Vines, like artists, often need to suffer to produce greatness. And if the adage that “stressed vines make great wines” is true, Vacheron’s “Guigne-Chèvres” vineyard is the ultimate case study. It faces northeast and is extremely windy and rugged, causing the vines to grow very close to the ground—resembling, according to one account, “bonsai trees.” Those vines aren’t devoting their precious energies to growing lots of vegetation: they’re pouring everything into bunches of supremely concentrated Sauvignon Blanc grapes for this Grand Cru masterpiece.

No, it doesn’t say “Grand Cru” on the label because the Sancerre region hasn’t codified its vineyards in that manner, but as I’ve said many times before about Vacheron, their collection of biodynamically farmed vineyards is second to none—not just in Sancerre, but in Burgundy, too. Although the greatest Sancerre whites are the qualitative peers of Premier and Grand Cru White Burgundies, the market, if pricing is any indication, doesn’t recognize them as such. I’m here to tell you, again today, that single-vineyard Vacheron Sancerre represents the pinnacle of not just Sancerre but French white wine in general. Maybe it’s because it is the easy-to-pronounce, first-toe-in-the-pool French wine for so many American consumers, but Sancerre doesn’t always inspire the same awe among collectors. If that’s your experience, you are missing out: Today’s ’18 emphatically reminds us of Sauvignon Blanc’s nobility and longevity. Prepare to have your mind blown—again—by the immensely talented Vacheron cousins!

Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique Vacheron are those cousins, and very few (if any) of their peers in Sancerre offer as many terroir-specific bottlings as they do. “Guigne-Chèvres” is one of six different vineyard-designated whites in their lineup, coming from the smallest and most extreme of their many lieu-dit (“named-place”) parcels. The name of the site comes from French patois and roughly translates to “goat watchers,” a reference to the practice of allowing goats to pasture on the steep slope. The Guigne-Chèvres vineyard is rooted in a mix of silex (flint) with red clay and limestone, a sort of “coming together” of the region’s two major soil types. Like all the family’s vineyards—34 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and 11 of Pinot Noir—its farming is certified organic and biodynamic going back many years.

Their meticulous, site-specific approach is reflected in the purity and pulsating energy of their wines. They plow their soils, fertilize with natural compost, plant cover crops between the rows of vines, and hand-harvest much smaller yields than their neighbors. The pristine grapes are gently pressed then fermented with only natural yeasts in open-top wooden fermenters, and when fermentation is complete, the Guigne-Chèvres bottling is “racked” (decanted) and then returned to those same large vats for one year of aging.

This is the first time we’ve gotten our hands on any Guigne-Chèvres for an offer, so for those of you who’ve tried other single-vineyard wines from Vacheron (like the finely chiseled “Le Paradis” or the broadly layered “Chambrates”), this will be a treat. This 2018 is incredibly taut, ripe, aromatic, and refined, a study in white wine “structure.” As is to be expected from such a cool vineyard source, it is racy and spicy and poised to age for a long time. In the glass, it’s a classic straw-yellow with hints of green at the rim, with powerful, perfumed scents of passionfruit, grapefruit, mango peel, lemon/lime pith, white peach, grated ginger, wet stones, green herbs, light smoke, and chalk dust. It is not (yet) broad and fleshy but powerful and focused, which makes me wonder what 5-8 years in the cellar are going to do—my guess is that the result will be magical, although that won’t prevent me from opening some now. Decant this 30 minutes before serving in large all-purpose stems and let the temperature creep up past 50 degrees; you’ll feel the texture broaden and the aromas expand. Given the wine’s name and the classic affinity of Sancerre and goat’s milk cheese, try the attached pasta recipe for this wine—Guigne-Chèvres will cut through it like a hot knife through butter! Enjoy!