Domaine Gerard Boulay Sancerre à Chavignol 2023

The 2023 Domaine Gérard Boulay Sancerre à Chavignol offers more fruit and richness than the previous vintage, with flavours of intense candied citrus, sweet herbs, kaffir lime, and white stone fruit, all intertwined with the wine’s signature slatey texture. It is deliciously salty, with vibrant minerality, caraway spice, and mouthwatering grip, leaving plenty to contemplate—especially how Boulay’s entry-level Sancerre delivers such serious value.

Sourced from 35- to 50-year-old vines planted entirely in the limestone-rich soils of Chavignol, this cuvée draws fruit largely from the village’s esteemed hillside terroirs, including Les Chasseignes, Les Longues Fins, and La Rue de Veaux. These slopes provide a stark contrast to the more fertile plains where many Sancerre wines are produced.

Additionally, Boulay incorporates fruit from younger vines in renowned terroirs like La Grande Côte, Clos de Beaujeu, and Monts Damnés. Fermentation occurs spontaneously, and the wine rests for eight months on its lees in tank, with a small portion fermented in a large wooden cask. Although this is the only blended cuvée in Boulay’s lineup, it still showcases the finesse, texture, and stony/salty minerality that has earned Gérard Boulay a reputation as one of France’s most respected vignerons.

As noted by Rajat Parr in The Sommelier’s Atlas of Taste, “Another great of Chavignol, the Boulay family’s first record of farming grapes dates to 1380, when the Clos de Beaujeu was already recognized as a great white wine. It still is today.”