Crochet Sancerre Pinot Rosé, Loire Valley, France

Lucien Crochet’s great-grandfather married into the Picard family, who had been winegrowers in Sancerre since 1765, and thus laid the foundations of Domaine Lucien Crochet. The estate now owns thirty- one hectares of vineyards planted in various parts of four communes in the Sancerre appellation, including the largest single holding of vineyard property in Bué. Hand harvesting – a rarity in Sancerre – and the use of indigenous yeasts give particularly nuanced, elegant wines.

Several vineyard sites provide grapes for this rosé, including the Côte de Bué and the Clos du Roy, where the vines are thirty-five years old. Two different soil types feature: Oxfordian limestone and Kimmeridgian marl.

The grapes were direct pressed; eight-five percent of the juice was transferred to tempterature-controlled tanks and fifteen percent to oak barrels for a twenty-day fermentation. The wine was bottled in the March following the vintage.