Vacheron Sancerre: A Loire Valley Bottle for the Table

Meta description: Vacheron Sancerre brings citrus, herbs, minerality and length to the table, with the versatility Louis looks for in a Loire white.

“I don’t think I have ever had a bad Sancerre, but I can say that some are better than others.”

That is Louis Moskow’s starting point for the Vacheron Sancerre currently on the list at 315. Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc from the eastern Loire, and Louis considers Vacheron one of the best houses in the region, one he buys whenever it is available.

The bottle also comes through North Berkeley Imports, an importer Louis trusts. That matters to him. With Sancerre’s recent popularity, the bottles available can change often. Knowing the importer and producer helps Louis decide what earns a place on the list.

For a French restaurant, the region is fundamental. At 315, it also happens to give Louis the kind of white wine he can bring to many different plates.

Citrus, Herbs, Minerality and Acid

Louis describes the wine in direct terms: citrus fruit, herbs and cut grass on the nose. Minerality drives the palate, while the acid provides length.

Those characteristics are part of what makes Sancerre so useful at the table. The wine has enough structure to carry through dinner without asking the food to compete with it.

Louis also likes what happens after the first glass. The wine evolves as it sits in the glass. The aromas can move from citrus toward kiwi and gooseberry, while the minerality, herbs and acid continue to give it what Louis calls “nerve and length.”

There is a visual pleasure to it, too. Louis describes the wine swirling in the glass as looking like “liquid diamonds.”

That combination of clarity and structure is why this is more than a seasonal bottle for him. He considers it appropriate year round.

Goat Cheese, Oysters and the Sea

Goat cheese is one of Louis’s first choices with Sancerre. This month, that makes the Vacheron a natural partner for the Squash Blossom Beignets with Goat Cheese Fondue and Tomato Basil Sauce.

The blossoms are delicate and crisp. The goat cheese gives the plate weight, while the tomato contributes acidity. The Sancerre brings its own citrus, herbal character, minerality and acid to that balance. Neither the wine nor the plate needs to overwhelm the other.

Louis would take the bottle well beyond that pairing. He likes it with shellfish and other things from the sea, vegetable dishes, oysters and crudité. A fresh piece of grilled fish belongs beside it as well.

It can also begin dinner as an aperitif. That versatility is part of the point. A guest does not have to know the vocabulary of the Loire to understand why this bottle works. It can begin with oysters and continue through a plate from the kitchen.

A Sancerre Louis Buys When He Can

315’s list runs to roughly 400 selections and has held the Wine Spectator Award of

Excellence since 2000. A bottle such as Vacheron explains something about how Louis approaches that list. The producer matters. The importer matters. Most of all, the wine needs a reason to be at the table.

This one has many.

Louis’s line at the table is simple: “Drink this wine anytime and with anybody.”

315 is on Old Santa Fe Trail, dinner nightly, reservations at 315santafe.com.