François Cotat Monts Damnés Sancerre 2023

Sancerre from François Cotat is simply some of the most singular Sauvignon Blanc in the world. Devotees can tell you that what happens in this modest cellar in Chavignol is one part winemaking, three parts magic. Atypical yet arresting in their complexity, Cotat Sancerre is wine that can and should be aged for decades.

The Cotat family has tended both Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir on the slopes of the fabled “Monts Damnés” in Chavignol since the end of World War II; it was only in the 1990s when the two Cotat brothers, Paul and Francis, handed over the family domaine to their sons, François and Pascal, respectively.

Today there are two wineries—one in Chavignol, headed by François Cotat, and one in Sancerre, run by Pascal Cotat—yet both cousins craft wines from older Sauvignon Blanc vines located in Chavignol’s most-prized vineyards.

Located in the western portion of the Sancerre appellation, Chavignol has a unique type of soil called, in French, “terres blanches.” The region is essentially a chalk plateau (the same vein as is found in Chablis) with clay and limestone soils. The top vineyards, ‘Monts Damnés,’ ‘Grande Côte,’ and ‘Les Culs de Beaujeu,’ are perched on incredibly steep hillsides with very little topsoil.

Cotat as a rule harvests by hand and very late, as pushing ripeness to the extreme is one element that gives these wines their weighty texture and complexity. While Cotat is not organically certified, his habits are more or less according to organic principles. He does not treat his vines with pesticides; uses only indigenous yeasts for fermentation; and follows the lunar cycle for racking. Wines are barrel-fermented in older demi-muids and aged in larger tonneaux. All wines are unfined and unfiltered.