Today’s wine is from La Côte du Sury, the highest vineyard in the village of Sury-en-Vaux, where 40-year-old vines cling to slopes that would make a mountain goat nervous. But it’s priced like a regular old young-vine village Sancerre.

The Pastou family has been farming these vertiginous vineyards north of Sancerre's legendary Monts Damnés since 1980. But it's the unique terroir of La Côte du Sury that makes this wine irreplaceable on Bouchon Restaurant’s list. At these elevations, you get a perfect storm of Sancerre's three signature soils: silex (flint), terres blanches (Kimmeridgian limestone—the same stuff that makes Chablis sing), and caillottes (gravelly limestone). 

Jean-Marc and his son Romain farm just enough of this single-vineyard Sancerre to satisfy their loyal following—which explains why Bouchon has been known to corner the market in short vintages. Everything is hand-harvested, fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel, and aged on fine lees before bottling unfined and unfiltered. 

The wine offers that laser-beam acidity that makes oysters taste more like oysters. You get that flinty, struck-match minerality that only comes from real silex soils. And you get it for a price that hasn't caught up with Sancerre's soaring demand.

WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT

• Thomas Keller's seal of approval: When America's most meticulous chef keeps the same wine on his list for 21 years, you know it's special. This is the Sancerre that pairs with everything from oysters to blanquette de veau at one of Napa's most beloved bistros.
  

• Single-vineyard gravitas, village prices: From the highest slopes of Sury-en-Vaux, these 40-year-old vines deliver complexity that punches way above the $25 price point. Our first-to-market pricing won't last.
  

• The minerality is REAL: The combination of flint, limestone, and elevation creates that mouth-watering mineral bite that we can’t get enough of. Throw in highly perfumed scents of white grapefruit, lime zest, kumquat, crushed chalk, green herbs, struck match, and wet stones, and you’ve got an utterly thirst-quenching Sancerre.

HOW TO SERVE IT

• Stunning now through 2027. While it's electric right out of the gate, a year or two in bottle will add subtle complexity.
  

• Serve icy cold at 40-45°F to maximize that refreshing Loire Valley zing.
  

• Pair like they do at Bouchon: oysters on the half shell (obviously), but also Crottin de Chavignol goat cheese, grilled sole with herbs, or a classic salade verte.