One taste of Domaine de l’Estang and you’ll be reminded of something all too easy to forget: Sancerre is home to some of the best white wine terroir on the planet. The village’s global success has been a double-edged sword. So successful a “brand” is Sancerre that it’s now filled with producers content to rest on their laurels and let name recognition move their wine for them. Domaine de l’Estang’s Bertrand Graillot couldn’t be more different, and it shines through in his wines. His Sancerre is as chiseled and fresh as you expect from the appellation, but it’s got wholly unexpected dimensions of stone fruit breadth, floral lift, and mouth-coating texture. It’s a bottle that approaches the exalted status of some of the village’s most iconic names, like Cotat and Vacheron. It’s Sauvignon Blanc to relish in now and to watch age for a decade or more. If your eyes tend to glaze over when you read the word “Sancerre,” we get it. But grab a bottle or six of Domaine de l’Estang and you’ll join us in singing Sancerre’s praises all over again!
Domaine de l’Estang was founded by Bertrand Graillot in 2004. Bertrand is a native of the region, though he’s not from a grape-growing family. He attended viticultural school in Beaune, followed by posts across Burgundy in Gevrey-Chambertin, Pommard, and Chassagne-Montrachet. That Burgundian ethos comes through in his cellar technique. This isn’t Sancerre hit with cultured yeast, subjected to rigorous temperature control, then filtered excessively to get it onto market as quickly as possible. Bertrand allows fermentations to take place spontaneously and never blocks malolactic. He’ll age his wines for years on lees to encourage natural settling. And he picks relatively late, showing off real depth of fruit rather than mere piercing acidity and greenness. It all combines for Sancerre with uncommon texture and complexity, and through it all shines the region’s famous Kimmeridgian soil.
Like great Mosel Riesling from blue slate or classified growth Bordeaux grown in gravel, the best Sancerre comes from one type of soil, in this case what’s known locally as “terres blanches”. It’s the stuff of sommelier dreams, part of the same geological formation that underpins Chablis and Champagne, imbuing wines grown in it with profound mineral cut and salty freshness. And before the village’s rise to international fame, Sancerre more or less only came from terres blanches. Once it became one of the most recognized names in wine, plantings quickly spread into richer and heavier soils that make simpler, less distinctive wines. But Bertrand’s measly two hectares of Sancerre-designate Sauvignon Blanc vines are located in Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre and Thauvenay, villages where terre blanches reigns supreme.
Domaine de l’Estang’s 2023 bottling could suffice in the mere aperitif role most Sancerre is relegated to, but we really suggest spending a night with it as you would white Burgundy. It pours a luminous yellow-silver with flecks of green, and from the first whiff you’ll know you’re in for something different. There’s the classic grassy, herbaceous qualities to be sure, but they play a supporting role to ripe white peach, apricot pit, and yellow plum fruit. White flowers and a slight nutty tone sit alongside pulsing chalky, flinty minerality, and a grapefruit zest lift. The palate is, first of all, incredibly refreshing, the rigorous cut of limestone coming through loud and clear, before it fleshes out with that nutty and fruity breadth. It closes back up with that steely cut we love in great Sancerre. It’s utterly delicious now, but there’s no doubt it’ll reward medium-term aging, and whole new dimensions will be unlocked. Just be sure to grab enough to last you a few years!
