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Now Viewing: Domaine Cotat (Francois)
Sancerre purists, take heart: not everyone in this legendary region has succumbed to the fashion for cocktail wine. Francois Cotat rejects "international style" Sauvignon Blanc—refreshing and palate-cleansing, but little more than grapefruit juice with alcohol—in favor of rustic, sinewy, old-fashioned Sancerre Cotat farms organically on 12 acres of southeast-facing slopes in Chavignol, one of fourteen villages authorized by French wine law to use the appellation "Sancerre". Despite years of heady demand (the passion for Sancerre in Paris bistros shows no sign of abating after four decades!) the vintner has resisted the temptation to expand. Which isn't to say that the grass hasn't seemed greener, elsewhere, on occasion. Cotat's steep slopes are back-breaking to hand cultivate, and only a vintner with a confirmed death wish would venture onto these hills with a tractor. But Cotat's site boasts terres blanches soil, and the fruits of that foundation—haunting scents and flavors of licorice, minerals, peach and orange zest-- are worth every gram of exertion. Cotat attended wine school in Beaune for exactly one semester—long enough to conclude that the university's high-tech bias didn't square with his family's ideals; he returned to Sancerre a confirmed traditionalist. Cotat Sancerres are late-picked for maximum flavor, crushed in a 19th century vertical wood press, then barrel-fermented using natural 'wild' yeasts. They are neither fined nor filtered. Truly the toast of the wine community, Cotat Sancerre has earned a 5-star ranking from Robert Parker—one of four so-honored among 31 rated—who salutes the family for producing "unfiltered, legendary Sancerres that are known for their extraordinary longevity." Jacqueline Friedrich is equally ecstatic ("What a wine, what a sense of winemaking ... whenever I review my notes I want to open another bottle").
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