Alphonse Mellot : Génération XIX 2011

Made of 100% Sauvignon, the 2011 Sancerre Génération XIX d'Alphonse Mellot cuvee is a rich and complex wine that seduces with its fullness. The product of a 2 hectare parcel with good sun exposure and Kimmeridgian clay soils, the 2011 Sancerre Génération XIX d'Alphonse Mellot cuvee is rested on its lees for 10 to 12 months. This wine has a beautiful, pale golden-yellow robe with subtle green highlights that give way to an agreeable aromatic finesse. The nose is dominated by a lovely freshness. Mature, it delivers notes of citrus, minerals and menthol as well as beeswax and gingerbread. The palate is ample, fresh and reveals a virile and rich wine.

Wine Advocate-Parker :
Tasted in April - as was the corresponding Edmond - from wooden fermentor and demi-muid, the 2011 Sancerre Generation XIX preserves the scallop-like sweet and saline savor that made the corresponding young Edmond memorable, while rich though piquant nut oils and decided chalkiness further inflect the fundament of ripe grapefruit, orange, white peach, and quince. This finishes bittersweetly, dominated by citrus and nut oils, with its umami- scallop-side serving for welcome salivation, but with less primary juiciness and consequent brightness than its cellar mates of the vintage and without the delightful sense of surprising levity that accrued to the corresponding Edmond. The portion of this from new demi-muid, incidentally - and which struck me as pointlessly marked by it - was destined to comprise a mere 20% of the final blend.