Sauvignon Blanc

Bertrand Minchin’s wines are seriously impressive and Menetou-Salon, an appellation to be discovered. This north-facing limestone site is cool and late ripening. In a warm year like 2023 it soars. Textured and sapid with stone fruit and saline freshness.There is such a fine acidity and outstanding white pepper length, with so much persistence and energy on the palate. We can’t wait to see how the fruit and acidity entwine further with some bottle age.

This is a warmer, south-facing site than Fumet. In 2023 there is wonderful weight from the peachy nectarine fruit and a floral, slightly smoky lift. Just gorgeous right now with superb energy, and the weight will carry it so well through a few years in the cellar.

Complex, smoky and floral on the nose. This is terroir-driven Sauvignon Blanc, with superb texture and balance. It is precise and layered, full of savoury, dried herb and grassy notes on the palate. Impressive length. A perfect accompaniment to fish dishes or with goats cheese.

This comes from a similar site to the Silex parcels, but is slightly lower and north-west facing, making it fractionally cooler. This means it excels in warm vintages, like 2022. It is a scintillatingly wine with outstanding length.

This comes from a similar site to the Silex parcels, but is slightly lower and north-west facing, making it fractionally cooler. This means it excels in warm vintages, like 2022. It is a scintillatingly wine with outstanding length.

Silex is one of the Dagueneau signature wines, and has brought an obscure name for a type of soil - flint - into the fine wine mainstream. It is smoky, tight, and typically powerful. This is quintessential Dagueneau. It comes from various parcels around the hill of St Andelain with different exposures, making for a wholly complex, enthralling, and long-lived wine.

Pur Sang is French for thoroughbred, and his is indeed a first rate cuvée. It comes from a 3 hectare parcel of south-facing vines grown on a mixture of limestone and flint, of which roughly two are selected for Pur Sang (the balances goes into Blanc etc...). It might be south facing, but the soils here is a cool one, and the wine has a supreme amplitude. It expands across the palate before racing to a long, taut finish. It shows huge concentration, and will only benefit from bottle age. Enticing style, with weighty precision and nervous tension.

Pur Sang is French for thoroughbred, and his is indeed a first rate cuvée. It comes from a 3 hectare parcel of south-facing vines grown on a mixture of limestone and flint, of which roughly two are selected for Pur Sang (the balances goes into Blanc etc...). It might be south facing, but the soils here is a cool one, and the wine has a supreme amplitude. It expands across the palate before racing to a long, taut finish. It shows huge concentration, and will only benefit from bottle age. Enticing style, with weighty precision and nervous tension.

Astéroïde comes from several rows of vines that are not grafted and are 25 years old. Always harvested very ripe, this wine is produced in limited quantities, about 600 bottles per year. On the palate, the Astéroïde is mind-blowing, its crystalline power and aromatic intensity layer upon the notes of citrus and offers a pure mineral expression.

Silex is one of the Dagueneau signature wines, and has brought an obscure name for a type of soil - flint - into the fine wine mainstream. It is smoky, tight, and typically powerful. This is quintessential Dagueneau. It comes from various parcels around the hill of St Andelain with different exposures, making for a wholly complex, enthralling, and long-lived wine.

This cuvée had formerly been known as Blanc Fumé. It is a blend of equal parts marl, clay, and flinty soils from across the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. It’s hardly fitting to call this Dagueneau’s ‘entry level’ wine, but it is probably their most accessible. There is ample green fruits and a superbly expressed chiselled texture.

Clos du Calvaire is Didier Dagueneau’s newest and rarest site—just a stone’s throw from Silex, sharing the same flinty soils and biodynamic farming, but bottled separately for its distinct personality. The vineyard is literally walled in (clos), and the wine feels that way too: tighter, more linear, and razor-sharp. The 2021 vintage is cool and precise, but bursting with energy. Expect grapefruit skin, crushed rock, lemon verbena, and smoky minerality, all layered over a taut, chalky core. Tension, texture, and unbelievable site expression.

This special wine is a unique bottling to commemorate the 10 years since the great Didier Dagueneau passed away. It is a selection of some of the finest vines withint the Silex parcels, and offers a few lucky followers of the estate the chance to own something truly rare.

This is an exciting, quite recent addition to our Claude Riffault offering. Like Denisottes, this is a single vineyard cuvée that shows Stéphane's dexterity and skill in abundance. It is concentration and intensity you only find in the very best Sauvignon Blancs. It also shows the ripe fullness of the vintage, and will drink well from early on.

Staggering attention to detail is paid by Stéphane Riffault in both the vineyard and cellar. He is unquestionably making some of the most exciting wines in the appellation. They stand out for their tightly coiled, supercharged concentration. This is Sauvignon Blanc as you've never known it before: powerful, with a filigree, piercing, precise freshness. It is Burgundian in stature. It comes from a parcel grown on Kimmeridgian marl, known locally as terres blanches, which produces wines full of flavour and texture. Long, slow fermentations in large oak foudres encourage complex savoury expression from the Sauvignon Blanc. This is not to be missed.

We've loved Luc Prieur's Sancerre Blanc for years: it's one of our best-sellers from the Loire, and keeps pace with far pricier wines from other regions. It offered balance, purity and complexity, and has a remarklable ability to age. It comes from various parcels dotted around the village of Verdigny and is a blend of the three major soil types found in the region: caillottes, silex and terres blanches. It is an exceptionally terroir-driven Sancerre from one of the finest young talents in the region.

This is quite rightly Sancerre’s most celebrated site. It's a dramatic slope of Kimmeridgian terres blanches in Chavignol that wraps around the hillside and dips down into the commune of Verdigny, where Luc’s parcel lies. It is a truly magnificent and ageworthy example of Sancerre. The balance of power, racy acidity, and fruit length in this wine are simply captivating. Deep and layered. As ever, don't be afraid to cellar this, it will only improve.

This is bursting with floral freshness. As always, Luc says it showed the best balance between acidity and pH in the cellar, meaning the wine tastes vibrant and fresh without being overly bracing and acidic. Pieuchaud is a flinty-soiled lieu-dit in the commune of Thauvenay in the south-east of the Sancerre appellation. Luc decided to isolate this vineyard after noting it always produced fruit with great maturity whilst maintaining that high acidity - the secret to single vineyard wines in his opinion. It is saline and savoury with layers of mineral tension, making it an excellent food wine with plenty of ageing potential.

This is quite rightly Sancerre’s most celebrated site. It's a dramatic slope of Kimmeridgian terres blanches in Chavignol that wraps around the hillside and dips down into the commune of Verdigny, where Luc’s parcel lies. It is a truly magnificent and ageworthy example of Sancerre. The balance of power, racy acidity, and fruit length in this wine are simply captivating. Deep and layered. As ever, don't be afraid to cellar this, it will only improve.

La Pitaude lies on Kimmeridgian terres blanches soils in the commune of Verdigny (very similar to that of the Monts Damnés vineyard). The site produces bunches with such small berries that the concentration of acidity and flavour in this wine absolutely soars. Yields are so low that Luc has considered pulling the vines out many times, but each year it makes such a spellbinding wine, he decides to keep them. It would do well for a few years in the cellar, and its saline, savoury structure will make it an excellent food wine in the years to come.

Domaine Paul Thomas has the largest vineyard on the steeply sloping hill of Chavignol, in Les Mont Damnés, one of the finest areas for the production of top class Sauvignon Blanc. The Domaine is under the watchful eye of Raphael Thomas, who is producing some of the most exciting wines in Sancerre. An attractive, expressive nose. The palate is nicely round and balanced, with great depth to the fruit and elegant power driving through the finish. This is everything you want from a Mont Damnés.

Domaine Paul Thomas has the largest vineyard on the steeply sloping hill of Chavignol, in Les Mont Damnés, one of the finest areas for the production of top class Sauvignon Blanc. The Domaine is under the watchful eye of Raphael Thomas, who is producing some of the most exciting wines in Sancerre. The nose is open with aromas of blossom, minerals and slate. The fruit is energetic and vivacious on the palate, brimming with energy. Long mineral finish with delicious bite.

Sancerre is the spiritual home of Sauvignon Blanc, where you’ll find the most refined, purest, most ageworthy examples of the grape variety. Domaine Paul Thomas is a small, family-run estate, with just nine hectares of vines in Chavignol, for many the sweet-spot of the region, and the site of the most famous vineyard here, Les Monts-Damnés. This, a blend from the estate’s vineyards around the village of Chavignol, shows pure and aromatic citrus fruits, with a precision and tension on the palate, its texture and minerality derived from the deep limestone soils. It’s a benchmark example of a much-loved region.

This is a blend of four parcels, with a high proportion of fruit from vines older than 50 years. It is smooth and fruity. Its brightness is piqued with a fine line of pithy bitterness. This is a great example of the appellation; so refreshing and quenching.

This is a blend of four parcels, with a high proportion of fruit from vines older than 50 years. It is smooth and fruity. Its brightness is piqued with a fine line of pithy bitterness. This is a great example of the appellation, and has taken on some definition and drive from its first year in bottle. This is so refreshing and quenching.

Another terres blanches site, this is in the small hamlet of Amigny, and is considered by many as the defining wine of the Cotat collection. It often needs the longest time in the cellar, too. With time it will reveal a level of volume and density uncommon in Sauvignon Blanc, taking the variety far beyond its usual earthly bounds.

This is the defining site of Sancerre, and akin to a grand cru in the appellation. It is the steep slope that runs the length of the Chavignol village and its south-facing aspect and terres blanches soils produce the appellation’s most powerful and long-lived wines. François’s wine perfectly captures the power and finesse of this great site, with statuesque poise.

This terres blanches site rises up behind the village of Chavignol and although it is only shared amongst a few growers, is one of the most famous sites in Sancerre. It shares the power of neighbouring Monts Damnés, with a tender, fleshy fruit and floral texture on the body.

For many, François Cotat is the defining name of Sancerre. Even fine wine afficionado who claim not to like Sauvignon Blanc love his wines. Caillottes is his most accessible and up front wine, coming from a blend of parcels around the village of Chavignol, on the chalky limestone soils. Even so, this has the finesse and poise to age for many years.

This is Sancerre’s best known and greatest site. It is a dramatic slope of Kimmeridgian terres blanches in Chavignol that wraps around the hillside. Boulay's is charged with the site's natural power and depth, and has layer upon layer of energy and drive. Its ample weight and scintillating concentration promise it is built for greater things. Don't be afraid to cellar this, it will only improve.

Gérard's La Côte hails from the same highly-prized terres blanches (Kimmeridgian marl) vineyard as François Cotat's La Grande Côte (though in fact the parcel is officially called La Côte d'Amigny). The chalky soil here makes for the most austere of Gérard's wines, with a restrained nose that begins to open up with some air, hinting at the haunting beauty to come if you give it a few years to age. It is mineral and tense, nervous and fine-boned, with a precise and lingering finish.

Unlike his neighbours who use the lieu-dit name Cul de Beaujeu, Gérard keeps the original 'Clos' in his, as his vines lie within the oldest part of the vineyard, that had originally been surrounded by a wall. They sit in the chalky Kimmeridgian terres blanches soils of this dramatically steep south-east facing slope that rises up behind the village of Chavignol. Of all his cuvées, this is the most opulent in character, the most open and forward in its youth. 2023 is a vintage of opulence and freshness, meaning it will drink well from youth, as well as age beautifully.

Comtesse is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, parcel situated on what is firmly considered Sancerre's greatest hillside: Les Monts Damnés. Les Monts Damnés is a large south-facing slope running the full length of the village of Chavignol, and its Kimmeridgian terres blanches soils make some of the appellation's most powerful, structured, and longest lived wines. Comtesse has all these classic Monts Damnés characteristics, and then some. It is also one of the most perfumed and floral examples you'll find here. Its extraordinary aromatics unfurl in the glass with such intrigue and charm you'll forget this wine has anything to do with the Sauvignon Blanc grape. If you can resist the temptation posed by its delicious palate - racy, mineral, and fleshy all at once - then you'll appreciate just how much this wine has to say. It will transform in your glass through its various stages: fruit (papaya, lime), freshly cut flowers, chalky minerality, through to saline, oyster brine and smoky notes.

This great value wine from Touraine is fruity and fresh, with just an edge of Sauvignon’s vegetal green tea notes. Jean-François explains he likes to play with the natural bitterness of Sauvignon Blanc, brilliantly controlled in this example.

Léon (previously known as Florilège) is made from a blend of parcels across the limestone soils of the appellation. This has a chalky salinity and a brilliant tension, with a sunny, balanced fruit profile and a silky texture. It’s a great window onto the Pabiot style from a hugely successful vintage. Jonathan and Nina always release it a year ahead of their single vineyard wines, and is a joyful, early drinking example of their beautiful Pouilly Fumés.

Luminance 2021 knocked our socks off. It’s a phenomenal expression of Sauvignon and the most irresistible of Jonathan Pabiot’s single vineyard wines. It hails from a hardy old vine parcel on Kimmeridgian soil, producing high intensity grapes with unique character. 18 months on lees in large concrete tanks brings about a richness and depth rarely seen: powerful stony structure with grip and purpose, this is one of the greats. The cuvée used to be called Prédilection.

Aubaine in 2021 has the vintage’s signature jasmine scent - lightly green, nervous, and with an undertow of oyster brine giving it a quivering tension. It comes from a limestone parcel near Tracy-sur-Loire and is ripe, fresh, full of energy. Just like Luminance, it spends 18 months ageing in concrete tanks on lees before bottling, and it has a silky texture with a deliciously long, bright finish.

Les Créots is found in the relatively unknown village of Thauvenay at the south-eastern limit of the appellation. Its quartz-flecked clay soils are fertile ground for quality-minded producers seeking vineyard expression. For an introduction to the domaine’s whites, you couldn’t do much better than this. It is floral and delicate on the nose. The palate has an agile freshness. This is a wonderfully restrained style of Sancerre Blanc, with zesty and mineral freshness.

Harmonie is one of the best-loved Pinard cuvées. It’s a blend of the top vineyards in Bué: Chêne Marchand and Grand Chemarin. The nose is so complex, floral and already so complete. It offers up crushed seashells, anise, and a touch of pure tropical fruit. This is Sauvignon Blanc at its intense and vibrant best.

The Pinard brothers, Clément and Florent, are top dogs in the southern village of Bué in the celebrated Sancerre appellation. They make various single vineyard wines in the village, all of which are highly detailed, gastronomic wines. Le Château sits just to the north of Le Grand Chemarin and Chêne Marchand, on Kimmeridgian marl. The wine is tense and powerful with a racy richness and voluminous, ample concentration. The texture is gorgeously silky. Ageing in oak barrels (none new) gives this Sauvignon Blanc a roundness that works so well with the natural power of the site and this vintage. Just beautiful.

Domaine Vincent Pinard's Chêne Marchand is one of the great vineyards of Sancerre whose Oxfordian limestone soils produce an iconic Sancerre of complexity, tension and depth. It is quietly powerful. The nose is chalky and mineral, then on the palate a complex mix of flint, ripe citrus, honey, blood orange pith and white pepper. The finish is long, driven and evolving.

The south-facing Grand Chemarin evokes an intense, complex yet detailed and precise nose of green and yellow apple, a hint of mint, blossom and a mineral edge. The palate is all about volume and depth, texture and precision. It’s a complex and supremely elegant wine - a masterclass in mineral power with an enduring and refreshing saline finish.