Today is an exciting day! I’ve been trying to get my hands on Domaine du Nozay’s electrifyingly mineral, deeply
Chablisienne interpretation of Sancerre since we started SommSelect. While bottles of Nozay are a rarity in the US and few sommeliers I know have actually pulled the cork on one, the story is well-known: The brilliant man behind the property, Cyril de Benoist, is the nephew of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti mastermind Aubert de Villaine.
Cyril’s father, Philippe de Benoist, founded Domaine du Nozay in 1970, and today, Cyril is bottling the finest wines in the estate’s five-decade history. His comprehensive approach to organic and biodynamic farming sets a high bar in a region not exactly known for environmental stewardship, and his wines convey a profound limestone minerality more readily associated with Chablis than Sancerre. If, like me, you believe this mineral imprint sets the best Sancerre wines apart—and if, like me, you love to chase down the world’s rarest treasures—then this is your bottle! At today’s very reasonable price, you can purchase it by the case and look forward to sharing it remorse-free with friends all Spring and Summer long!
[**PLEASE NOTE: today’s wine will ship from California the week of Monday, April 1. Limit 12 bottles per customer.]
Sauvignon Blanc is Cyril de Benoist’s variety of choice and each bottle of Domaine du Nozay says “Sancerre” on the label. Still, just one sip of this brisk, pale golden wine confirms that Nozay shares as much in common with Chablis as Sancerre. That might sound strange until you glance at a map and notice that Nozay’s home turf of Saint-Gemme is the Sancerre hamlet closest to Chablis, and it is well north of the Sancerre’s more well known sub-villages of Bue, Chavignol, and Sancerre itself. The result is a wine that speaks less of “Sancerre” or Sauvignon Blanc-driven character, and more to the deep, ancient, limestone minerality that makes the greater region that spans Burgundy and the Loire Valley arguably the most thrilling white wine destination on the planet.
Cyril ferments today’s certified organic and biodynamic Sancerre exclusively with his property’s indigenous, airborne yeast. His vessel of choice is an egg-shaped stainless steel tank that maximizes purity while encouraging continuous circulation of the fine lees during fermentation. Each plot of Nozay’s 15-hectare estate is hand-picked and fermented separately. Riper, richer juice goes into other cuvées—some in barrel, one in amphora—but the most angular, tense and mouth-watering fruit is reserved for today’s “Domaine du Nozay” bottling. The result of the final assemblage is a Sancerre of uncommon delineation and focus.
Domaine du Nozay’s 2017 Sancerre is a lesson in the primacy of terroir. It is a wine that has as much soil identity as ‘varietal’ identity. One can’t deny the gorgeous under-ripe peach, salty lime zest and a palate-awakening burst of green apple acidity, but that’s where the “fruit” ends. Otherwise, this bottle is all about crushed rocks—shattered limestone and hardpan clay. For some, it may also feel like time machine that transports one back to the pre-climate change, pre-magazine-score golden age wherein the word “Sancerre” indicated a bone dry, austere white ideally suited for a plateau of
fruits de mer, or a picnic lunch with cured fish, fresh goat cheese and sourdough baguette. I think you get the picture: This is the genuine article! If consuming today, please decant for 30 minutes and serve at 50-55 degrees in Burgundy stems. Still, don’t underestimate Sancerre’s considerable capacity for improvement in the cellar. Anyone who’s enjoyed a mature bottle of Gerard Boulay can attest to the glory of mature, top quality Sancerre’s waxy stone fruit and aromatic exoticism. So, I’d encourage you to follow my lead today: grab one or two bottles to hide in the back corner of your cellar for 3-4 years, but make good use of the remaining bottles in your case as an ideal first-course or “Summer” white for 2019-2021. At this price, and with such a compelling backstory, there’s no reason not to go deep!
