Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2024 Henri Bourgeois Sancerre La Côte des Monts Damnés is a striking and terroir-driven expression, showing a light straw-yellow color and opening with pristine aromas of fresh-cut herbs, crushed stone, and tart citrus. On the palate, this satisfying wine is long, rich, and beautifully focused, offering an energetic surge of bright herbs and an explosion of ripe lemon that carries through a vibrant, mineral-laced finish. For a cool and regionally inspired pairing, serve it with matelote de poissons de Loire — a refined Loire Valley fish stew featuring delicate river fish gently simmered with leeks, shallots, herbs, and a splash of white wine — a dish whose freshness and subtle complexity harmonize elegantly with the wine’s precision, citrus vibrancy, and savory herbal depth. (Tasted: November 20, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
This balanced and delicious white has aromas of sliced apples, fresh herbs and a hint of green pears. Medium-bodied with fresh acidity. Textured, with volume and energy on the palate and a crunchy, flavorful finish of excellent length.
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.