Sauvignon Blanc

This is a warmer, south-facing site than Fumet. In 2019 there is wonderful weight from the peachy nectarine fruit and a floral lift. Just gorgeous right now, and the weight will carry it so well through a few years in the cellar.

Bertrand Minchin’s wines just keep getting better. This north-facing limestone site is cool and late ripening. In a warm year like 2020 it soars. There is such a fine acidity and outstanding length, with so much persistence on the palate. We can’t wait to see how the fruit and acidity entwine further with some bottle age.

In 2021, Benjamin Dagueneau broke with tradition. A difficult growing season resulted in high botrytis pressure in the vineyards as harvest approached - and flinty soiled vineyards are particularly vulnerable to botrytis. So he decided to pick early and quickly. Instead of making Pur Sang, Buisson, Silex and Blanc etc... from the Pouilly side of the river, he blended all the fruit into this one cuvée. The result is a wine that dances somewhere between the floral eloquence of Buisson and the fresh precision of Silex. It is extremely dry, with a pithy, citrus finish. In many ways it recalls the 2014 vintage, but with a lighter varietal fingerprint. It's a fascinating interpretation of the vintage, and one that any Dagueneau fan will want in their collection.

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. It is a scintillatingly wine with outstanding length.

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.

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.

In 2021, Benjamin Dagueneau broke with tradition. A difficult growing season resulted in high botrytis pressure in the vineyards as harvest approached - and flinty soiled vineyards are particularly vulnerable to botrytis. So he decided to pick early and quickly. Instead of making Pur Sang, Buisson, Silex and Blanc etc... from the Pouilly side of the river, he blended all the fruit into this one cuvée. The result is a wine that dances somewhere between the floral eloquence of Buisson and the fresh precision of Silex. It is extremely dry, with a pithy, citrus finish. In many ways it recalls the 2014 vintage, but with a lighter varietal fingerprint. It's a fascinating interpretation of the vintage, and one that any Dagueneau fan will want in their collection.

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. 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.

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 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.

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. 2022 sits in contrast to 2021, and sees the style return to a more modern classical character, where the warm growing season has taken the spiky edges off the Sauvignon Blanc, but where tension and chalky intensity remain the driving force of the wine, thanks to the wonderful Kimmeridgean limestone of the appellation. 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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 and already so complete. It offers up crushed seashells, anise, and a touch of tropical fruit. This is Sauvignon Blanc at its vibrant best.