2020 Sancerre Rouge, Terres de Droux, Château la Rabotine, Alban Roblin, Loire

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or. Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Sancerre is a famous white Sauvignon Blanc appellation located on the left bank of the Loire. Its 14 communes are widely dispersed, covering nearly 3,000 hectares over vertiginous valleys at up to 350 metres above sea level, and three distinct soil types. As with nearby Pouilly-Fumé, an increasing number of single-vineyard wines are being raised in French oak, mostly 500-litre and demi-muids.

While you might not think it from his quiet and measured manner, Alban Roblin is one of the rising stars of Sancerre. Since 2010, he has been managing the family domaine in the small village of Sury-en-Vaux, just half a dozen kilometres from Sancerre. The domaine comprises 12 hectares, of which 10 are planted to Sauvignon Blanc and the remaining two to Pinot Noir – the source of Alban’s excellent but very small-production Sancerre Rouge. Alban bought back the Chateau La Rabotine, a property that used to be in the family and now forms part of the domaine’s identity.