Georges Duboeuf is a name most often seen on Beaujolais, but the house also works across the Loire, and this is Sauvignon Blanc in its plainest, most useful form. Vin de Pays is the broad French category below the named appellations, which means the grapes can come from a wider sweep of the Loire and the winemaking is left to the producer rather than tied to village rules.
- Sauvignon Blanc, Loire, France.
- Vin de Pays, the wide French country tier.
- 2021, dry, light bodied, 12.5%.
- High acidity, low tannin.
- Citrus, green apple, gooseberry, herbaceous, mineral.
How it is made
Sauvignon Blanc is a thin-skinned, early-ripening grape that keeps its acid even in warm years, which is why it turns up all over the Loire. Vin de Pays sits below the appellation system, so the wine is not bound to one village or one set of yield rules. The grapes are pressed cool and fermented in stainless steel, a method that protects the grape's own aromatics rather than building flavour in the cellar.
How it tastes
Lemon and grapefruit first, then green apple and gooseberry, with a grassy, herbaceous edge underneath. The acidity is high and the body light, so it reads lean rather than soft, and there is a chalky, mineral finish that keeps the fruit from sitting flat. Dry throughout, with no sweetness to round off the edges.
Good to know
The Loire is France's longest river and its vineyards run nearly its whole length, from the Atlantic coast down to the Massif Central. Sauvignon Blanc is thought to have originated in the Loire and Bordeaux, and it is a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, crossed with Cabernet Franc sometime in the 1700s.
