With its crisp, mouth-watering whites, Sancerre is understandably synonymous with summer. The picturesque town of Sancerre sits atop a hill, looking over to its surrounding vineyards and further away to the Loire River. Sauvignon Blanc thrives in this continental climate, and the complex patchwork of the area’s soils adds depth to its intense aromatics. Silex, chalk, limestone, and Kimmeridgian marls create a plethora of unique expressions if one looks beyond the name Sancerre and into single vineyards.
The stony caillottes soil of Claude Riffault’s Les Chasseignes creates the most typical profile for Sancerre: a balanced interplay of grapefruit zest, green mango, and lively acidity. Riffault’s Boucauds is planted on terre blanche, the chalky soil responsible for Sancerre’s most bracingly mineral expressions. For Sancerre’s more pensive and ageworthy side, turn to the wines of the Cotat cousins. Powerful and expansive, both the Mont Damnés and Grande Côte are steep hillsides of terre blanche. The older plots of Grande Côte show just a touch more structure, while Mont Damnés offers a more lush, tropical-fruited profile.
These wonderful terroir wines make you travel from the glass. You too, for a moment, can stand on top of that hill.
