"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> 2003s are out already? I had the 2002 Jolivet Sancerre recently, thought
it a
> clear Sancerre with distinct minerality of flint & chalk. Can't imagine
> mistaking for Marlborough. If this clearly had no sense of place, I'd
wonder if
> the freakish weather of 2003 just ripened the fruit in the Loire past the
point
> it shows at its most typical.

This wine (the 2003) didn't display any trace of overripeness. The varietal
grassiness characteristic of SB picked before full maturity was there, as
was the very pale color and modest alcohol (12½%).

> You think "good" white winemakers obliterate terroir?

Perhaps I didn't phrase that quite as well as I might have. Some winemakers
settle the solids out of the juice prior to fermentation and ferment only
the clear liquid; others ferment everything that comes through the press.
The difference in style between wines made by the former and the latter
methods is very distinct. The latter method produces less pure and
sometimes downright awful wines.

There is an in-between style that includes the _light_ solids in the
fermentation and discards the heavy solids. Perhaps this method of "walking
the fence" is responsible for what you might regard as "character",
"complexity" or "terroir" in the finished wine. Certainly, it isn't as
risky.

Personally, I prefer to use the cleanest juice I can get. It's a lot safer,
and renders a wine that is expressive of almost solely fruit and whatever
oak I choose to impart.

Tom S