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1 The Clos Henri vineyard,
Marlborough
This Spread
2 Henri Bourgeois
Sauvignon Blanc grapes
3 The vineyard cave
Loire Valley SauvignonBlancs reign supreme intheir intensity,
longevity andproound austerity
towards pleasant, early drinking wines thatare light and
savoury. Sauvignon Blanc gainedavour only ater the onset o
phylloxera in thelate 19th century, as it grated on to
Americanrootstock more successully.
Sancerre, and neighboring Pouilly
Fume, are separated by the Loire River andlie on the limestone
shel that runs romthe White Clis o Dover down throughChampagne and
Chablis. Tis unique chalkstratum, also known as KimmeridgianClay
and in parts, Marl, imparts a deningminerality and elevated natural
acidity tothe wines o the area.
he Kimmeridgian Marls are the oldestsoils in the area, producing
amous wines suchas the Cte des Monts Damns on the slopes
o Sancerre and La Demoiselle in PouillyFume. Although restrained
in their youth, theMarl wines possess strong personalities
thatgiven time express an abundance o exotic ruitaromas. Tey benet
greatly rom a bottle ageo ten years or more.
Some o the most seductive wines, comerom the stony int soils
ound alongside theLoire River, known locally as cailloux, whichin
much the same manner as the round riverpebbles o Chateauneu du
Pape, relect thesun's heat on to the vines, increasing theripeness
o the grapes and translating intoa powerul ramework o spicy scents
and asmoky intlock aroma with cutting acidity.
Jean-Marie Bourgeois and amily ownvineyards in this terroir,
near the village
o Chavignol, a region renowned or itsSauvignon Blanc, the amily
business growingrom two hectares in 1950 to an impressive65
hectares today. But Jean-Marie and hissons have recently purchased
a vineyard inthe Marlborough region o New Zealand as
well, Clos Henri. According to Jean-Marie, it waslargely the act
that this was a completelyu n t o u c h e d p i e c e o l a n d a n
d t h eanticipation o working unencumbered bythe laws and dictums o
France in a pristine,unadulterated environment that he oundso
irresistible. He also acknowledges theglobal success o the
Marlborough regionand the enticing phenomena o the peoplesSauvignon
Blanc, Cloudy Bay.
One can understand why MarlboroughSauvignon Blanc pushes all the
right buttonsin the mass-market. With New Zealand'senviable long,
dry radiant autumns and thecool night temperatures o the
southernextremities, they do not get bad vintages in
Marlborough. Its crowd-pleasing style lowsefortlessly orth with
its succulent stone-ruitand tropical mlange acidities balancing
outthe commercially palatable residual sugars.
Marlboroughs unashamedly and explicitlyruity, zesty
crowd-pleasing style o SauvignonBlanc is perectly suited to the
populardemands o the contemporary liestyle and themodern-day
palate. Its magnetism embodiedto its immediate and democratic
appeal as theconsummate social lubricant. While the Loire
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Text:CurtisMarsh
4 Clos Henri
Sauvignon Blanc
5 La Bourgeoise
Sancerre Blanc
6 70-year-old vines
in Sancerre
Valley Sauvignon Blancs reign supreme in theirintensity,
longevity and proound austerity andare relentlessly orientated
towards ood and
convivial dining.his is not to say Clos Henri does nothave a
unique terroir, indeed the very wordClos is an old French word
delineating aunique vineyard site enclosed by a wall. Inthe case o
Clos Henri it requires imaginationto envisage the wooden ence posts
andnumber-eight-wire as a wall around what wasonce a sheep station.
It contains a soil largelypristine and totally ree rom the
ertilisers andpesticides that are so prevalent in France.
It was this healthy soil that convincedJean-Marie Bourgeois and
his amily that thevineyard represented a unique opportunity tostart
a bio-riendly vineyard completely romscratch. Te rst vines were
planted in 2001.
Clos Henri actually has three specic soiltypes, which naturally
divide the property. Tesouthern Wither Hills with their
signiicant
gradient leading to gentler undulations havean alluvium stony
soil mixed with yellow-greyearths rich in minerals, yet ree
draining, andthey are seen as the Antipodean cousin to theBourgeois
slopes in Sancerre.
Lower down on the gentler slopes, thesoil changes to grey-brown
clays speckled withochre indicating a rich iron content that ismore
suited to Pinot Noir and gutsy winesull o lavour and length. he
latlands arethe ancient riverbed soils o the old WairauRiver, so
central to Marlborough's success
with Sauvignon Blanc. hese ree-draininggravel soils can be up to
1.5 metres in depth,orcing the vines to send their roots deeper,
theresulting water stress producing elegant wines
with crisp, mineral nishes and an accentuateddepth o ruit.
In the vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc is a
vigorous vine that requires work to keep thecanopy and oliage
under control, but thisquality also contributes to its
commercialviability and success, as Sauvignon Blanc is arelatively
generous cropper that retains goodavours and balance even at
relatively higheryields than those o many other white
varieties.
hat said, the window o ripeningor Sauvignon Blanc is
rustratingly smalland requires vigilant scrutiny as there is
aprecariously ine line between either under-
Henri Bourgeois Pouilly Fume 2006
Potent scents o gooseberry, passion ruit and
graperuit with a lemon sherbet zesty character
underpin the chalkiness and finty, smoky minerals.
Strong passion ruit lavours on entry, lots o
graperuit and sweet mandarin succulence, then
a sudden twist to tangy lemon that tightens up,
becoming incredibly racy towards the back palate,
with amazing concentrations o graperuit and
reshly squeezed lemon. Lovely chalky grip on the
arewell with pronounced linty, graphite lavours
and impressive length.
Henri Bourgeois Sancerre Les Baronnes 2006
More reserved than Pouilly Fume, subtle lime,
pears and green apple, nettles and minty Laksa
lea aromas. With a complex bouquet containing
raw almond nuances and sea salt, wet earth and
limestone minerality. It has a very tightly coiled
palate and a most impressive structure: lean and
taut with a tantalising razor sharp lemon palate
and invigorating spicy, pickled ginger and wasabi
Family Favourites
heat, rising amongst the lemongras
Incredibly intense acidity, chalky and i
rock salt, with a back palate o biting
some delicious hints o sweetness a
long arewell o lemon and cold mou
minerality that inishes as dry as Tar
Sunday! An exhilarating wine, it is the q
o Sauvignon Blanc.
Clos Henri 2007
Snowpea shoot, garden mint, goosebe
sweeter perume o ripe kiwi ruit, plen
in the graperuit, and some tropical s
o guava and resh ig. Fleshy and z
on entry, then a rush o succulent ru
much tighter on the mid-palate with exc
acidity, one senses the house style, yet
the feshiness and presence o Marlborou
For more inormation on both regions an
Bourgeois wines visit, www.bourgeois-sa
and www.clos-henri.com
ripe or over-ripe picking. he key issue withripeness is to
achieve a level that avoids theunappealing cooked asparagus, green
capsicumor overt-herbaceous characters o unripeSauvignon Blanc,
while at the same time notpushing the envelope so ar that
over-ripenessresults in a sweet syrup that sacrices the
vitalnatural acidity, resulting in a abby wine thatleaves the mouth
gluey and struggling to nishthe rst glass.
On the subject o sweetness, the residualsugars in Sauvignon
Blanc are obviously aactor exploited commercially by the large
new
world producers, with ive or six grams perlitre (RS g/l) not
uncommon in Marlborough.Most o the old world producers, and
thesmall quality vineyards among the new world
wineries, tend to be much drier in style,somewhere around two or
three RS g/l. Tereis also more importance placed on a naturallyhigh
acidity with cooler-climate styles and
wines rom the Loire Valley oten nudging abracing 7 grams
tartaric acidity (g/l /A).
In the winery Sauvignon Blanc is similarto Riesling in that the
less intervention thereis in the winemaking process the better.
Tatis not to say, throw it in the tank and leaveit alone, precision
temperature-controlled
ermentation in stainless steel tanks isrequired, along with a
meticulous attentionto detail that includes minimal contact
with
the skins in order to avoid any phenoliclavours, and rigorous
cleanliness, which isthe key to preserving the vivacious,
zingyreshness and naturally expressive perumeand ruit o Sauvignon
Blanc.
It is generally accepted that new oak,with the emphasis on new,
agrees with mostSauvignon Blanc wines although the exceptionto the
rule is the most powerul, mineral-driven wines rom very old vines
in certainSancerre and Pouilly Fume terroirs: wines suchas Sancerre
La Bourgeoise Blanc, and SancerredAntan, which were made without
ning oriltration rom vines planted in lint soils in1936, or
Sancerre Etienne Henri producedrom 50 to 60 year-old vines planted
in int.
Marlborough SauvignonBlanc pushes all the rightbuttons in the
mass-market
Tese wines also have the added nuances andcomplexities o
extended contact with deadyeast cells, or lees, and batonage, the
stirring o
the lees, where they integrate with the oak overtime and need a
minimum o three or ouryears to show at their best.
However , a l in e must be dr awnbetween grapes that can be
enhanced bysuch techniques and winemakers that arebored, or
ambitious marketers trying toraise Sauvignon Blancs status to the
realmso Chardonnay, namely a White Burgundy.Frequently employing
the completely passand convoluted manoeuvre o a reserve
wine,invariably over-priced.
hi s i s ve ry much the case wi thSauvignon Blanc produced in
the USA,
where Robert Mondavi exploited the oldLoire Valley synonym or
Sauvignon Blanc,
Blanc Fum. At the same timthe association o the name wFume and
inventing Fume Bl
unquestionably a marketing shabitual oak barrel ermenting anthe
Sauvignon Blanc results in a wthe requisite depth o ruit andnone o
the grapes character.
Discussing the dierentcharacteristics o Sancerre and Po
with Jean-Marie Bourgeois wenlightening experience. I was
hosurprised how typical o MarlbClos Henri was as I expected
texhibit more o a French inuencthe Bourgeois amily is determin
will relect its own terroir, perhsubtle house style and the
years lending some extra individuality.
