Alphonse Mellot

 
 


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  Tasting reviews by M. Bettane and T. Desseauve
Tasting notes by Bettane & Desseauve 29/12/2003

2002 VINTAGE - WHITE SANCERRE

Edmond 2002, white - 9.5 / 10

I have trouble imagining any sauvignon wine could be more remarkable at its birth: the body of the wine is really full and balanced, the grape at ideal ripeness. Its length on the palate is the signature of a great terroir. This year has confirmed that this is without doubt the greatest success the estate has had for two generations and that we do now have the means to produce the best wines in history - if we want to.

Sancerre Génération XIX 2002, white 9.5 / 10

Admirable, delicately menthol aroma, sumptuous body: the grape was perfect and the vinification practically ideal. It is hard to imagine a greater Sancerre! All the effort taken with the vines has paid off.

La Moussière 2002, white - 9 / 10

A remarkable success: a very pure and discreet aroma of white fruits and a woody note at the start, better integrated than in the 2001, the wine is clear, vigorous, magnificently frank. This vintage has set the bar very high for the estate and for the whole Appellation.
And remember, this is the producer's basic cuvée!

2002 VINTAGE - RED SANCERRE

Sancerre En Grands Champs 2002, red - 9 / 10

This wine is going to surprise its fans with the power and harmony of its body and its aromatic nobility (increased tenfold if decanted long enough before drinking), creating a grand cru impact on the palate.
A great stride forward has been made and I am willing to bet that this wine will be rivalling the great Burgundies in ten or twelve years.

Sancerre Génération XIX 2002, red - 9 / 10

Successful synthesis of the Demoiselles and Grands Champs cuvées, this Sancerre combines the floral finesse of the Demoiselles and the noble red cherries aroma of Grands Champs. A complete wine, with harmonious, complex tannin, and another stage in the affirmation of this cuvée in the front rank of European pinots noirs.

Sancerre Demoiselle 2002, red - 8 / 10

The wine provides plenty of tone in the fruit with vivacity, on a remarkable body with a looser tannin than the 2000.

Sancerre La Moussière 2002, red - 7.5 / 10

On lovely fruit, this charming wine, plain and natural, has a balance never before equalled for this cuvée. One would take it for the aristocratic expression of a great Savigny!

2001 VINTAGE - WHITE SANCERRE

Sancerre Génération XIX 2001, white - 9.5 / 10
The cask is better integrated than for the Moussière and the nose shines out for its precision, clarity and complexity. This wine cannot be described by the type of its aromas but by the formal perfection of its texture, its sophistication in retro-olfaction and above all by the prodigious balance it embodies between the perfection of the grape and the noble minerality it draws from an exceptional terroir.
All young winemakers, even the non-idealistic, should follow its example.

Sancerre Edmond 2001, white - 9 / 10

A grand cru in all its glory and a serious rival in every sense to the world's great chardonnays, which it fully equals in body whilst benefiting from the astounding aromatic freshness of the sauvignon grape. There is quality here which I confess I could never have imagined in this appellation, together with superb laying-down potential.

2000 VINTAGE- WHITE SANCERRE

Sancerre Edmond 2000, white - 9 / 10

Yet another almost perfect Edmond with its marvellously fresh and crystalline nose, its delicate, full body, its rock spring water finish. Once one has experienced the magic of this type of wine one is never again caught in the trap of "authentic wines" produced with no technical skill and even disguised by the wood! This wine deserves the very best fish your fishmonger has to offer!

Sancerre Génération XIX 2000, white - 9 / 10

The Edmond's aroma raised hints of lemon, this cuvée tends more towards broom, but the rest of our comments are at the same (superlative) standard: body, aromatic purity, transparency of finish. Another tour de force, in my view unequalled in contemporary Loire winemaking except possibly Didier Dagueneau!



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