Francois Crochet Sancerre Les Amoureuses 2023

Francois Crochet Sancerre Les Amoureuses 2023

After enology studies and stints at many wineries (highlighted by Domaine Bruno Clair), François took over his father’s Sancerre winery in Bué. Approximately 11 hectares on 30 parcels display a range of aspects from flat to steep, and north to south. Most of the grapes are the lieux-dits Le Petit Chemarin, Le Grand Chemarin, Le Chêne Marchand and Les Exils. Organic certified and working with biodynamic methods, the terroirs range between Kimmeridgian limestone marls, silex, various other limestone formations, and iron-rich clay. He’s one of the first growers in the appellation to pick, and the whites are whole cluster pressed and fermented and aged in steel or old tronconic oak vats. François’ Sancerre Rosé made entirely from Pinot Noir undergoes a short maceration with the fermentation and aging in steel. While a master of white, his reds are also revered in his appellation and are fermented in stainless and aged in old tronconic oak vats. They’re unfined, lightly filtered, and contain added SO2. 

Les Amoureuses comes from 3 parcels around Bué on gentle to medium slopes facing southerly directions at 260-290 meters on limestone bedrock and deep clay topsoil. Whole-cluster pressed, cold settled overnight, followed by a natural fermentation in steel with aging up to 18 months in various containers (depending on the year and taste of the grapes) between steel, old oak tronconic (vertical) oak, concrete vats and egg-shaped vessels.