We taste a lot of Sancerre at SommSelect. It’s one of my favorite white wine regions in the world, and, as I’ve said many times before, the baseline quality-for-dollar coming out of this appellation is practically unrivaled. And still, even with so much good wine available to us, we offer maybe one Sancerre a month. Today’s wine from Lucien Reymond, like every other Sancerre we offer, has been through a gauntlet. It’s battle-tested.

In this specific instance, I couldn’t stop raving about the wine’s energy and typicity: If I were mentoring a young sommelier, or serving a customer who was relatively new to French wine, this bottle would be the perfect “textbook” Sancerre to showcase. It’s the kind of wine that should be imprinted in everyone’s taste memory. Crafted from biodynamically farmed fruit grown in all three of Sancerre’s distinct soil types, this 2019 is a Sancerre survey course, full of vividly etched minerality and a surprising amount of texture at this price point. Every time I experience a wine like this, I can’t help but remark on how much a proper Sancerre over-delivers—we’re talking white Burgundy levels of structure, freshness and minerality, along with more aromatic dimension, at a more reasonable price. Certain wines aren’t merely delicious, but essential. This is one of them.

It’s also the product of a partnership designed to supply the US market with exactly this kind of French essential—while being sure to source it from hands-on, organic/biodynamic growers. When Olivier Richard, a Rhône-born wine exporter, met Jeremy Meyer, a California-based wine exporter, the pair became fast friends—and eventually collaborators. Starting in 2008, Richard began assembling a portfolio of small-scale French producers with eyes on the American market; years later, he and Garber founded Stork Wine Company, whose assorted producers across a range of appellations share a commitment to sustainable viticulture and artisan-scale production. 

The Lucien Reymond label was created by Richard as an homage to his grandfather, who was a winemaker in the Rhône who “secretly” harbored a desire to make great Sancerre. Working as a micro-négociant, Richard sourced the fruit for this bottling from a Biodyvin-certified grower whose holdings extend across the Sancerre AOC and include parcels in all three of the “classic” soil types of the appellation: Chalky Kimmeridgian limestone with clay (terres blanches); stony limestone marl (caillotes); and clay with flint (silex). The different source plots were vinified individually using ambient yeasts and the resultant wines were aged on their lees for 12 months in tank before blending and bottling.

As I mentioned above, this wine displays a surprisingly layered texture given the wine’s age and price point. This we’re told, owes at least in part to the full southern exposure of the source vineyards; the wine is not aged in oak, but the lees aging and full ripeness gives the wine beautiful weight on the palate. In the glass, it’s a medium yellow-gold moving to a silvery rim, with aromas that couldn’t possibly be more spot-on: white grapefruit, green melon, peach pit, honeysuckle, and green mango peel balanced by mineral notes of sea salt, herbs, wet stones, and crushed chalk. The way the wine coats the mid-palate then buttons up on the mouth-watering finish had us all smiling broadly—this is spot-on Sancerre in every way, ready to drink now and over the next two years in all-purpose stems at 45-50 degrees. Pair it with a restaurant classic like beet and goat cheese salad and you’ve got to admit: Yes, it’s been done before, but that’s because it works! Enjoy!