastern Loire Valley, and came upon this immense cave where most of the independent Sancerre producers happened to be pouring their Sauvignon Blancs that day. My mother noticed the results of a wine taste-off contest among the local growers tacked up on the entrance to the cave and noted that this Serge Laporte wine had come out on top.
She tracked him down right to his house on a narrow street in Chavignol the same afternoon.
The wines of Sancerre are widely considered to be the finest expression of the Sauvignon Blanc grape type in the world (I certainly think so). The wines of Chavignol (the most prestigious village within the appellation of Sancerre, and the site of all of Serge Laporte's vineyards) are distinctive and of a notably higher caliber, to the extent that they are sometimes referred to as "crus" despite the fact that Sancerre has no such official classifications, unlike Burgundy or Bordeaux. The punishingly steep slopes of Les Monts Damnés ("the damned mountains" so-named by the harvesters who have to trudge up and down them) boast the finest vineyard sites in Chavignol. Many of the grapes that go into this Laporte Sancerre comes from Les Monts Damnés vineyards.
It's no exaggeration to say that Serge's Sancerre is long on finesse and refreshment - really every thing Sancerre can achieve.
Here is the way Steven Tanzer has described Serge Laporte's Sancerre: "Pale gold. Crushed stone, lime zest and white pepper on the nose. Precise, elegant wine combining density with nervy, mineral- inflected citrus fruit. The lemon, spearmint and spice flavors are complicated by a soil-driven salinity and a hint of white flowers. Finishes with tangy grip and good dusty length. This would be superb with oysters or an aged goat cheese."
This is a wine with lively, mouth-watering acidity. It is fresh and bright, boasting citrus and white fruits on the palate with an aromatic nose and a pronounced and lingering minerality on the finish that sets it apart. This wine (Serge's son, Guillaume, succeeded his father as the winemaker about 10 vintages ago) is different -- more substantial -- than the other Sancerres out there. There is of course what the French call agrumes, which is like a bunch of citrus fruits blended together, but his wine is also honeyed and mineral and viscous and far more flavorful than the standard Sancerre, or even the standard Chavignol.
I'm sure I'll surprise no one when I say it all comes down to terroir, terroir, terroir. The Laporte vineyards are located on several different sites in Chavignol. They are beautifully exposed properties on the hillsides. Terroir is very important in Sancerre. Laporte's vines are planted in two different soil types. Serge has parcels of vines growing in caillottes, a pebbly chalk and limestone mix with little soil, and he also has parcels growing in argile-calcaire which is limestone, clay and silaceous sandy soils.
Each soil type contributes complexity and different characteristics to the wine: the caillottes produce wine that is dry, fresh, and forwardly fruity with finesse while the argile-calcaire creates wines that are structured with pronounced minerality and long-lived. It is just about the best combination you can have in a Sancerre.
Guillaume vinifies the grapes parcel by parcel to assure that the individual flavors and aromas are accentuated.
Sancerre is maybe the most refreshing white wine with its crisp acidity and lemony and mineral flavors.
There's something extraordinary about the Serge Laporte Sancerre. I don't know anyone who doesn't love it and, in fact, there are many people who just keep ordering it and ordering it so they never come up short. It was the first case of wine my fiancée (now husband) and I bought together.
Okay, I have made myself thirsty and the evening is coming on. I am moving towards the corkscrew. The Sancerre is already chilled in my refrigerator. What are you drinking tonight? -Margot Hurley, Cynthia Hurley French Wines
