The brilliant 2021 Domaine de Saint-Pierre from Pierre Prieur, may be the most extraordinary of them all. It’s certainly the most pedigreed: coming from the two best vineyards in all of Sancerre – Monts Damnes and Chene Marchand, as well as the lesser known but almost equally prestigious Cous de Brault.
This also combines the very best examples of Sancerre’s three soil types: “Terres Blanches", a soft, chalky-clay soil, unique in the Sancerre area producing full-bodied rich wines; "Caillottes", a pebbly-chalk soil yielding fine and fruity wines; and "Silex", a flinty soil producing wines of great verve and openness.
Plus the vine growing and winemaking here are unusually serious for a Sancerre anywhere near this price:
- The grapes are handpicked, with yields unusually low for Sancerre, in part due to severe debudding to limit them;
- Wild grass and weeds grow between the rows and are hoed under by hand;
- Fermentations are very long and at low temperatures, and the wine ages for a very long time on its lees.
The result is the sort of classic, top-quality Sancerre that usually sells for twice our price.