2016 Domaine Vincent Ricard La Potine Sauvignon Blanc Touraine 750 ml

The 2016 “La Potine” is “trop bon”? Oui, it is “too good”!

Vincent Ricard was in his early 20s when he returned to his family’s estate, just a few miles from the Château de Chenonceau perched atop the River Cher. After a stint with winegrower Philippe Alliet in Chinon, and plenty of mentoring from Sauvignon Blanc wizard Didier Dagueneau, Ricard returned home determined to make wine like no other in the Touraine.

While Dagueneau was a showman who loved to stir the pot in Pouilly-Sur-Loire and Sancerre, young Ricard preferred a quieter approach to his work. Vincent stayed away from the shop talk in local cafes and took to the hillsides, manually retraining each plant, adopting Dagueneau’s Silex protocol. The neighbors took careful note. Few were pleased with Ricard’s new direction. Here’s why.

If the 24-year-old continued to pour resources into his vines, trimming back yields so as to spike concentration, he’d soon set a new bar by which all of the Sauvignon Blancs of Touraine would be measured. The locals far preferred the easy life, and had little interest in investing in their vines. After tasting Ricard’s first wines prior to release, the neighbors struck back, appealing to the local AOC, arguing that Vincent’s wines should be declassified — because they were “trop bon” (too good)!

Indeed, they were.

Today, Vincent Ricard’s brilliant Sauvignon Blancs grace 30+ Michelin-starred wine lists. Lucky for us, Ricard continues to turn out a couple thousand cases of “La Potine,” a mouthwatering Sauvignon Blanc.

The 2016 “La Potine” is glistening pale-straw with emerald hues, infused with piercing aromas of lemon citrus, pithy grapefruit, and lightly touched with honey. Juicy, Sancerre-mineral, and precise on the attack, boasting plenty of citrus and ripe-orchard-fruit richness, braced with stinging flint-soil acidity.

$13.99/bottle — straight from the Loire Valley to your door. Highly recommended case-buy.