Description
ALPHONSE MELLOT : Biodynamic Sancerre
REVIEWS
“True artists with Sauvignon… [the Mellot family’s] worthy aspirations have gradually raised them to the peaks of the great Sauvignons of the world. Alphonse Mellot’s white Sancerres are amongst the most brilliant and pure illustrations of the genius of the Sauvignon grape.” The World’s Greatest Wines, Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve
“A touch eccentric, and always boiling over with ideas, he [Alphonse Mellot] has taken the world of sauvignon blanc to new heights. The estate, though, is not a one-man show. With 55 hectares of organically farmed vineyards, [and] 45 employees… it is an orchestra conducted by a sometime delirious genius.” Joel B. Payne, vinousmedia.com
HISTORY
If anyone doubted Sauvignon Blanc’s place in the pantheon of Noble White Grapes (and many do), a walk through Alphonse Mellot’s famed La Moussière vineyard or a taste of any bottle of Mellot Sancerre should set matters straight. Mellot’s Sauvignons are capable of recalling great white Burgundy, sometimes Chablis, sometimes Côte d’Or. And they typically age better than most white burgundies do these days! Jacqueline Friedrich summed it up perfectly when she wrote; “Each Sancerre [from Mellot] is at its most elegant: discreetly herbaceous, a beautiful weave of citrus, oak and minerals.”
For those of you new to the wines of Alphonse Mellot, some context is important. For much of its recent history, the Mellot family has crafted its miraculous Sauvignons in a highly popular region where standards were continuously dropping and the viticulture and wine making was becoming more and more industrial. Alphonse Mellot was, and is, one of the beacons of quality in a region where today, some 98% of fruit is machine harvested. The terroir of Sancerre is beautiful, one of Europe’s great limestone soils. Unfortunately, the region’s immense popularity has encouraged apathy and opportunism and Sancerre remains very much a case of ‘All this Useless Beauty’, as Elvis Costello put it – great terroir full of largely untapped potential. Of course Mellot is not alone in bucking the trend: names like Cotat, Vacheron, Pinard and Boulay have also maintained very high standards. But the outspoken Mellot is the most visible, as the late Didier Dageneau had been in Pouilly.
La Moussière, where the estate’s most historic white wines are grown, is one of the most remarkable and best kept vineyards in France. It is a beautiful, south facing, rolling slope, with deep, limestone-rich, ploughed soils. The vines are densely planted (8,000-10,000 vines per-hectare) and there is a large percentage of old vines. Incredibly, 40 people are employed to manage 47 hectares! If anyone can be said to be guardians of Sancerre terrior, it is these hardy souls pruning through winter on the frigid slopes of La Moussière. Here, everything is done by hand, biodynamically and to immaculate standards. The winery is full of the kind of equipment (sorting tables, conveyor belts, pneumatic presses, large wooden temperature controlled fermentation tanks, etc.) that you only typically find in the finest Burgundy domains – absolutely no expense has been spared.
The La Moussière vineyard, Sancerre.
