Domaine Pierre Martin - Sancerre Chavignol 2023 750ml (13% abv)

Domaine Pierre Martin, a traditional and respected domaine located in the grand terroir of Chavignol, is owned and run by Pierre Martin. After working alongside his father, Yves, he started his own domaine from a scant 4 ha of vines in the greatest village of Sancerre, Chavignol. The vines are raised using organic farming and the soils found in these beautiful, high altitude vineyards are a mixture of caillottes (stony, chalky pebbles) and terres blanches (a mixture of clay and limestone). With old vines and traditional vinification, this is a bastion for classically styled Chavignol Sancerre.

Certified organic • 100% Sauvignon Blanc • From the famed village of Chavignol • Grown on caillottes (chalky white pebbles), with clay and limestone • Indigenous yeast • 30+ year old vines • Fermented and aged in stainless steel

Persistent and focused, this wine really sings with its intense notes of lemon verbena, fresh cut grass, and strong minerality, all elegantly displayed on a mouthwatering structure. The long finish is bright and lacy, with lovely detail.

more on the hamlet Chavignol -

a deep and forked cleft above which tower several striking slopes of Kimmeridgian limestone and marl. Here we find two of the Sancerre appellation’s most famed lieux-dits, Les Monts Damnés and Le Cul de Beaujeu, which are together responsible for some of the region’s most sought-after wines. The notoriety enjoyed by Chavignol today is due not to its ancient origins, but to the quality of the wines which come from these two great vineyards (although it is only fair to point out that part of its fame is down to the renowned goat’s cheese, the jewel-like Crottin de Chavignol).

The renown enjoyed by this village and its wines has resulted in Chavignol developing an independent identity and perhaps a superior status within the Sancerre region. This was evident to Pierre Bréjoux, a high-ranking official at the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine when he visited. It was this that he was referring to when he noted in Les Vins de Loire (Parisienne d’Editions Techniques et Commerciales, 1956), from which I quote at the top of this page, that the name of Chavignol on the label seemed to take on a greater importance than the name of Sancerre, the recently introduced and supposedly all-important appellation. Indeed, even today, many of the vignerons in Chavignol have a pride in their village and their wine that appears to take precedence over any allegiance to the broader Sancerre appellation.

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