Vincent Pinard

NEW WINES - due spring 2024 and 2025 for single vineyards - Pinard Brothers

Tiny amounts of 3 wines produced in 2023 from terroirs that are worked (but not owned) by the Vincent Pinard family.

In 2023, due to nature’s huge yields, the Pinards green harvested as much as 35% of the crop to allow the vine to concentrate its efforts or the equivalent of 28hl/ha. Thus, its first two white releases from 2023, Florès and Nuance, show more concentration than most, while its 2023 Rosé is a real gem. The 2022s are much more concentrated, tender and round while still retaining tension. Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, July 2024

2023 Pinard Brothers Sancerre Echoes - NEW
This first wine comes from the vines of their cousin Jean-Vincent Pinard in the village of Amigny which is located between Bué and Chavignol. The vineyard is worked organically (not yet certified). Vinification for this wine is similar to that of Florès, using their own natural yeast, ageing in large neutral wooden vats for 6 months, minimal sulphur during élevage (volcanic sulphur, handmade by the Pinards).

Bottled without fining in April 2024 it shows great finesse and is deliciously approachable now with an intriguing note of tangerine and a hint of phenolics making for a beautifully structured Sancerre.

2023 Pinard Brothers Sancerre La Moussière - due 2025
This parcel is managed by the Pinard brothers where they do the organic and bio-dynamic treatments themselves. The vineyard is certified organic and owned by a friend who worked with the Pinard brothers for some years. La Moussière is on Kimmeridgian soil not far from Bué. The vines are over 50 years old and enjoy a full-south exposition. Vinified with the Pinards own natural yeast and aged in large Tonnellerie Lacroix oak. This first vintage is due for bottling in October. To be released late 2024 and due in Australia in early 2025.

2023 Pinard Brothers Sancerre Les Grands Champs - due 2025
This parcel is also managed by the Pinard brothers where they do the organic and bio-dynamic treatments themselves. The vineyard is certified organic and owned by a friend who worked with the Pinard brothers for some years. Les Grands Champs is on Kimmeridgian soil and adjoins La Moussière. The vines are over 40 years old and enjoy a south to south-south-east exposure. Vinified with the Pinards own natural yeast and aged in Amphora, demi-muid and stainless steel vat. This first vintage is due for bottling around October. To be released late 2024 and due in Australia in early 2025.

The ‘Village’ (Estate) Wine

2023 Sancerre Florès
2023 has produced a brilliant set of vibrant and concentrated wines at Vincent Pinard, and this is the flag-bearer which can be found in many of France’s 3 star restaurants, some of which have been pouring and listing it for 50 years or more. Which only serves to highlight the consistency of the domaine, from Vincent’s father’s tenure, right through Vincent’s and now on to that of his sons Florent and Clément. Fruit for Florès is selected from their younger vines (but now pushing 40 years old!) around Bué, all estate owned. The key vineyards are Emois, Vallons, Petit Chemarin, Le Bourg, Crépon, Dargente and Bois Brulés. From the 2020 vintage onward the wine is fermented in a minimum of 95 % large oak cask and 5 % stainless steel, as the brothers have progressively increased the use of large oak over the last several years. The result is a wine that is still crisp and racy in the classic Sancerre style, but also with more texture, depth and complexity than it had 10 years ago.

‘The 2023 Florés is a success in a challenging year. A rigorous green harvest might have been the defining factor - the Pinards green harvested as much as 35% of the crop to allow the vine to concentrate its efforts or the equivalent of 28hl/ha. The result is a greatly refreshing Sancerre with pear, pineapple and elderflower flavors. There's a hint of flesh tenderness and a supple character. An appealing chalk texture resides on the gently refreshing, ripe acid rather than a racy finish.’ 89 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, July 2024.

2021 Sancerre Florès - last cases
2021 has produced an outstanding suite of wines at Vincent Pinard, and this is the flag-bearer which can be found in many of France’s 3 star restaurants, some of which have been pouring and listing it for 50 years or more. Which only serves to highlight the consistency of the domaine, from Vincent’s father’s tenure, right through Vincent’s and now on to that of his sons Florent and Clément. Fruit for Florès is selected from their younger vines (but now pushing 40 years old!) around Bué, all estate owned. The key vineyards are Emois, Vallons, Petit Chemarin, Le Bourg, Crépon, Dargente and Bois Brulés. From the 2020 vintage onward the wine is fermented in a minimum of 95 % large oak cask and 5 % stainless steel, as the brothers have progressively increased the use of large oak over the last several years. The result is a wine that is still crisp and racy in the classic Sancerre style, but also with more texture, depth and complexity than it had 10 years ago.

‘The 2021 Florès is a very delicate style that offers breadth without heaviness. Having undergone the malolactic conversion, there's a touch of creaminess and roundness, which brings an approachability and ease to this acid-rich vintage. If you want a delightful aperitif this summer, start here. Drink 2023-2026.’ 89 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, July 2023.

The ‘Premier Cru’

2020 Sancerre Nuance - SOLD OUT
From 40 year-old vines grown on Caillottes terroir (small stones over limestone) in Bué, selected from the vineyards of La Thibaude, Les Garennes and Les Grands Champs, Nuance is one of the domaine’s ‘Premier Cru’ wines. The fruit is hand picked, hand sorted and then whole-bunch pressed to tank for a cool, slow fermentation over about 4 weeks. The wine is aged on fine lees for 9 months in equal portions of stainless steel tanks, older barriques and demi-muids (600 L). This shows a big step up in texture and intensity, with a hint of smokiness on the nose and fine chalky minerality on the palate.

The ‘Grand Crus’ (Single Vineyard Wines)

2020 Sancerre Chêne Marchand
“The 2020 Sancerre Chêne Marchand is initially a tender wine with a mass of concentration packed into an airy cloud of a wine. The wine is held together by a line of acidity and mineral structure providing length and focus. The nettle-suffused finish as slightly spoiled by anote of alcohol that warms on the finish (14%). but that really is picking faults. Drink 2023-2033.” 94 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, July 2022.

2021 Sancerre Chêne Marchand - very limited
“The 2021 Sancerre Chêne Marchand is a powerful, long-lived style with masses of concentration inside a mid-weight package. There is a ripeness of almost tropical fruit alongside nectarines and a touch of green gooseberry. A light creamy flavour joins the fruit. It is impressive structured and firm. This will go the distance. Drink 2023-2033.” 95 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, July 2023.

2021 Sancerre Le Château - very limited
A new single vineyard cuvée since 2015. The lieu-dit of Le Château sits on a south facing slope above Bué and the domaine’s plot was planted in 1968 and 1972. Here the soil is Kimmeridgian marl (limestone and clay), which is a bit of a rarity in Bué, where most of the terroir is the more gravelly Oxfordian limestone. The fruit is hand-picked, hand-sorted and then whole-bunch pressed to 600 litre demi-muids for fermentation, followed by 9 months maturation on fine lees. A stunning wine of notable intensity and complexity which benefits from decanting and the finest stemware. Served blind this will challenge and more than compete in a line-up of fine white Burgundies. A very substantial wine with great energy and the structure to age effortlessly.

“The 2021 Sancerre Le Chateau offers delightful yet delicate aromas reminiscent of elderflower, ripe peach and a mild creamy flavor (mlf). It is a very relaxed wine that seems to have just finished a meditation session. While it is approachable now, there remains a strength to this wine on the finish - a lightly chalky tannic grip, which provides substance and structure. Drink 2023-2035.” 92 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, July 2023.

2022 Sancerre Le Château
“The 2022 Le Château is a finely poised style offering both tension and tenderness. Yes, the fruit is ripe with a lemon barley nature and elderflower, but it also retains a gentle freshness that's backed up by a fine, chalky line and rich structure. The 2022 is a relatively quiet wine and will come into its own as it progresses in bottle. A Sancerre that needs food.” 94 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, July 2024.

2022 Sancerre Grand Chemarin
“A precise, salty white, the 2022 Grand Chemarin spends a year in demi-muids on lees. It has a rich, youthful plumpness and flesh that comes from the warm vintage and a creamy texture. Ripe peach flavors speak of a warmer location, but it's held in place by a fine belt of tension that the site's chalk can explain. It finishes with great momentum.” 93 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, July 2024.

2022 Sancerre Chêne Marchand
“The 2022 Chêne Marchand is a richly fruited wine offering creamy notes and ripe peach fruit. While it's an opulent style for a Sancerre, it never becomes heavy, plus it has an almost tannic edge, providing a frame and reassuring structure that grips the palate, suggesting that this has longevity. There's a fine, briny character throughout. Having tasted the killer 1996 vintage a few minutes afterward, you can be sure this wine has a long life ahead.” 93 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, July 2024.