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On Corsica vi looked at what tradition has to say for how you make a good wine.
And tradition is very important here in Sancerre too, but today we are going to
look at what this rock has to say for good taste and aroma.
We are going to visit Domaine Fouassier here in Sancerre. They have been making
wine for over ten generations.
Farming isn't perhaps the first ting one thinks about when one thinks about wine.
But there is a reason its called winefarmer, because when it comes to
both vegetables, fruits and animals there are common denominators.
If we compare lamb from Lofoten with lamb from Hallingskarvet we notice that they
taste different even if they both are lamb. Lamb from Lofoten graze in tough
weather and at the same time the fields they graze on are naturally salted by salt
from the sea. The lamb from Hallingskarvet on the other hand graze on large
open fields on the Hardangervidda without salt from the sea. And that affects the taste.
And its like that with wine, where the vines grow, what terrain it grows in and
also what is in the terrain that the roots can take nourishment is very important.
And in the loire valle we we are now two things are very important. The first is the
Loire river right behind us and the other is the earth or terroir as the French call it.
We are in the wine field called Clos Paradis and here we have a layer of chalk on top
and under there is a layer of clay. And the chalk gives the wine fruitiness and
freshness while the clay gives the wine body and fullness.
If you want to get to know the French you have to join them for lunch because if
there is something the French know it is how to make good food. And the owner of
this little restaurant sold his creamery to start this restaurant and is of course a
good friend of Benoit.
It difficult to define minerality but for me it is like if you have a rock, pour some
water on it and then lick it, then you understand what minerality tastes and
smells like and thats what it smells like now.
The next stop for our wine series is when we arrive in the Rhone valley. Here we will
look at food and wine and what that has to say for the taste of wine.