Henri Bourgeois 'Le Cotelin' Sancerre

Henri Bourgeois 'Le Cotelin' Sancerre is a single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc grown on Kimmeridgian clay, the same ancient seabed soil that defines the oyster-shell fossils and mineral backbone of Chablis and Sancerre's most prized sites. The Bourgeois family has been making wine in the Loire Valley since the 16th century, and this bottling is one of their cuvées that puts terroir front and center. The vineyard name refers to a specific parcel on the eastern slopes above the village of Chavignol, where the clay holds moisture and the exposition tempers ripeness with tension. The Bourgeois family farms estate vineyards across Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, and they've been bottling single-site wines since the 1990s to highlight the differences between Kimmeridgian clay and the region's other soil types—flint and limestone. Harvest is by hand, fermentation in stainless steel with natural yeasts, and the wine sees no oak so the minerality and varietal expression remain unobstructed. The result is a Sancerre that tastes like it was carved out of chalk and lemon rind, with none of the tropical fruit or grass that marks warmer-climate Sauvignon Blanc. The nose opens with an earthy richness—hay, wet stone, a hint of brine—but the palate is where the Kimmeridgian clay asserts itself. There's an intense chalkiness that anchors cool, deep lemon and citrus pith, and the finish stretches long with that mineral tension intact. This is built for oysters, goat cheese from Chavignol, or any preparation of white fish where you want the wine to cut and complement without overshadowing. It's also a wine to cellar—Loire Sauvignon Blanc on Kimmeridgian clay can evolve for a decade, picking up rounder fruit and honeyed notes while holding that mineral spine. Available for pickup at our Lincoln Park bottle shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.