This one is the oak aged cuvee, from old vines in silex or flint-laden soils.
The yields, in part because of the hardness of the soil, are extremely low – and the resultant wine is much richer, fuller and more complete than most Sancerres. And the older oak barrels only accentuate these qualities.
Yet it remains remarkably fresh and intense.
And I love how its importer (accurately) describes this:
Full-bodied, with more rounded acidity and full ripeness, this exudes crazy-good notes of tropical citrus, pear skin, kiwi, lime, and crushed rock. About as full and complex as Sauvignon Blanc gets, this is a real treat, and it's a taste of what world-class Sancerre would have tasted like back in the 1950's.
Again. Here’s Goode on an older vintage:
This is now Gitton's largest vineyard parcel, on flint soils. Pascal Gitton's grandfather went to the conveyancer 80 times in order to get his entire holding in this vineyard, because people were selling tiny plots of land: they weren't interested in flinty soils at the time because they were too hard to plough, and the wines needed to be kept longer because they took longer to express their aromas. 600 litre barrels. (The other cuvees are aged in stainless steel.)
Pure and fine with stony, mineral notes. Lovely freshness and purity here with fine citrus fruit. So linear and fine with an amazing mineral dimension. Pristine. 95/100
A remarkable throwback: both stylistically and in price.