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Albane & Bertrand Minchin
2020 Menetou-Salon Honorine, La Tour St-Martin, Domaines Minchin Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2028
2020 Menetou-Salon Fumet, La Tour St-Martin, Domaines Minchin Dry | White | Still | 14%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2028
Antoine Van Remoortere / Château de Maupas
2020 Menetou-Salon Blanc, Antoine Van Remoortere Dry | White | Still | 13%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2027
Bouvet Ladubay
2017 Zéro Dosage, Saumur Brut, Bouvet Ladubay Dry | White | Sparkling | 12.5%

As the name suggests, this cuvée has no dosage, and so has not a drop of residual sugar. As a result, the wine expresses abundant freshness and minerality, supported by bright citrus and green fruit. The 2017 has a bright refreshing acidity and subtle richness, thanks to its oak ageing.

Ready: 2021 - 2026
Available only duty paid
2018 Saphir, Saumur Brut, Bouvet Ladubay Dry | White | Sparkling | 12.5%

90% Chenin Blanc, 10% Chardonnay. Year in, year out, this is a firm favourite of ours for its deliciously smooth, creamy palate, and fresh, lightly citrus flavours as well as its unbeatable price. The 2018 Saphir is brimming with energy.

Mature: 2021 - 2023
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2016 Instinct, Saumur Brut, Bouvet Ladubay Dry | White | Sparkling | 12.5%

This cuvée has gone from strength to strength since it was first made in 2000. Ageing in oak barrels adds complexity and depth. The palate is nicely textured and vinous, and there’s a wonderful fresh bread and bruised apple character throughout. This is really impressive for the price.

Ready: 2021 - 2025
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Damien Laureau
2020 Savennieres L'Alliance, Damien Laureau Dry | White | Still | 12.5%

This new cuvée was introduced in 2019. It is made from young vines across three parcels, all of which Damien has planted himself. They have all been pruned in the goblet fashion, which encourages small bunches to ripen: Damien is seeking an intensity of flavour. This wine has a lovely white fruit and floral character. Easy and appealing.

Ready: 2022 - 2029
2019 Savennieres Les Genêts, Damien Laureau Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

This Savennières has a brilliant attack. It is pithy and weighty, with plenty of energy. It grown on sandy soils over schist bedrock and the resulting wine is vinous and saline. A little oak gives structure to the palate and the finish shows ripe, concentrated fruit.

Ready: 2022 - 2032
Didier Dagueneau
2019 Silex, Didier Dagueneau Dry | White | Still | 14%

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.

Ready: 2024 - 2036
2019 Sancerre Le Mont Damné, Didier Dagueneau Magnum Dry | White | Still | 13%

This is the only parcel Didier bought on the other side of the river in Sancerre, and he chose the appellation’s greatest site. It remains one of the defining wines of the Sancerre appellation to this day, expressing the profound complexity and regal power of the white Kimmeridgian marl soils of the famous slope.

Young: 2025 - 2038
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2019 Sancerre Le Mont Damné, Didier Dagueneau Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

This is the only parcel Didier bought on the other side of the river in Sancerre, and he chose the appellation’s greatest site. It remains one of the defining wines of the Sancerre appellation to this day, expressing the profound complexity and regal power of the white Kimmeridgian marl soils of the famous slope.

Young: 2025 - 2038
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2019 Buisson Renard, Didier Dagueneau Magnum Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

This comes from a similar site to the Silex parcel, 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.

Ready: 2024 - 2036
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2019 Buisson Renard, Didier Dagueneau Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

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.

Ready: 2024 - 2036
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2019 Pur Sang, Didier Dagueneau Magnum Dry | White | Still | 13%

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. It shows huge concentration, and will surely benefit from bottle age. Enticing style, with weighty precision and nervous tension.

Ready: 2024 - 2036
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2019 Pur Sang, Didier Dagueneau Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

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.

Ready: 2024 - 2036
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2019 Blanc Etc..., Didier Dagueneau Dry | White | Still | 13%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2034
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Domaine Charles Joguet
Critic Score
93/100
2019 Chinon, Clos du Chêne Vert, Domaine Charles Joguet Dry | Red | Still | 13.5%

This parcel is quintessential Chinon: at the top of the hill overlooking the Loire river, its flood plains, and the charming eponymous town. It is named after the huge and statuesque oak tree that grows at its edge. Its excellent position affords it good ripening and drainage. The soil here is clay and sandstone, and produces a wine with a pretty red fruit structure, and some distinctively spicy notes. In 2019 it has harmonious balance, a little lighter in weight than the Varenne and Dioterie, it has this amazing freshness to the fruit.

Ready: 2023 - 2035
Critic Score
90/100
2019 Chinon, Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Domaine Charles Joguet Dry | Red | Still | 13.5%

This is the domaine’s ‘newest’ parcel, bought in 1976. Located near the cellar, in the south of the Chinon appellation, this is like a mini Clos de la Dioterie, on deep clay-limestone soils with colluvial topsoil. It typically shows great balance between tannins and acidity, so smooth and composed in 2019. It glides to an effortlessly elegant and long finish.

Ready: 2024 - 2034
Critic Score
94.5/100
2019 Chinon, Clos de la Dioterie, Charles Joguet Dry | Red | Still | 13.5%

This vineyard lies right next to the domaine and was the first single vineyard that Charles Joguet focused on. Its north-east facing slope and old vines planted on clay-limestone soils produce a wine with outstanding energy, and spicy density. Profoundly deep but with no heaviness. There is such a sweet intensity to the Cabernet Franc fruit, and a mouthwatering salinity.

Ready: 2024 - 2036
Domaine Claude Riffault
Critic Score
94/100
2020 Sancerre Les Chailloux, Domaine Claude Riffault Dry | White | Still | 14%

Chailloux is the local Sancerrois name for flint (more commonly known as silex), and this parcel is tucked up in the north-east of the appellation where this soil type predominates. It has a northwest aspect and is shaded by a large forest. Flinty sites are often a little warmer, but this one keeps cool, and produces profound acidity. It is so pure and fresh.

Ready: 2022 - 2030
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Critic Score
95/100
2020 Sancerre Les Denisottes, Claude Riffault Dry | White | Still | 14%

This parcel of Kimmeridgian marl, known locally as terres blanches, gives wines full of flavour and texture. The acidity and alcohol are so perfectly matched. This is all about power and precision.

Ready: 2022 - 2030
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2019 Sancerre Rouge La Noue, Claude Riffault Dry | Red | Still | 14%

This always stands out among Sancerre Rouges for its charming, early drinking style. It has lovely concentration of fruit with well-managed ripeness. Whole bunch vinification gives it a delicate juiciness. It is extremely pretty and nicely weighted. Drink this young and slightly chilled for a superbly refreshing glass of red.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
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Domaine Jamain
2021 Reuilly Rouge, Les Pierres Plates, Denis Jamain Dry | Red | Still | 13%

This Pinot is all vinified and aged in stainless steel tank. This method helps capture the variety’s purest fruit, which in this case is ripe raspberries and redcurrants, with a charming minty lift. There’s a subtle graphite note running through the palate. Persistent and delicately light-boded at the same time. Served a little chilled this will be a thirst-quenching delight.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
2021 Reuilly Blanc, Les Pierres Plates, Denis Jamain Dry | White | Still | 13%

This parcel is just behind Denis Jamain’s house, and is full of Kimmeridgian limestone soil. It makes a wine with such fresh, fragrant aromas of citrus fruits and oyster brine, with a lightly fruity palate. This is the best example we know from the appellation, and delivers a lovely silky length.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
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Domaine Paul Prieur et Fils
2020 Sancerre Pieuchaud Silex, Domaine Paul Prieur et Fils Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

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 high acidity - the secret to single vineyard wines in his opinion. In 2020 this is restrained, yet agile. 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.

Ready: 2022 - 2034
Critic Score
94/100
2020 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés, Domaine Paul Prieur et Fils Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

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 and dips down into the commune of Verdigny, where Luc’s parcel lies. His 2020 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.

Ready: 2023 - 2035 Maximum quantity (6 bottles) limit apply
2020 Sancerre Blanc, Domaine Paul Prieur et Fils Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

Luc Prieur’s Sancerre Blanc is one of the best value in the appellation - detailed, balanced, so refreshing, and admirably ageworthy. It comes from 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. The 2020 has tension and precision, with a fine saline structure. This is exceptional terroir-driven Sancerre from one of the finest young talents in the region.

Ready: 2022 - 2030
2021 Sancerre Rosé, Domaine Paul Prieur et Fils Dry | Rosé | Still | 12%

This is the final vintage for Luc’s easy drinking, summery Rosé, and we’re pleased to have picked up a final parcel. It’s a delicious pale pink Pinot Noir: vibrant, fresh, and so easy to drink. Lightly scented with redcurrants, with Sancerre’s signature acidity. It’s made from young vine fruit and is a brilliant alternative to Provençal rosé.

Ready: 2022 - 2024
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Critic Score
94/100
2020 Sancerre Pitaude, Domaine Paul Prieur et Fils Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

La Pitaude lies on Kimmeridgian terres blanches soils in the commune of Verdigny. Just 1000 bottles were made. 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. The handwritten gold writing on the bottle is in place of a label on this rare and wonderful wine.

Ready: 2022 - 2030
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Domaine Vincent Carême
2019 Vouvray Plaisir Ancestrale, Domaine Vincent Carême White | Still | 13%

For complexity, depth of flavour, and interest, it’s hard to beat this ancestral method sparkling wine from Vincent Carême. So vinous and lively, it’s delicious in youth, and fascinating with some age. It’s made by transferring the still sweet and fermenting grape juice into bottle, and then trapping the subsequent carbon dioxide as it continues to ferment to dryness in the bottle. No dosage is added, though the spent yeast cells are expelled, leaving a brilliant, crystalline sparkling wine behind. It has such a wonderful depth and complexity on the nose, with a vinous structure on the palate, and a salty zing. The creamy mousse wraps around crunchy apple fruit. Experience from tasting back vintages of this cuvée shows me this wine ages brilliantly, and will develop complex depth, and savoury precision with a few years in bottle.

Ready: 2022 - 2030
2020 Vouvray Sec Le Clos, Domaine Vincent Carême Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

This is the jewel in the crown of this domaine. It comes from a limestone (tuffeau) site overlooking the Loire which is so steep it has to be worked by horse instead of tractor. It has such a chalky note on the nose, it almost reminds me of Sancerre grown on terres blanches soils. With greengage and lime singing out, and mineral energy and tension driving it forward, this is a brilliant wine you’ll wish you bought more of.

Ready: 2022 - 2028
2020 Vouvray Sec, Domaine Vincent Carême Dry | White | Still | 14%

This is everything we’ve been looking for in a dry Vouvray: precise, chiselled Chenin fruit, balanced weight, sappy freshness, and flinty finish. It comes from clay and flint soils around the domaine, andin 2020 has an electric energy. It’s so bright, and with a clean, precise weight and length, it’s hard to imagine a better example of the appellation for the price.

Ready: 2022 - 2028
Domaine de la Noblaie
2019 Chinon Pierre de Tuf, Domaine de la Noblaie, Jérôme Billard Dry | Red | Still | 13%

This is made from two parcels, both planted in the 1940s. Jérôme uses the fifteenth-century tuffeau cuve in the old cellar to do a long, slow fermentation to bring out some delicious complexity in this Cabernet Franc. 2019 is a seriously brilliant wine. It has a subtle nose, with whispers of smoke and violets. The palate’s silken tannins and a juicy dark fruit core give it wonderful length. Outstanding value.

Ready: 2023 - 2032
Critic Score
87/100
2021 Chinon Le Temps des Cerises, Domaine de la Noblaie, Jérôme Billard Dry | Red | Still | 13%

This is such a juicy, inviting delight. It has wonderfully primary floral notes, and Cabernet Franc’s structured freshness. Zappy and delicious, and brilliant if served a little chilled.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
Critic Score
88/100
2021 Chinon Goutte de Rosé, Domaine de la Noblaie, Jérôme Billard Dry | Rosé | Still | 12.5%

This Cabernet Franc rosé is such a pretty delicate pink. It comes from the domaine’s young vines, which yield a fruity and open wine. The 2021 is the best vintage we’ve tried so far, with a delicious citrus fruit energy accompanying the sweet red berry fruits on the nose. A simple summer delight.

Ready: 2022 - 2024
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Domaine des Forges
2020 Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru, Domaine des Forges Sweet | White | Still | 12.5%

This is a grand cru in every sense of the word. It is so intensely perfumed with honey, flowers, quince and apricot. Outstanding acidity on the palate cuts through the concentrated sweetness. This is a high octane sweet wine.

Ready: 2023 - 2036
2020 Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru Chaume, Domaine des Forges 50cl Bottle Sweet | White | Still | 12%

This has got to be one of the best value sweet wines on the market. It is bottled in 50cl exclusively for Lay & Wheeler - the perfect size, we feel. It is a beautiful pale golden colour, with irresistible aromas of Seville orange marmalade and acacia honey. It has great acidity on the palate giving it a brilliant, dynamic length. There is so much going on here.

Ready: 2022 - 2030
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Domaine des Herbauges
2020 La Roche Blanche Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu sur Lie, Domaine des Herbauges Dry | White | Still | 12%

Grown on schist and galet roulé soils between the Lac de Grandlieu and the Atlantic Ocean, where the thin topsoil produces a very fine example. It has a touch of tropical fruit along with the salty, leesy freshness, and a creamy texture on the palate. Excellent value.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
2020 Château de la Pierre Vieilles Vignes Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu sur Lie, Domaine des Herbauges Dry | White | Still | 12%

This beautiful property was bought by Jérôme in 2007. He says that, as well as a perfect place to grow vines, it’s also the ultimate picnic spot, where the family like to shuck oysters with a bottle of the château’s delicious wine. Precise and refreshing, with a citrus, floral nose. The sur lie ageing gives it a fine texture and a lively freshness which are so well expressed in this light-bodied, paradigm Muscadet.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
Domaine des Huards
2019 Romo, Cour-Cheverny, Domaine des Huards Dry | White | Still | 12.5%

This wine is made from the rare and exciting Romorantin grape. It has a fragrant nose of lilies, toffee apple, blossom, and notes of iodine. This has the variety’s typically racy acidity, razor-sharp and refreshing, with a sour-lemon tang. Piquant, lightly floral, with the drive of green Granny Smith apple on the palate.

Ready: 2022 - 2030
Domaine du Closel
2019 Savennières La Jalousie, Domaine du Closel Dry | White | Still | 14%

This comes from various parcels of younger vines, aged around 20 years old. The name is a tongue-in-cheek nod to a dispute many years back with a neighbouring vigneron. In Savennières, the vignerons have a wicked sense of humour as well as great pride in their appellation. The grapes are picked at the beginning of harvest, and there is a pithy, almost spicy, salty tang to the dry but juicy palate. The 2019 has a delicately floral lift, and zingy freshness. It's the lightest weight of the Closel wines, and will drink brilliantly from early on.

Ready: 2021 - 2028
2020 Savennières Clos du Papillon, Domaine du Closel Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

This is the flagship wine of the estate, offering up power, precision, and remarkable ageing ability. It shows a heady concoction of sweet blossom and candied citrus notes on the nose, with a palate of electrifying power. Vivid freshness and impressive weight culminates on the long finish. Truly outstanding.

Ready: 2022 - 2036
2019 Savennières Les Caillardières, Domaine du Closel Dry | White | Still | 13%

These vines are grown on sandstone soils, and are picked around 10 days after La Jalousie, when the skins are a little thicker and beginning to turn golden brown. The wine is aged for 18 months in demi-muids, and the result is a wine that so perfectly captures the essence of Chenin Blanc. This is all crisp russet apple with just a hint of nutty complexity emerging. The palate is, whilst arresting in its freshness, also so silky in texture - a quality Evelyne says is typical of Les Caillardières. This is the dark horse of the Closel cellar: one to drink before the Clos du Papillon perhaps, but capably of giving as much enjoyment from its complex layer.

Ready: 2021 - 2030
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Domaine du Tremblay (Tatin)
2020 Quincy Domaine de Tremblay Vieilles Vignes, Domaines Tatin Dry | White | Still | 13%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
2020 Quincy Cuvée Gatebourse, Domaines Tatin Dry | White | Still | 13%

This was yet again our top pick from the domaine’s four single vineyard wines. It comes from old vines planted on sandy gravel soils. It is always the first site to be picked, and in 2020 it captures the vibrant acidity and freshness of the vintage. The nose has subtle melon and green apple fruit, whilst the palate has beautiful energy, with crisp weight. A very complete and composed example of Quincy.

Ready: 2021 - 2026
François Cotat
2020 Sancerre Les Culs de Beaujeu, François Cotat Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

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.

Ready: 2023 - 2035
2020 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés, François Cotat Dry | White | Still | 15%

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.

Ready: 2023 - 2035
2021 Sancerre La Grande Côte, François Cotat Dry | White | Still | 13%

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.

Ready: 2024 - 2036
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2021 Sancerre Caillottes, François Cotat Dry | White | Still

This wine was not made in 2021 due to frost damage.

Ready: 2023 - 2031
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Gérard Boulay
Critic Score
92/100
2019 Sancerre Clos de Beaujeu, Domaine Gérard Boulay Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

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, with fleshy fruits and just a hint of tropical succulence, twinned with a superbly fresh cut of acidity.

Ready: 2022 - 2031
2019 Sancerre La Côte, Gérard Boulay Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2033
Critic Score
96/100
2019 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés, Gérard Boulay Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

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.

Ready: 2023 - 2035
Jacky Blot
2020 Bourgueil Pied de la Butte, Domaine de la Butte, Jacky Blot Dry | Red | Still | 12.5%

All the fruit for this blend comes from two parcels found at the bottom part of the slope. Some vines here are as old as 80 years, so although the attack of this wine is juicy, upfront, and invitingly drinkable, the finish is sustained and persistent with that old vine concentration taking this above a simple easy-drinking wine. It’s got a wonderful sour cherry note, with lightly smoky notes. This always works well in its youth.

Ready: 2023 - 2029
2020 Bourgueil Le Haut de la Butte, Domaine de la Butte, Jacky Blot Dry | Red | Still | 13.5%

As the name suggests, this fruit comes from the top of the slope. The fruit feels darker than that of the Pied de la Butte, and the tannins are always more present but now with a few years of age these have softened beautifully. There’s a graphite, savoury complexity to the dark fruit and a wonderful texture through the long finish.

Ready: 2024 - 2032
2020 Clos de Venise, La Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

Like La Bretonnière, this vineyard is also within Vouvray, but cannot use the AOC name since it is vinified in Montlouis. It comes from a south-facing slope, and Jacky and Jean-Philippe are careful to get the picking date right here. Too early and it loses its drama, too late and it feels overweight. In 2020 it is distinctly pithy and dry, agile and long.

Ready: 2022 - 2034
2020 Montlouis-Sur-Loire Rémus, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

This is as good an introduction to Montlouis as you’ll find. The fruit profile is centred on apple and blossom, and the palate has the tart cooking-apple acidity of great Chenin Blanc, along with a lovely lightly phenolic grip. Rémus might be Jacky’s entry level white but its quality is not to be underestimated. It’s simply made in a style that Jacky thinks will drink well from youth, so don’t hesitate to pull the cork. Smoky, expressive, and bursting with pineapple aromas in 2020.

Ready: 2022 - 2028
N/V Triple Zéro, Domaine La Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot (2022 release) Dry | White | Still | 13%

This sparkling Chenin Blanc has fast become one of our go-to fizzes. Just like the rosé, this has zero chaptalisation, zero liqueur de tirage, and zero dosage, and is as dry as they come. This ancestral methode is the same as that used to make Pet-Nats (pétillant naturel) where the fermentation is finished in bottle. But unlike a Pet Nat, this sees the lees disgorged at the end, meaning the finished wine is crystal clear. The crisp orchard fruit aromas combined with a complex biscuity character on the nose are followed by taut precision and depth of flavour on the palate. The texture of the bubbles is spot on: creamy and persistent.

Ready: 2022 - 2032
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N/V Triple Zéro Rosé, Domaine La Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot (2019 Base Vintage) Dry | Rosé | Still | 13%

This sparkling pink made from 100% Gamay has been the surprise find of this year’s rosé search. The ‘Zéro’ indicates zero chaptalisation, zero liqueur de tirage, and zero dosage. It is as dry as they come, and made much like a Pet-Nat (pétillant naturel), though the lees are disgorged at the end, meaning the wine is crystal clear and bright in colour. It has a beautiful pithy, pink grapefruit character, a light, scintillating line of freshness through it, and a gentle, creamy mousse.

Ready: 2022 - 2024
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Critic Score
96/100
2020 Montlouis-Sur-Loire Clos Mosny, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

Clos Mosny is a monopole vineyard, and consistently one of our favourites from Jacky. The nose is restrained and taut, followed by a deliciously chalky green edginess on the palate. Just a hint of new oak adds a creaminess to the texture. Very long on the finish.

Ready: 2022 - 2033
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2020 Bourgueil Mi-Pente, Domaine de la Butte, Jacky Blot Dry | Red | Still | 12%

This is the sweet spot of Domaine de la Butte - from right in the middle of the slope - and as such, produces the most complex and ageworthy of this triptych. Jacky and Jean-Philippe hold the wine back for an extra six months in the cellar before release as they know: this wine needs time. Its huge concentration and tannic stature are matched to slightly more new oak than the other wines. The density of fruit is more than a match.

Ready: 2024 - 2035
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2020 Montlouis-sur-Loire Hauts de Husseau, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot Dry | White | Still | 13%

Some of the vines in this vineyard are over 100 years old, and the wine always has a thrilling concentration and precision. The fruit is perfectly peachy, with a cool and silken texture on the palate that is supported by well-integrated oak.Fresh, vibrant, and complex, with bags of ageing potential.

Ready: 2022 - 2034
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Critic Score
94/100
2020 Clos de la Bretonnière, La Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

This vineyard is actually within Vouvray, but cannot use the AOC name since it is vinified in Montlouis. It’s another of Jacky’s monopole vineyards, and in 2020, is hard to beat. So fresh and defined. Citrus and focused on the nose, with a complex floral and saline palate. SUch a satisfying glass.

Ready: 2022 - 2034
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Jean-François Mérieau
Critic Score
91/100
2021 Arpent des Vaudons, Touraine Sauvignon, Jean-François Mérieau Dry | White | Still | 13%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2025
2020 Cent Visages, Touraine Côt, Jean-François Mérieau Dry | Red | Still | 14.5%

This is one of the most unusual and exciting wines we have on the list. It is made from Malbec, a variety that has long been grown in the Loire, known locally as Côt. Today it’s hard to find much Côt, and this wine gets snapped up quickly every year. The 2020 has a ripe abundance of juicy black fruits, dry, well-formed tannins, and a bright balance on the palate.

Ready: 2021 - 2027
Jonathan Pabiot
2020 Pouilly-sur-Loire, Jonathan Pabiot Dry | White | Still | 11%

This is made from the Chasselas grape, the lesser-known variety of Pouilly, with only a handful of hectares remaining today. Jonathan’s is one of the best examples: refined and floral, juicy and refreshing. What it lacks in Sauvignon Blanc’s razor sharp edges it gains in its delicate proportions.

Ready: 2021 - 2024
2020 Pouilly Fumé Aubaine, Jonathan Pabiot Dry | White | Still | 13%

This is one of the best wines we’ve tasted from Jonathan Pabiot recently. It hits all the marks. It comes from a limestone parcel near Tracy-sur-Loire and is ripe, fresh, full of energy, and shows great character. The wine has spent 18 months ageing in concrete tanks before bottling, and it has a silky texture with a deliciously long, bright finish.

Ready: 2022 - 2026
2019 Pouilly Fumé Florilège, Jonathan Pabiot Dry | White | Still | 13%

From a blend of parcels across the limestone soils of the appellation. The cool nights during the warm 2019 harvest help keep the freshness locked in here. This has a limestone salinity and a brilliant tension. Such a great example of the appellation.

Ready: 2021 - 2025
2020 Pouilly Fumé Léon, Jonathan Pabiot Dry | White | Still | 13%

Léon (previously named Florilège) is made from a blend of parcels across the limestone soils of the appellation. This has a limestone salinity and a brilliant tension. Such a great example of the appellation.

Ready: 2022 - 2026
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2020 Pouilly Fumé Luminance, Jonathan Pabiot Dry | White | Still | 13%

Formerly named Prédilection, Luminance is 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 Kimmeridgean soil, producing high intensity grapes with unique character. A subsequent 16 months on the lees brings about a richness and depth rarely seen: powerful stony structure with grip and purpose, this is one of the greats.

Ready: 2022 - 2026
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Louis Metaireau
2020 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Grand Mouton, Louis Métaireau Dry | White | Still | 12%

This is the flagship wine of the estate, and offers the best of Muscadet: pale lemon yellow, a little citrus and blossom on the nose, an elegant, defined length, with some savoury structure from lees ageing bringing it all together. This is an absolutely charming Muscadet. It bursts with lemons and limes, and has such a refreshing tension.

Ready: 2023 - 2026
2020 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Cuvée One, Louis Métaireau Dry | White | Still | 12%

Made in much smaller volumes than the Grand Mouton cuvée, this is from a selection of the oldest vines on the property, planted in 1937. These vines reach excellent maturity, and the grapes are always picked on the first day of harvest. This has a wonderful perfume of lemon verbena and white flowers. There is a lively intensity here, and a step up in concentration from the Grand Mouton.

Ready: 2022 - 2029
2020 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Grand Mouton, Louis Métaireau Magnum Dry | White | Still | 12%

This is the flagship wine of the estate, and offers the best of Muscadet: pale lemon yellow, a little citrus and blossom on the nose, an elegant, defined length, with some savoury structure from lees ageing bringing it all together. This is an absolutely charming Muscadet. It bursts with lemons and limes, and has such a refreshing tension.

Ready: 2022 - 2026
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Serge et Bruno Sourdais
2021 Chinon, Logis de la Bouchardière, Serge et Bruno Sourdais Dry | Red | Still | 13%

This reigns supreme as the perennial red wine bargain of the list. After a short period of ageing the wine is bottled, and even in its first year it offers an upfront, fruity and refreshing style of Cabernet Franc, with lots of red cherry fruits and detailed little tannins and a floral lift. The grip is perfectly pitched, and it will drink well immediately.

Ready: 2022 - 2027
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2019 Chinon Le Clos, Bruno Sourdais Dry | Red | Still | 13%

This is made from various parcels of old vines that are all located on the hillsides, with good drainage. This is a benchmark Chinon that has flourished in the 2019 vintage. There is nicely fragrant red fruit on the nose, with a touch of graphite and seaweed, giving it an iodine edge. The palate has a spicy, lightly herbaceous weight and fine, firm tannins, with lovely acidity.

Ready: 2022 - 2035
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Thibaud & Michel Chevré
2020 La Haie Hardin Saumur Blanc, Clos de L'Ecotard, Thibaud & Michel Chevré Dry | White | Still | 13.5%

Thibaud and Michel Chevré only started making this cuvée in 2017, but it was frosted so badly in 2019 none was made at all. It is a pleasure to see it bounce back in 2020. The 50 year old Chenin vines on sandy clay and limestone soils make for a beautifully floral and aromatic style of wine. It has a pretty fruit weight and long mineral finish. Very good indeed.

Ready: 2022 - 2029
2020 Clos de L'Ecotard Saumur Blanc, Thibaud & Michel Chevré Dry | White | Still | 14%

Thibaud Chevré is a seriously exciting young talent in the Loire. His father spent a magnificent career work with Thierry Germain, and this wonderful vineyard - Clos de l'Ecotard - was the first parcel the father-and-son team bought. It's found right on the edge of the Saumur’s border with Anjou, and its highly active limestone and clay soil produces taut and nervous wines that reverberate with tension and energy, even in warmer years. They only use horses to plough it, but the extra hard work is worth it. The 2020 is ripe but vibrant; expressive, bursting with chalky, saline drive, and a flash of zingy freshness wrapped around fleshy fruit. This is a domaine to watch.

Ready: 2022 - 2034
2021 Saumur Rouge, Clos de L'Ecotard, Thibaud & Michel Chevré Dry | Red | Still | 12.5%

This is an excellent introduction to Saumur Rouge, with its sweet, leafy red fruit and silky tannins. Father and son team Michel and Thibaud Chevré are showing themselves to be every bit as skilled with reds as with whites, which is little surprise given Michel’s long career working with Thierry Germain.

Ready: 2023 - 2030
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Vincent Pinard
2020 Sancerre Le Château, Domaine Vincent Pinard Dry | White | Still | 14%

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. 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.

Ready: 2023 - 2036
2020 Sancerre Harmonie, Domaine Vincent Pinard Dry | White | Still | 14.5%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2029
2021 Sancerre Les Créots, Domaine Vincent Pinard Dry | White | Still | 13%

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.

Ready: 2022 - 2028
2019 Sancerre Rouge Charlouise, Vincent Pinard Dry | Red | Still | 14.5%

This comes from a blend of parcels in the village of Bué, thought to be the best source of Pinot Noir in the Sancerre appellation. 50-year-old vines and low yields of around 30hl/ha give wonderful concentration. This means volumes are small, and demand far outstrips supply for this wine. It has deliciously fresh, ripe red fruit at its core, and silky tannins, it is an exceptionally well made Pinot Noir in any context. Wonderfully rich yet vibrant.

Ready: 2022 - 2031
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