A Ramble to Sancerre

Today we drove with Mary and Gilles to Sancerre, about an hour and a half south of Bois-le-Roi. The motivation for making this trip was simple: buy some Sancerre wine from a small winery that we know and appreciate. So off we went.

The Town of Sancerre

Sancerre is a small and pretty hilltop town.

Looking at the hills of grapes from Sancerre.

It is also a dying hilltop town. If it weren’t for the area’s famous white wines, I suspect Sancerre would have been a ghost town long ago. Now, it’s set up to handle tourists who come to try-and-buy the wines, and I suspect July and August see Sancerre crowded. But a rainy June weekday, not so much.

Beautiful street, but empty of people.

The weather has, so far this trip, been, oh, “crappy” might describe it. Today was more of the same, though we did have some sun breaks…

Oh-oh, that sky looks awfully dark…

Get out the umbrellas!

Now Sancerre is deserted and wet.

Oh, well, time to go get some wine, after a stop for lunch and to buy some cheese.

This is a brag photo: there are twenty-two types of cheese in this display case. Laurie and I have had nineteen of them, and will have the twentieth tomorrow night. Not bad for furriners.

Then it was on to our favorite little winery down here. This picture shows why we call it the anti-Napa winery:

Note: no hats or shirts for sale, no fancy tasting room (this is the same room where they bottle the wine), no tasting fee (in fact, we bought enough that the proprietaire gave us each a bottle free). Just excellent wine. Excellent wine!

The view from the tasting counter. Equipment for bottling and corking, and in the back, many bottles from vintages not yet labeled or ready to sell. Not exactly like the tasting rooms of Napa Valley.

The happy tasters.

How much did we buy?

Lots.

When we were here in 2013, we wanted to go try some Sancerre, because in several Chief Inspector Maigret books the Chief Inspector drinks Sancerre. We were on a trip to the neighboring city of Bourges so we came to Sancerre region and tried some. I have to tell you, it was an epiphany for us previously-not-white-wine-drinkers. We love this wine, and it opened up the world of white wines to us. We have tried many since and though Chablis has gained on it, Sancerre remains our favorite white wine and one of our favorite wines, period. A lovely, crisp Sauvignon Blanc wine.

Gien

On the way home we stopped at Gien, famous for its faience – glazed ceramic ware. We stopped at a place that sells “Deuxieme Choix” (seconds), and discontinued lines. Even at that, this stuff is seriously expensive. I liked best an espresso cup/saucer combination, at about $50. Didn’t spring for it. Given those prices, you can guess what this table setting cost:

My SWAG: somewhere in the $5,000 – $7,000 range. Didn’t spring for that, either.

A nice day. Returned with lots of wine and more good memories. What could be better?