Sancerre has gotten very popular, and the wines have gone up tremendously in price, but there are still under-the-radar greats to be found, and the 2023 Domaine Jean-Paul Balland Sancerre Grande Cuvée is exactly that kind of bottle. Balland is based in Bué, one of Sancerre’s most important villages, and this Grande Cuvée shows a more serious, layered side of Sauvignon Blanc, going well beyond simple citrus and freshness. The 2023 vintage was especially successful in the Center Loire, and this wine captures that balance beautifully, with classic smoky-flinty aromatics, fresh herbs, citrus, spring leaf, and limestone minerality. There is tension and tautness, but also real amplitude and resonance, with skillfully used oak adding texture and complexity without overwhelming the fruit's purity. This is polished, mineral, and deeply Sancerre, combining freshness, depth, and class in a way that makes it one of the most exciting Loire whites of the vintage. This recently won best in show at Decanter's World Wine Awards, which is conducted blind, showing that it is on par with some of the best in Sancerre this vintage and is simply a fantastic buy for the category!
Decanter Word Wine Awards 97 Best In Show! "Perhaps surprisingly, this is only the second appearance of a Sancerre wine in our Best In Show selection, and the first since 2017. Welcome back, Sancerre! The vineyards of the Centre Loire had a much more successful 2023 vintage than did their Anjou and Touraine counterparts; indeed August was so dry here that the early September rains were welcomed as a pre-harvest refresher. Our judges loved the smoky-flinty-herbal classicism of this wine's aromatics: one sniff and you're there among the Sauvignon vines on the airily exposed limestone vineyards that surround this unforgettable hill town. The wine is both tense and taut, yet at the same time ample and resonant. As with other Best In Show wines from classic white-wine zones this year, the oak has been skilfully employed, bringing complexity and a sense of light and shade to the haunting Loire Sauvignon fruit, qualifying its print of soft spring leaf."
2023 Domaine Jean-Paul Balland Sancerre Grande Cuvée
2023 Domaine Jean-Paul Balland Sancerre Grande Cuvée
Sancerre has gotten very popular, and the wines have gone up tremendously in price, but there are still under-the-radar greats to be found, and the 2023 Domaine Jean-Paul Balland Sancerre Grande Cuvée is exactly that kind of bottle. Balland is based in Bué, one of Sancerre’s most important villages, and this Grande Cuvée shows a more serious, layered side of Sauvignon Blanc, going well beyond simple citrus and freshness. The 2023 vintage was especially successful in the Center Loire, and this wine captures that balance beautifully, with classic smoky-flinty aromatics, fresh herbs, citrus, spring leaf, and limestone minerality. There is tension and tautness, but also real amplitude and resonance, with skillfully used oak adding texture and complexity without overwhelming the fruit's purity. This is polished, mineral, and deeply Sancerre, combining freshness, depth, and class in a way that makes it one of the most exciting Loire whites of the vintage. This recently won best in show at Decanter's World Wine Awards, which is conducted blind, showing that it is on par with some of the best in Sancerre this vintage and is simply a fantastic buy for the category!
Decanter Word Wine Awards 97 Best In Show! "Perhaps surprisingly, this is only the second appearance of a Sancerre wine in our Best In Show selection, and the first since 2017. Welcome back, Sancerre! The vineyards of the Centre Loire had a much more successful 2023 vintage than did their Anjou and Touraine counterparts; indeed August was so dry here that the early September rains were welcomed as a pre-harvest refresher. Our judges loved the smoky-flinty-herbal classicism of this wine's aromatics: one sniff and you're there among the Sauvignon vines on the airily exposed limestone vineyards that surround this unforgettable hill town. The wine is both tense and taut, yet at the same time ample and resonant. As with other Best In Show wines from classic white-wine zones this year, the oak has been skilfully employed, bringing complexity and a sense of light and shade to the haunting Loire Sauvignon fruit, qualifying its print of soft spring leaf."
