Sancerre
Cool continental
A hilltop wine town above the Loire, and the benchmark for crisp, mineral, flinty Sauvignon Blanc, plus light Pinot Noir.
Overview
About Sancerre
Sancerre sits on a hill overlooking the Loire, and its vineyards spread over steep slopes in and around the town. Its whites are among the most imitated Sauvignon Blancs in the world: dry, tense and aromatic, with citrus, gooseberry and a flinty edge. Around one fifth of the vineyards grow Pinot Noir, which makes light, red-fruited reds and rosés.
Three soils shape the wines. Caillottes (limestone pebbles) give early, fragrant wines; terres blanches (Kimmeridgian marl) give richer, longer-lived ones; and silex (flint) gives the smokiest, most mineral style. The village of Chavignol is also known for its goat's cheese, Crottin de Chavignol.
Sancerre is marked on the map.
France
Shaded: Cher. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Cool continental
A cool, continental climate with cold winters, and warm summers with good sunshine. Spring frost and hail are real threats, and the wines change noticeably from year to year.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Caillottes (limestone pebbles), terres blanches (Kimmeridgian marl) and silex (flint) on steep hillsides. The same marl runs under Chablis.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Sancerre is a single appellation, with no vineyard classification, so the label mostly tells you the producer and the soil.
AOC Sancerre (white)
Sauvignon Blanc only.
AOC Sancerre (red and rosé)
Pinot Noir only.
Soil-based cuvées
Many producers bottle wines from caillottes, terres blanches or silex separately, as house cuvées rather than official tiers.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.