Vincent Grall "Tradition Silex" Sancerre 2024

A refreshing and mineral white Sancerre wine. Pale yellow with light green tints. Endearing nose of lemon and tangerine with menthol touches. Tense, crisp attack then a palate that echoes the nose, revealing beautiful sourness and peppery notes on the finish. Drink with a platter of oysters.

You won’t find a Sancerre that’s had more attention from its winemaker than this. Since 1999, Vincent Grall has quietly been making tiny amounts of Sancerre in his garage from 3.8 ha of vines, making him the second smallest producer in the region. This means he can lavish the sort of attention to detail on his wines that just isn’t possible for larger estates. The production is split between two white cuvées coming from two distinct sites that are each vinified and aged differently, per the soil type. This cuvée comes from his top Silex-soil vineyard.

Although not certified, the soils are worked manually, organic treatments are used, and the vines are farmed using biodynamic principles. The intent is to work as naturally as possible in both the vineyards and the cellar. Unlike most Sancerre producers, all harvesting is done by hand.