2023 Sancerre, Les Chasseignes, Claude Riffault, Loire
Critics reviews
Still a barrel sample, the 2023 Les Chasseignes shows a creamy, lactic note you won't have seen before, as there was a little malo here in 2023 for the first time. There's a cooler, greener nature, with green herbs joining ripe apple flesh and pear. It remains fresh with a fine, chalky texture but lacks a little of the usual persistence on the finish.
Drink 2025 - 2031
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com (August 2024)
Biodynamic farming. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork.
The 2021 Sancerre Les Chasseignes opens with an excitingly pure, mineral and coolish (limestone) nose with mocha and very fine phenolic aromas reminiscent of gooseberries. Predominantly sourced in the upper part of the limestone lieu-dit where Riffault holds 7.5 well-ventilated acres, the wine opens with a pure and rocky bouquet of iodine, dashes of lemon juice and hints of mocha. Aged in large barrels of 2,000 litres (and some smaller barrels) for 14 months, this is a full-bodied, pure, fresh and saline Sancerre with intensity, fine and mealy tannin grip and lively mineral acidity that carries the wine to a quite long, pure and naked finish with lots of mineral tension, grip, lime zest and iodine flavours. This is not really austere (too juicy) but a kind of wine with thrills, tension, and energy.
Drink 2023 - 2031
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (March 2023)
About this WINE
Domaine Riffault
Domaine Claude Riffault is a 13.5-hectare estate based in the village of Sury-en-Vaux, around five kilometres from Sancerre. One of the most exciting domaines in the Sancerre appellation, it is run by Stéphane and Bénédicte Riffault. All the vineyards are certified organic and biodynamic.
Stéphane studied in Burgundy, and his brother, Benoît, married into the Sauzet family in Puligny-Montrachet and now makes the wines there. It is no surprise, therefore, that the approach here mirrors that of Burgundy, focusing on identifying and highlighting individual terroirs.
The grapes are hand-harvested and rigorously sorted before crushing and a light settling to retain a significant proportion of lees. This and extensive lees ageing allow Stéphane to produce the textural wines he enjoys. The whites' vinification and ageing are in concrete tanks and large-format oak – demi-muids and foudres.
The red wines are also among the very best the region has to offer. They are typically made with a significant proportion of whole bunches, bringing a spicy, floral character and mid-palate richness to the wines. Importantly, yields are kept low to obtain a good level of ripeness.
In all colours, this is an excellent address for precise, delineated and concentrated wines that go against the convention of easy-drinking Sancerre.
Sancerre
Sancerre is a famous white Sauvignon Blanc appellation located on the left bank of the Loire, across from Pouilly-Fumé.
While Pouilly-Fumé's vineyards are tightly clustered and homogeneous, Sancerre's 14 communes (including the great villages of Chavignol, Bué, Verdigny, Amigny and Ménétréol) are widely dispersed, covering nearly 3,000 hectares over vertiginous valleys at up to 350 metres above sea level, and three distinct soil types: silex, a white flint found around Sancerre and Ménétréol in particular, giving perfume and a fine structure; terres blanches, a calcareous clay soil that whitens as it dries (widely distributed), delivering a full, fruity richness; and caillottes, a Portlandian soil brimming with large limestones imparting both power and verve – as found in Sancerre, Chavignol and Bué.
A fourth soil type, griottes, tightly-packed with small limestones, has also been identified – as found near the village of Vosges. Kimmeridgean clay crops up less consistently than in Pouilly-Fumé and since most Sancerre, bar the single-vineyard wines, are a blend of soils the result is a richer, fuller and fleshier Sauvignon Blanc.
As with Pouilly-Fumé, an increasing number of (single-vineyard) wines are being raised in French oak, mostly 500-litre and demi-muids; little surprise in light of naturally higher alcohol levels due to global warming. Sancerre Rouge is also made from Pinot Noir, the quality of which is often compromised by bleeding some of the juice to make rosé – Vincent Pinard is a master nonetheless.
Recommended producers: François Cotat, André Dezat, David Sautereau
Top vineyards include: Les Monts Damnés, La Grande Côte, Le Cul de Beaujeu, Grand (and Petit) Chemarin, Chêne Marchand
Sauvignon Blanc
An important white grape in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley that has now found fame in New Zealand and now Chile. It thrives on the gravelly soils of Bordeaux and is blended with Sémillon to produce fresh, dry, crisp Bordeaux Blancs, as well as more prestigious Cru Classé White Graves.
It is also blended with Sémillon, though in lower proportions, to produce the great sweet wines of Sauternes. It performs well in the Loire Valley and particularly on the well-drained chalky soils found in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, where it produces bone dry, highly aromatic, racy wines, with grassy and sometimes smoky, gunflint-like nuances.
In New Zealand, Cloudy Bay in the 1980s began producing stunning Sauvignon Blanc wines with extraordinarily intense nettly, gooseberry, and asparagus fruit, that set Marlborough firmly on the world wine map. Today many producers are rivalling Cloudy Bay in terms of quality and Sauvignon Blanc is now New Zealand`s trademark grape.
It is now grown very successfully in Chile producing wines that are almost halfway between the Loire and New Zealand in terms of fruit character. After several false starts, many South African producers are now producing very good quality, rounded fruit-driven Sauvignon Blancs.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Les Chasseignes comes from a selection of vineyards with limestone gravel soils known locally as caillottes. The vineyards face east and southeast and are situated around 250- to 300 metres altitude. A good 60% of the wine was made and aged in foudre, with the remaining 40% in used, large-format barrels. The nose has a little positive reduction, which blows off quickly to reveal delicate white flowers and zesty lemon notes, along with some subtle white pepper and green apple. The palate is silky and caressing, thanks to some partial malolactic fermentation, with generous and ripe pear and apple fruit backed by a lively tension behind.
Adam Bruntlett, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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