Francois Cotat Les Monts Damnes Sancerre 2023

François Cotat farms a 0.8-hectare parcel on a famed single vineyard in Chavignol. South-facing, brutally steep, with topsoils so thin the vines are essentially rooted in Kimmeridgian limestone. Forty-plus-year-old vines, indigenous yeast, fermentation and aging in old demi-muids and barrels, unfined and unfiltered: nothing here is engineered, and the mid-palate carries a stony, saline weight that most Sauvignon Blanc never earns. This is Sancerre as terroir rather than flavor profile.