Famille Thomas Sancerre Les Creots 2020

Famille Thomas Sancerre Les Creots 2020

The Thomas family has been making wine in Sancerre since 1670! Under 13th generation winemaker, Julien, the Domaine practices biodynamics, putting the emphasis on the vineyard and allowing each plots unique soil type to shine through. Here, the vines are rooted in limestone yeah, who cares, right? So much else going on so lets get right to the wine.

This is delicious and pretty serious Sancerre for the $. The nose is classic Sancerre delicate notes of white flowers and fresh-cut grass lead quickly to brighter aromas of gooseberries and grapefruit. The palate is rich and broad, meaning it really coats your tongue and the flavors are not shy, loaded with grapefruit, tangerine zest, and green apples. Flinty mineral notes are abundant throughout and add balance to the fruit.

The richness comes from three sources the soil, the yields, and batonnage on the lees. The soil we touched on the yields are as low as 40 hectoliters/hectare. The appellation allows for as much as 60 hl/ha. The lower yields mean the vines focus more energy on ripening the grapes, resulting in more intense, complex flavors. Anyone who has grown tomatoes knows all about this! And batonnage on the lees? The lees are the spent yeast cells leftover from fermentation. Leaving them in contact with the wine for 6-8 months, as the Thomas family does, adds richness and a creamy mouthfeel. Botonnage is the stirring of the wine to allow the lees to come into more contact with the juice. Put it all together and you have a wonderfully rich Sancerre!