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.

This is packed with juicy concentration, with an impressive tension. This is terroir-driven Sauvignon Blanc, with the texture and balance to age well, though it’s probably too enticing to ignore right now. Impressive length. This is one of the smartest Sauvignons we know.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is an exciting new addition to our Claude Riffault offering. Like Denisottes and Chailloux, this is a single vineyard cuvée that shows Stéphean'e dexterity and skill in abundance. It is concentration and intensity you only find in the very best Sauvignon Blancs. It also shows the ripe fullness of the vintage, and will drink well from early on.

Staggering attention to detail is paid by Stéphane Riffault in both the vineyard and cellar. He is unquestionably making some of the most exciting wines in the appellation. They stand out for their tightly coiled, supercharged concentration. This is Sauvignon Blanc as you've never known it before: powerful, with a filigree, piercing, precise freshness. It is Burgundian in stature. It comes from a parcel grown on Kimmeridgian marl, known locally as terres blanches, which produces wines full of flavour and texture. Long, slow fermentations in large oak foudres encourage complex savoury expression from the Sauvignon Blanc. This is not to be missed.

Stéphane Riffault grows in stature with every vintage, and is now unquestionably one of the most exciting producers in the appellation. 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. The 2022 is focused and structured with a flinty power and backbone of acidity, that drives through the wine from the start through to the very long finish. Excellent.

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.

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.

This is quite rightly Sancerre’s most celebrated site. It's 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. It is a truly magnificent and ageworthy example of Sancerre. The balance of power, racy acidity, and fruit length in this wine are simply captivating. Deep and layered. As ever, don't be afraid to cellar this, it will only improve.

This is bursting with bergamot freshness. As always, Luc says it showed the best balance between acidity and pH in the cellar, meaning the wine tastes vibrant and fresh without being overly bracing and acidic. 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 that high acidity - the secret to single vineyard wines in his opinion. It is saline and savoury, making it an excellent food wine with plenty of ageing potential.

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.

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.

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.