Wine Reviews

Positively stunning, this Sancerre is polished, with wonderfully rich and velvety textures, bursting out of the glass with orchard fruit and flinty minerals balanced by stark and racy acidity that brings a coolness factor, and lends itself to exceptional length, with a host of smoked almonds and wet river stone character, finishing with salinity and a bit of textural grip, like biting into a fresh green apple. The finish keeps going, revealing some of the reduction this producer is known for, in the form of smoky, flinty minerality. Just remarkable. La Demoiselle Blanc is considerably more site-specific: it comes from just half a hectare—about 1.2 acres—of Sauvignon Blanc planted in 1951 near the summit of Sancerre. The biodynamically farmed vines grow in deep flinty clay strewn with silex, accounting for the wine’s characteristically firm, smoky and saline profile; everything is harvested by hand. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Abv. 14.5%

Mellot’s flagship Sancerre, La Moussière, comes from 25 hectares (62 acres) of Sauvignon Blanc planted on the southwestern flank of Sancerre. The vines average 55 years old and grow in Saint-Doulchard Kimmeridgian marl and limestone; they are certified organic and biodynamic, with the fruit harvested by hand into small crates. It’s incredible, and in 2025, the wine is tropical-fruit focused with these elegant honeysuckle notes, beautifully silky and weighty on the palate, underscored by clean, crisp acidity and finishing with tremendous length, saline minerality, and slivered almonds with a slick tangerine oil richness. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Abv. 14.5%

One of the most elegant Sancerre wines you’ll try from this producer, with a soft core of tropical fruit character, showing off the warmer vintage, along with exotic honeydew melon and kiwi notes. Satiny, silky, layered with fleshy fruit laced with honeysuckle notes, even a hint of wildflower honey. Very pretty, with mouthwatering, racy acidity. Les Romains comes from a 1.2-hectare parcel—just under three acres—of Sauvignon Blanc planted in 1951. Unlike La Demoiselle’s flinty clay, this site places flint over limestone; the cuvée takes its name from the remains of a Roman road crossing the biodynamically farmed vineyard. The grapes are harvested by hand into small crates. Now in its 19th generation, Alphonse Mellot is a benchmark Sancerre estate, producing biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir of uncommon depth, precision, and character. Alphonse Mellot farms approximately 60 hectares, equivalent to about 148 acres. His flagship La Moussière vineyard accounts for more than 30 hectares—roughly 74 acres. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Abv. 14.5%

Docker Hill is a site high atop the Pacific coast, sitting above the fog line, and you can almost feel the intensity of the growing season and the cold Pacific winds that whisk through the vines. This one has energy and tension, and sea spray salinity in the bouquet, married to red cherry fruit and cedarwood. Medium-bodied, with a crunchy cherry-and-apple-skin texture supporting the lush fruit character. Deeply satisfying and deserving of a place at the dinner table no matter what the cuisine. 100% Pinot Noir. Abv. 13.5%.

Emerald Ridge Vineyard is an eastern ridge in the heart of the Green Valley AVA, where vines planted in well-draining Goldridge soils produce grapes that yield a sweet-spiced, blue-red-fruited, concentrated Pinot Noir with soft, satiny tannins and a core of stony minerality and zesty blood orange acidity. 100% Pinot Noir. Abv. 14.1%.

McDougall Vineyard is a special site, perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Gualala River, on a south-facing ridge just off the California coast. Pretty idyllic, right? Similar in style to the Docker Hill bottling, it’s mineral-bright, with red cherry fruit notes, cedarwood spices, and velvety tannins imbued with a bit of the surrounding scrub-brush character, giving a subtle herbaceous undertow that is woodsy, earthy, and layered, supporting the fleshy berry fruit and warm spice through its medium-bodied and mineral-scented finish. 100% Pinot Noir. Abv. 14.1%.

Morelli Lane Vineyard is perched on the top of a ridge on the western reaches of the Russian River Valley, where this 1.8-acre site is planted to old Zinfandel vines planted around the turn of the last century. Head-trained and dry-farmed, the vines produced a spectacularly concentrated and intense Zin character of the ripest, purest strawberries ever, inching into delicious fruit leather with nice brown baking spice notes. Slightly grippy and chewy tannins have a chocolaty quality, and the intensity of the wine creates great persistence. 100% Zinfandel. Abv. 14.1%.

The 2023 Rued Vineyard Chardonnay, from vines planted in 1969 by Warren Dutton, comes from a hillside site and delivers a wine of beautiful richness, with terrific fruit density and weight balanced by exceptional acid tension. It’s lush and exotic, with sweet oak spices nicely integrated and baked orchard fruit that gives the sensation of biting into a rich apple or pear tart, lifted by the lightest, creamiest lemon blossom fragrance and saline mineral elegance. 100% Chardonnay. Abv. 14.1%.