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March 19, 2009
Dominique Roger:
If you visit Dominique Roger (photo) at his Domaine du Carrou in Bué, don't expect to spend a leisurely time indoors tasting the latest vintage and hearing all about the new Vaslin press or the Tronçais barrels from a famous cooper in Burgundy. Dominique Roger won't try to impress you with his tools. But if you can keep up with him on a brisk climb through his immaculate, steep vineyards, you'll learn a lot more about wine, and maybe find that you suddenly care a lot more about who grows it and where it comes from than you ever did before.
Sancerre "Chêne Marchand" Domaine du Carrou 2007:
This citrine-yellow wine has delicate nectarine, white peach and pink grapefruit in the nose, along with a suggestion of cassis and walnut, which on the palate turns to pistachio. There is fine minerality in harmonious balance with what Klaus Peter Keller calls "inner density" and lively acidity. This is sublimely elegant Sancerre.
When the famous taster Pierre Bréjoux headed the I.N.A.O (the governing body that regulates wine in France), he observed that while tasting the greatest wines of Sancerre, "...one would like to have a throat as long as a swan's neck." His I.N.A.O never classified the vineyards of Sancerre, but if that ever happens, the chalky, sloping Chêne Marchand in the hamlet of Bué will be at the top of the list of its Grands Crus.
Dominique Roger has 0.37 hectares of forty year-old vines in Chêne Marchand, the crown jewel of his Domaine du Carrou. In 2007, this tiny parcel yielded only 175 cases of round, elegant Sancerre.
Located in the famous village of Bue in Sancerre, the 10-hectare Domaine du Carrou has been owned and operated by the Roger family since the 17th century. Vigneron Dominique Roger carefully tends his vines, creating high quality expressions of sauvignon blanc that are crisp, steely and dry. The 2007 Sancerre is a minerally, clean wine with refreshing acidity that will leave you wanting more.
'A miniscule quantity of this beautiful wine is produced each year from the chalky-clay soil of the village of Bué. This is Sauvignon from very old vines, carefully selected, and vinified without the support of wood. It is rich, multi-layered, very smooth and silky on the palate, with very enticing scents and a long aftertaste. This cuvée is dedicated to Dominique Roger's great-grandfather Jules and his love of winemaking.'
-- Greg Moore, Moore Brothers Wine Company, June 27, 2008