Loire Valley
Domaine de la Pauline (Eric Louis), Sancerre
Eric Louis’ labels bear the name of his great-great-grandmother Pauline, who established the family’s reputation for quality wines all the way back in the 1860’s. The domaine is located just outside the village of Thauvenay, one of Sancerre’s 14 communes in the southeast section of the appellation. Most of the domaine’s vineyards are just a caillote’s throw from the Loire River.
Though avoiding the bureacratic headaches associated with certification, Eric tends his vines organically, limits yields, and schedules pruning, ploughing and picking according to lunar cycles (Maria Thun calendar). White, red and rosé Sancerres are vinified in the domaine’s two cellars in the heart of the village. In addition to his classic stainless steel fermented Sancerre, young Eric pays homage to his great-great-grandmother with a special bottling called Cuvée Pauline. A very unusual Sauvignon Blanc, Eric’s vin de garde comes from the family’s oldest vines and is aged for ten months sur lie in neutral oak and acacia barrels.
Domaine Facts
| Vines & Wines: | 37 acres total - Majority in Thauvenay-en-Sancerrois (also vines in Pouilly-Fumé)
Sancerre – 100% Sauvignon Blanc Sancerre Rosé – 100% Pinot Noir (saignée) Sancerre Rouge – 100% Pinot Noir Sancerre Cuvée Pauline – 100% Sauvignon Blanc (vieilles vignes) Pouilly-Fumé – 100% Sauvignon Blanc Organically farmed (not certified) |
| Soil: | Soft, porous Kimmeridgian limestone chalk (terres blanches) and pebbles (caillotes) with outcroppings of silex – Pinot Noir parcels comprised of heavier clay marls – Pouilly-Fumé on silex |
| Harvest: | Manual harvest using small bins |
| Yields: | 50 hectoliters/hectare maximum for Sauvignon Blanc, 45 hl/ha average for Pinot Noir, 40 hl/ha average for Cuvée Pauline old vines |
| Vinification & Elevage: |
Three to four-week temp-controlled fermentation with indigenous yeast in stainless steel tanks. Sancerre Blanc does not undergo malo-lactic, but is left on lees until February following harvest. Cuvée Pauline is fermented and aged in neutral oak and acacia barrels on lees for up to 10 months. Both lightly filtered. Portion of Sancerre Rouge bled off 24 hours after crush to concentrate Pinot character. Saignée juice fermented separately to make Sancerre Rosé. Sancerre Rouge aged in neutral Tronçais barrels for 11 months. |
| Annual Production: | 72,000 bottles / 6000 cases |