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The Domaine de la Potine comes from a 2-hectare parcel of Sauvignon Blanc planted on a gentle slope of sandy clay-limestone that looks over the river Cher. The wine ferments in stainless steel cuves, and is bottled in late winter. In the glass, this beautiful Touraine Sauvignon has a pale green-gold color with flashes of platinum at the edge. Aromas of gooseberries, green apples, grapefruit oil, and boxwood emerge in the nose, with fleeting suggestions of elderflower, lemongrass, and cassis moving in and out of the foreground as the wine evolves in the glass. On the palate, the wine is sleek and juicy, with oily, briny flavors that echo the nose, including fresh ginger, honeysuckle, and fennel, all interwoven with salty clam shell minerality and palate cleansing acidity. This is especially good with fresh goat cheeses, but the wine is very adaptable (I even like it with red-sauced pasta).
About this wine producer: Vincent Ricard assumed control of his family’s vines in 1998 and immediately quit the local cooperative that his grandfather had founded, deciding instead to estate-bottle his entire production. Within a few years, his beautiful, handcrafted wines had been placed by sommeliers at Michelin-starred restaurants throughout France, rivaling those of top producers in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Vincent farms seventeen hectares of vines, the majority of which are Sauvignon Blanc (including vines that date back to the 1950s), as well as a small amount of Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The farming is entirely organic, along with principles of biodynamics, which Vincent encountered while working under Didier Dagueneau in Pouilly-Fumé and François Chidaine in Montlouis.
$15.00
This wine is a sleeper success. It has a ripeness and richness, that grassiness and poise that attest to the ongoing value of Loire Valley whites. Skip the Oyster Bay or Nobilo from the market, and come to Moore Brothers for this delightful little Touraine and taste what a Sauvignon Blanc can be. It's a joy!
Very good white. Mildly sweet. Susan and Mary like.