2014 Domaine Vincent Ricard La Potine Sauvignon Blanc Touraine

Sauvignon Madness in Thésée-La-Romaine

The story of winemaker Vincent Ricard’s rise from utter anonymity to the Michelin-starred wine lists of Paris’s 6th, 7th, and 8th arrondissements is well worth repeating. In the late 90’s, the young winemaker many consider to be the most talented in the Loire Valley came home. Life in Thésée-La-Romaine would never be the same.

Ricard was in his early 20s when he landed his first cellar stint with Philippe Alliet in Chinon. Not long after, Vincent became intrigued by the winegrowing protocol of Didier Dagueneau, the Sauvignon Blanc wizard whose Pouilly-Fumés were already fetching nearly $100/bottle. Ricard quickly resolved to grow and craft the variety like no other in the Touraine, taking a flint-infused page from a Dagueneau script.

We’d known Dagueneau for over a decade before Vincent Ricard ever made a trip to Saint-Andelain. Irascible, opinionated, and often dismissive at the tasting table, Didier’s bedside manner left much to be desired. Still, anyone who spent just a few hours in the cellar with Dagueneau recognized both the genius and the madness.

While Vincent Ricard was immensely influenced by his mentor, the two winegrowers couldn’t have been more different. Dagueneau was a showman, always stirring the pot. Vincent brought a quieter, if equally resolved, approach to his work. He had little time for coffeeshop debates, preferring to devote his considerable energy to these flint and limestone hillsides — manually re-tailoring vineyards his father and grandfather had planted decades before.

In his first year back at his family’s estate, Ricard quickly applied Dagueneau-inspired protocol to his vines, dropping crop aggressively to enhance concentration. The neighbors took careful note. Few were pleased.

If the 24-year-old continued to pour such resources into his vines, neighbors reasoned, willingly leaving profits on the ground, Ricard would set a new bar by which all of the wines of the region would be measured. Local growers struck back, appealing to the AOC, arguing that Vincent’s wines should be declassified because they were “trop bon” … “too good!” Vincent took one look at the battle ahead and then did just as his neighbors had hoped to force him to do: He declassified his new releases. Then he hopped a train for Paris with a case of samples … and took the 6th, 7th, and 8th arrondissements by storm.

The 2014 Vincent Ricard “La Potine” may well be the finest under-$15 country white in all of France. Brilliant pale-green in hue, infused with precise aromas of ripe apple and pear, lightly touched with anise. Mineral, crisp, vibrant, and marvelously pure, with Sancerre-like concentration, finishing with the stinging acidity that’s become Vincent Ricard’s most identifiable calling card. Drink now-2018.

Is this the finest bargain white in France? We think so. But if you think you have a contender, drop us a line. We’re ready to go toe-to-toe. $159 a case — and yes, this is a STEAL.