Winemaker Notes
Clear in color with golden hints. White flowers on the nose. In the mouth, this wine is silky, delicate and sensual, with a wealth of complexity on the finish. There is a good balance between the alcohol and acidity. A hint of oak accompanies flavors of exotic fruits with a dash of minerality.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
As its name indicates, this wine comes from vines planted on flinty soil. Aged in 500-gallon wooden barrels, the wine has just the merest indication of wood flavors along with a lightly oxidative character that makes it very attractive. The wine is ready to drink.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant and balanced version, displaying a floral mix up front, while hints of melon and kumquat form the core. Sea salt accents glide throughout, taking over on the defined finish. Drink now through 2025.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
Marked by its charming hilltop village in the easternmost territory of the Loire, Sancerre is famous for its racy, vivacious, citrus-dominant Sauvignon blanc. Its enormous popularity in 1970s French bistros led to its success as the go-to restaurant white around the globe in the 1980s.
While the region claims a continental climate, noted for short, hot summers and long, cold winters, variations in topography—rolling hills and steep slopes from about 600 to 1,300 feet in elevation—with great soil variations, contribute the variations in character in Sancerre Sauvignon blancs.
In the western part of the appellation, clay and limestone soils with Kimmeridgean marne, especially in Chavignol, produce powerful wines. Moving closer to the actual town of Sancerre, soils are gravel and limestone, producing especially delicate wines. Flint (silex) soils close to the village produce particularly perfumed and age-worthy wines.
About ten percent of the wines claiming the Sancerre appellation name are fresh and light red wines made from Pinot noir and to a lesser extent, rosés. While not typically exported in large amounts, they are well-made and attract a loyal French following.