Issuing from 75 year old vines in the flinty, south-facing St. Satur vineyard of Les Ruchons, Bourgeois' barrique-raised, December-bottled, and not-yet-released 2010 Sancerre d'Antan displays a similar intrusion of wood and bifurcation between vaguely confectionary notes and tart lemon as I observed in the corresponding Etienne Henri cuvee. What's more, there is already a worrisomely drying note in the finish that I am also quite confident in ascribing to wood. To be sure, there are interesting things going on in the nose: suggestions of basil and green tea, along with intimations of mineral elements. And a welcome sense of vibratory intensity accrues to the combination of citrus and stony impingement. But there is also considerable finishing bitterness, which the resinous side of oak reinforces rather than assuaging. I would certainly not have confidence in holding this for more than a few years. (The 2009 tasted alongside was also awkwardly oaky, drying and - not surprisingly, given its vintage - lacked the redeeming energy or modicum of primary juiciness of the 2010. The un-recommendable 2002 was deep in color, with almost burnt aromatic pungency; oxidized, rough phenolics; and a finish thin on flavor and lacking enticement.) Jean-Marie Bourgeois, son Arnaud, and nephew Jean-Christophe are only the three most conspicuous members of the extended Bourgeois family - each with his or her specialty, I was told - who oversee nearly 200 acres of vines in 70 villages of Sancerre and Pouilly (at one point comprising nearly a thousand named family plots, though today concentrated into 'only' 120 major parcels), not counting contracts covering vastly more acreage; the 52-acre Domaine Laporte (owned by Bourgeois since 1986, and covered separately in the present report); myriad holdings in less prestigious sectors of the Eastern Loire; and an estate " Clos Henri " in Marlborough, New Zealand. If that sounds overwhelming, believe me, so is the array of wines they presented to me in April, even after concentrating entirely on the two prestigious appellations and skipping the odd cuvee here and there. Time spent in the vineyards with the present generation made clear their degree of dedication and willingness to do things in a labor-intensive (and to a significant degree organic) way. Forty percent of the Bourgeois' total acreage - including all of that planted to Pinot - is harvested by hand. There is an ambitious and long-running program - indeed, apparently almost continuous since the estate's 1950 inception - of massale selection and site-matching. And you certainly can't deny that this family is inventive, in for example experimenting as they explained to me with a "musical treatment" of vines being tested to ward off esca. (That's right: the vines are bombarded from loudspeakers!) Forty-two acres of Bourgeois vines are in Chavignol - a third or more in the Monts Damnes - as are an array of sophisticated gravity-fed winemaking, vast cellaring, and fashionably appointed selling facilities, mingled with various family members' homes, so that I began to imagine that nearly the whole west side of town is in Bourgeois hands. Special attention is paid to gentle pressing, long-settling, but thereafter the retention and utilization (including stirring) of lees, whether it's for a tank- or barrel-rendered cuvee. I wish I could report that the wines consistently reflect the intense earnestness and articulacy that was evident from my interactions with the affable principles of this estate. The generic and less expensive single-site bottlings I tasted were unexciting and on occasion - even from 2011, though especially in 2010s where Arnaud Bourgeois acknowledges that "the level of malic acid was high" - grassy, green apple-y and marginally under-ripe-tasting. The estate's top-priced bottlings were often pronouncedly bitter and distorted by the influence of oak. The latter group represents wines the team here envisions for long keeping, but the numerous back vintages I tasted - all of which, incidentally, are still for sale as library releases at a slight price premium - suggested fruit rendered fragile and potential floral or mineral nuances easily swept away by time, in part, I suspect, due to the effects of wood, but perhaps also on account of the combination of relatively severe pre-fermentative settling with relatively aggressive later lees-stirring. Happily, between the ground floor and their ostensibly top tier, I found many Bourgeois wines to admire and strongly recommend!Various importers, including Monsieur Touton Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 255-0674
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