Wine

The Count of Champagne founded Château de Sancerre in the Sancerre region of the Loire Valley during the 10th century. The original château was destroyed during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century and rebuilt in 1874. The Marnier-Lapostolle family (owners of Grand Marnier liqueur) purchased Château de Sancerre in the early 20th century. Thanks to its long history, it's the only winery in the Sancerre wine appellation able to use the name Château de Sancerre.

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Château de Sancerre's vineyards cover 108 acres, and consists of old vines planted on the southeast-facing slopes of Sancerre on flinty limestone. Remarkably, the Château de Sancerre estate has examples of each of the main soil types found in the appellation.

The first type, called terres blanches (literally “white earth”), is composed of white clay and limestone. This accounts for 30% of the property. Terre blanche soils produce wines that are structured, with ripe fruit aromas and flavors. The second soil type is called Caillottes, or stony limestone. This accounts for another 30% of the property. Caillottes produces light and floral wines. Silex, or flinty soils, make up 25% of the property's soil. Silex produces wines that are fresh and lively with great age ability. The final soil type is a mix of sand and clay. Exclusive to the vineyards of Château de Sancerre, this soil type produces fruity, forward wines and accounts for approximately 15% of the property.

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Both Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are grown at Château de Sancerre. Red Sancerre is a bit of an oddity in the U.S. because not much is imported, but there's a considerable amount of red wine produced in Sancerre.

In making its white wines, grapes are harvested by hand and pressed quickly to reduce oxidation. The must (freshly pressed juice) is slowly fermented at 17°C (63°F) in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. A portion of the must is fermented using native yeasts. 30% of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation (a process which transforms a wine’s tart-tasting malic acids into softer tasting lactic acids) and the entire production is left on the lees (naturally occurring sediments) with some stirring until bottling.

The newest wine from Château de Sancerre is the Cuvée de Connétable, first introduced in 2003. This is bottling produced from Sauvignon Blanc grapes harvested from the best block on the property, called Clos du Roy (The King’s Vineyard), which is composed of Caillottes and Silex soils. Two-thirds of the wine is fermented and aged in cask for a year with stirring of the lees, and one-third is fermented in tank and aged in tank for a year with stirring of the lees.

For its red bottling, the Pinot Noir is hand-harvested from vineyards composed of Caillottes, clay limestone and clay silt. Half the wine is aged in oak barrels and the other half is aged a year in stainless steel tank.

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