To many people, the wines from Sancerre are almost synonymous with the word ‘wine’. Sancerre, for all intents and purposes, is the answer: It’s Friday night and you want to relax? Sancerre. Your friend is hosting a dinner party? Sancerre. Your partner is cooking tonight? Sancerre.
Part of the popularity may be attributable to the easy-to-pronounce name, but it is the generations of families’ and vignerons’ collective experiences that have accumulated to what people enjoy so much from their glasses today. And that is exactly what the Cherrier family are.
Since the 1800s, the Cherrier family has been tending to their land and vines in Sancerre. The entire family, now in its fourth generation, are all involved in wine. Through the knowledge and values learnt from their parents, grandparents, and so forth, they have established a philosophy of applying only the appropriate levels of intervention in the vineyard and cellars. They don’t adhere to any specific regulatory labels, wishing to freely apply techniques that they believe to be in harmony with nature. Even today, they are still growing and changing, adapting to the uncertainties of winemaking.
Grape Collective talks to Delphine Cherrier about her family’s history, vineyards, and philosophy of winemaking.
Lee Pai: Welcome, Delphine! Can you share a little bit about yourself and Cherrier's history?
Delphine Cherrier: So, I am the fourth generation of our family working with our vineyards. My father, Francoise, and my uncle, Jean-Marie, have been leading Cherrier since the 1980s. Currently, I am the winemaker, and I work with my brother, Matthias, who is the vineyard manager. On my uncle’s side, he also has three children, so we have a big family all working in wine.
All of our family were wine growers, my great-grandfather Maurice Cherrier was a winemaker (with his three brothers), my grandfather Pierre Cherrier was a winemaker, and obviously my father Francoise as well. The history of our family in Sancerre started in the 1850s and we have been steadily growing ever since.
Where are your family’s vineyards in Sancerre?
We are based in the village of Verdigny, it's a little village in northwest Sancerre. It's beautiful, we get the view of sunrise every morning. But, we also have vineyards in every village in Sancerre, with a total of around 20 hectares or so.
Sancerre has three main soil types - limestone, clay, and flint. Our vineyards have an exposition to all three of them, so we have a big variety of vines to work with. We are quite lucky to have all three (soil types) for our vines, and we make an assemblage from vines grown on those three soils. It is very important for us, and we believe it can express Sancerre more completely in that way.
What do you feel makes Sancerre so special?
Sancerre is special for me because we have what I believe to be the best grape varieties, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. The micro-climate and soil of Sancerre especially suit Sauvignon Blanc. As an example, we can have up to eight days to pick the grapes during harvest, while Bordeaux has only three days. This gives us a great advantage to determine when is the best time to pick, and also we are not in a rush all the time.
Your family also have vineyards in the neighboring Menetou-Salon as well?
Around 15 years ago, we started to expand and now have around 10 hectares of vines in Menetou-Salon. We have a big family with my father and uncle each having three children. So, in order for our families to continue working together, it was necessary to expand our holdings.
The difference between Sancerre and Menetou-Salon is the soil. In Sancerre, we have the three main soils, while Menetou-Salon is only limestone. They both grow the same varieties (Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir), but the wines of Menetou-Salon have a little more freshness, due to the difference in micro-climate.
(Three generations of Cherrier family)
When did you start taking over from your father and your uncle? Was there ever any pressure to be involved?
My first passion was pastry, I started as a pastry baker. But of course, I also like wine very much because it was always around us. So eventually I started to want to work with my father. I first became involved in 2019, so it has been a wonderful five years now.
Both my brother and myself made the decision on our own, there wasn’t any pressure from our family to become winemakers.
You've been working with your family for five years now, has there been any change since you started?
Obviously, there has been evolution in the climate in Sancerre, and it’s a big issue for us. So, we have been trying different ways to adapt. For example, we haven't used fertilizer in our vineyards for 20 years and emphasize biodiversity that creates natural fertilizers for us. We also incorporate geobiological farming practices, which basically is studying the ‘energies’ of our vines. It can be a little crazy to be honest, but we have seen a difference from the wines we produce, so we continue it.
We also have a big interest in lowering our carbon footprint, and I have made it my objective to adopt farming with only horses and not tractors anymore.
Do you feel like there's a difference in the wine produced back when you first started versus the wines now?
Yes and no. Every vintage is different, but there are some similarities sometimes. For example, last vintage, 2023, was like 1984, according to my father. They weren't the same, but they were similar.
What would you say is a perfect year for you?
The opposite of this year. In the 31 years that my father has been working, he says he has never seen a year like 2024. The first half, we had a lot of rain and it was very cold weather; It was very hard.
(Harvest at Cherrier)
But it may end up becoming a beautiful year, a beautiful vintage. It's funny, because any catastrophes can happen during the year, but as long as the 15 days before harvest is sunny, the harvest will be pretty good.
What would you say is your most special or favorite moment each year?
For me, it’s the last moment of every harvest that’s the best moment of each year. It's kind of like wrapping up a year of hard work, so it's the best moment.
When you're not in the cellar or in the vineyard, what wines do you like to try or drink?
Because I am also a pastry cook, I like sweet wines. Not the very sweet ones, but since Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre is bone dry, I enjoy some off-dry wines. Obviously, our Sauvignon Blanc is still my favorite.
(From left to right: Delphine Cherrier, Matthias Cherrier, Francoise Cherrier)
