99 Sancerre AC 2008 Monts Damnés
Gerard Boulay

Grape:100% Sauvignon (13% alc.)

This outstanding wine comes from 40 year old vines located on the central, finest plot of this famous hillside. Partly vinified in cuve and partly in three to four year old barrels (good Troncais oak) it was bottled in May 2008. Restrained on the nose, it has much more evident weight on the attack, then becomes really quite racy with salty, iodiney notes on the finish. For drinking now to 2015.

Technical Information
Winemaker:	Gérard Boulay. His family have passed the domaine on from father to son since 1380.
Location:	Chavignol, near Sancerre
Size of domaine:	11 hectares (including 1½ of Mont Damnés)
Grape:	100% Sauvignon, 45 yr old, massale selection on 3309 rootstock. 8000 vines per hectare trained single guyot.
Terroir:	Almost all on the central best part of the south facing hillside (40% slope). Pure kimmeridgian limestone with 30/40cm of soil above the rock.
Viticulture:	Vines are enherbé between rows to help reduce yields and prevent erosion. Debuds to lower yields but never practices vendanges en vert. No chemical deweeders used. Uses sulphur against oidium, homeopathic doses of herbs and Bordeaux mix against pests, and only occasionally uses compost. 100% hand harvested. Yields of 50 hectos per hectare.
Vinification:	Pneumatic press, 4 hours pressing at very low pressure. Uses natural indigenous yeasts. No chaptalisation in 2006 or 2007. Vinified at 18°C, 20% cuve and 80% in 3-4 year old 300ltr barrels (Troncais oak barrels used by Alphonse Mellot and Bourgeois). No malolactics. Assembled and bottled in May, with no fining or filtration. 7000 bts produced.
Press:

 

qty (bottles)

exc vat: £17.45