Fanny Sabre
The natural wine movement has come of age and we know that Australian wine drinkers are open to the freshness, the natural flavour and the liveliness of these wines.
One of the new stars of this movement is the young Fanny Sabre. She is only in her mid-twenties, but she has very good vines in some great appellations surrounding the ancient city of Beaune.
She is producing a range of wines in miniscule quantities that are snapped up by the natural wine bars proliferating in Paris and New York.
We were delighted when she agreed to supply us with some of her wines. In fact she went out of her way to assemble a variety so that Australians could at least try some of her offerings.
Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire 2010
Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire is a special Burgundy-wide appellation that allows
winemakers to produce wines from grapes other than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In
this case, Fanny Sabre has weaved her magic on the Gamay grape producing an
elegant red of the subtlety that we have come to expect from this talented
winemaker. When we first tried this wine we were delighted by its freshness and
its vibrancy. One of the tasting panel described it as "totally smashable".
RRP: $35
Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Blanc 2010
The Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Blanc is always a hot favourite. It is made from
100% Chardonnay sourced from her vineyards around the city of Beaune. It is an
elegant, flavour-packed wine which has seen no new oak. It lingers on the palate
and matches beautifully with a range of foods. This is great drinking
at this price.
RRP: $41
Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Aligote 2010
Fanny Sabre shows a fine touch with her Aligote. Aligote is the wine that the
locals drink in Burgundy. It is gradually emerging as an interesting wine in its own right
rather than playing second fiddle to Chardonnay as more talented winemakers such
as Fanny show what can be achieved with this grape. This is a beautiful wine
with great complexity and depth. At a recent tasting everyone was blown away by
it and kept returning to it to work out what was making it so appealing. This
one will not last long before it is all snapped up!
RRP: $39
Fanny Sabre Savigny-lès-Beaune Blanc 2009
This 100% Chardonnay is from the Savigny-lès-Beaune appellation just north west of the very old town of Beaune in Burgundy. Whites from this appellation are relatively rare as only small quantities are produced. Fanny Sabre makes all her wines using natural methods. No filtering (there is some sediment in the wine) as she believes that this strips out the flavour, no fining, no commercial yeasts to control the fermentation and no poisonous sprays in the vineyard. The care that she takes shines through in the wines.
RRP: $57
Fanny Sabre Savigny-lès-Beaune Rouge 2009
This 100% Pinot Noir is from the Savigny-lès-Beaune appellation just north west of the very old town of Beaune in Burgundy. Red wines are the main variety in this appellation as whites are only produced in small quantities. Fanny Sabre makes all her wines using natural methods. No filtering (there is some sediment in the wine) as she believes that this strips out the flavour, no fining, no commercial yeasts to control the fermentation and no poisonous sprays in the vineyard. The care that she takes shines through in the wines.
RRP: $59
Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Rouge 2010
The grapes for the Fanny Sabre Bourgogne Rouge are sourced from a number of her plots around the historic town of Beaune therefore it cannot be labelled with a specific vineyard or appellation. Rather it is labelled with the more generic Bourgogne Blanc appellation. It is made from 100% Pinot Noir and the resulting wine is both expressive and lively and well worth the asking price.
RRP: SOLD OUT
Fanny Sabre Beaune Blanc 2009
This beautiful white is made from 100% Chardonnay using grapes sourced from
her vineyards around the city of Beaune.
This Chardonnay is fresh, lively, creamy, vibrant and a beautiful expression of the Beaune terroir. It is a perfect food wine and would work beautifully with a range of dishes including charcuterie, roast chicken, Comte cheese and jack mackerel.
RRP: $59
Fanny Sabre Pommard Premier Cru Charmots 2009
Fanny Sabre has a number of plots dispersed throughout Pommard and this one is made from the highly regarded Les Charmots lieu dit (plot of land) which has Premier Cru status. This appellation is known for strong, austere Pinot Noir wines that take a while to reveal their best side. This is a very interesting wine that is lively on the palate and has a long finish. It needs to be decanted for an hour or so prior to drinking.
RRP: $95
Fanny Sabre Pommard Vieilles Vignes 2009
Fanny Sabre has a number of plots dispersed throughout Pommard and this wine comes from a plot of very old vines. This appellation is known for strong, austere Pinot Noir wines that take a while to reveal their best side, however the 2009 is a very good wine with lots of structure that is drinking well now.
As with the Premier Cru Pommard above this is a very interesting wine that is lively on the palate and has a long finish. It needs to be decanted for an hour or so prior to drinking.
We only have a very small allocation of this wine so we expect it to sell out quickly.
RRP: SOLD OUT
Fanny Sabre Volnay 2009
We very much enjoyed tasting this Volnay in Fanny's cellars on our most
recent visit. This wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir. We will let the famous
Chambers Street Wines say what they see in this wine:
"Ms. Sabre learned a great deal from Philippe Pacalet and uses his semi-carbonic style of fermentations for her elegant wines. The 2009 Volnay shows elegant, subtle red fruit and floral aromas. The palate is restrained but has pure earthy berry fruit that is light but palate-coating and very long. Lovely to drink now, this should be superb in five years."
We recently revisited this wine and it brought back memories of what Pinot Noir from Burgundy used to be like. The colour is light, the palate shows finesse allied with depth of flavour. It caresses the palate and lingers with the promise of further delights from the next sip. A beautiful wine.
RRP: $76
Fanny Sabre Beaune Premier Cru Chouacheux 2009
The Beaune Premier Cru Chouacheux is Fanny Sabre's premium wine from a well-known 'climat' in the Beaune Premier Cru appellation. It is made from 100% Pinot Noir. The first thing that you will notice about this wine is how fresh it tastes. It is alive and also has a great mouth feel. The taste lingers and promises even more with some age. A great example of a Beaune from a great climat.
We only have a very small allocation of this wine so we expect it to sell out quickly.
RRP: $81
Fanny Sabre Beaune Premier Cru Vignes Franches 2009
The
Beaune Premier Cru Vignes Franches is another of Fanny Sabre's premium wines
from the Beaune Premier Cru appellation.
It is made from 100% Pinot Noir. As with the Chouacheux it is a lively, fresh, light-bodied, intense, velvety Pinot Noir of considerable elegance and depth of flavour. The taste lingers and promises even more with some age.
Chambers Street Wine also talked about this wine recently:
"Brilliant red color, lovely blackberry, strawberry compote aromas tinged with clove and brown spice. Great intensity on the very complex light-bodied palate, a little toast, good length. This is captivating and quite drinkable now, but will be best after three to five years of cellaring, really delicious!"
RRP: $82
Fanny Sabre Beaune Premier Cru Les Sceaux 2009
The Beaune Premier Cru Les Sceaux is another of Fanny Sabre's premium wines from the Beaune Premier Cru appellation. Les Sceaux is a lieu dit within the broader Beaune appellation and the wines made from the vines in this plot are considered of such quality as to deserve the Premier Cru status. It is made from 100% Pinot Noir. As with the Chouacheux it is a lively, fresh, velvety Pinot Noir of considerable elegance.
RRP: $82
Fanny Sabre Meursault Sous La Velle 2010
Sur La Velle is a special plot within the famous Meursault appellation. It is made from 100% Chardonnay. It is drinking nicely now but will also acquire additional grace with time.
RRP: $114
Fanny Sabre Meursault Premier Cru Charmes 2009
When we tasted this wine in Fanny's cellar in Beaune we were dazzled by its sheer elegance. Normally during a wine tasting we are very disciplined about spitting out the wine - there was no way we were going to do this with the Charmes! It is made from 100% Chardonnay. It is drinking nicely now but will also acquire additional grace with time.
RRP: $114
Fanny Sabre Aloxe Corton Rouge 2009
The Aloxe Corton appellation is known for its age-worthy red wines and mouth-filling white wines. This wine offers plenty. We get hints of plum and flowers and, like all of Fanny's wines the mouthfeel is very pleasant and the finish is long. This is another well-balanced, light, delicate and perfectly balanced wine that will be delightful drinking for the next five years.
RRP: SOLD OUT