Pascal Jolivet Attitude Sauvignon Blanc, Val de Loire, France 2018 (£9.99, Waitrose) Say ‘sauvignon blanc’ and New Zealand is the place that comes to mind. This must have irked the winemakers of the Loire, who’d been using the grape for centuries before the New Zealanders got going. But today you get the impression they’re happy their peers in the Southern Hemisphere raised awareness of their variety, and have even absorbed a winemaking trick or two from them. Kiwi Cuvée from Lacheteau is one of the Loire’s biggest producers, while a number of Loire winemakers now make sauvignon blanc in New Zealand. But if the stylistic gap between the two has narrowed, it’s still possible to talk of a Loire tendency, a certain restraint and raciness deliciously exemplified in sauvignon master Pascal Jolivet’s delicious Attitude.
Taste the Difference Pouilly-Fumé, Loire, France 2017 (£13, Sainsbury’s) Pascal Jolivet made his name with the wines he made in the Loire’s most famous sauvignon appellation, Sancerre. The classic style is cool, fresh, gently verdant. When I drink a Sancerre such as Hubert Brochard 2018 (£15.99, Waitrose), I imagine stony riverbeds, rather than the visceral hit of passion-fruit and capsicum you still get in so many supermarket NZ sauvignons. Pouilly-Fumé, the other of the Loire’s big appellations, has much the same appeal, although often with an extra emphasis on a kind of smoky mineral character. Sainsbury’s version has a lovely citrussy clarity to go with the greenness and very subtle minerals; André Dézat’s Domaine Thibault Pouilly-Fumé 2017 (£16.95, Slurp) is richer, luminous with leafy herb, citrus and flintiness.
Famille Bougrier Sauvignon, Val de Loire, France 2018 (£6.75, Oddbins; The Wine Society) You don’t need to buy from the Loire’s more glamorous addresses to find authentic and evocative sauvignon character. The Val de Loire appellation, which covers 14 departments along the Loire, varies in quality, but offers some bargains, such as Famille Bougrier’s lipsmackingly fruity bottling, with its elderflower flavours. Touraine is another name to look out for, with Aldi’s Exquisite Collection Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2018 (£5.89) offering plenty of zippy citrus. Jean-Christophe Mandard’s Sauvignon de Touraine 2017 (£11.95, Vintopia) is poised and succulent with peach and leafiness. Further south, towards Poitiers, I enjoyed the exotic fruity punch of Domaine Sauvion O Haut Poitou 2018 (£10.95, Addison), a wine that with its vivid fruitiness could very well be mistaken for a Kiwi cuvée.
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