Gerard Boulay Sancerre Tradition 2020

The Tradition is drawn from as many as 30 small parcels of mature, 35-40-year-old vines rooted entirely in the limestone soils of Chavignol (far and away the finest terroir of Sancerre). These sites are largely sloping vineyards on the lower flanks of the Chavignol hillside terroirs of Les Chasseignes, Les Longues Fins and Le Rue de Veaux. Importantly, Boulay also includes fruit from his younger vines on the great cru slope of La Grande Côte. The juice is naturally fermented and aged for eight months in tank, on lees, with a small volume also fermented in a single large, upright wooden cask. Tradition is the only blended cuvée in the Boulay line up, yet even here we can taste the kind of finesse, texture and stony, earthy and salty minerality that has made this humble grower one of France’s most respected vignerons