SANCERRE AOC "LES QUARTERONS" 2020 - DOMAINE SEBASTIEN RIFFAULT

Appellation : Sancerre AOC

Vintage : 2020

Alcohol : 13%

Region : Loire (France)

Format : 0.75 l

Grapes : Sauvignon Blanc 100%

Organic wine

Vineyard: south/south-west exposure - Altitude 300 masl - Average age of the vines about 30 years.
Pruning and average yield: Simple guyot pruning. Average yield: 40 hectoliters/hectare.
Plant density: 8,000 plants/hectare.
Soil and subsoil: Portalandiano limestone.
Vinification: Manual harvest. Direct pressing. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in steel. No use of enzymes. No acidity correction. No added sulfites. Total refinement 24 months. Filtration on earth and sulphitation (10 mg/l) before bottling.
Sulphites: 7 mg/l (free).
Average quantity produced: 10,000 bottles a year.
Type of bottle and closure: Burgundy with natural cork stopper.

Sébastien Riffault works 12 hectares of vineyards of the family business, founded in 1900, in the AOP area of ​​Sancerre, in the municipalities of Sancerre, Verdigny and Sury-en-Vaux. The goal is the rediscovery of a sancerre that is as natural as possible, which best describes the terroir of this wine that has made sauvignon blanc famous throughout the world.
The hills on which the vineyards stand dominate the city of Sancerre and the course of the Loire River. These are mostly vines of about 40-50 years of age. The soil is characterized by a large presence of silica.
The vineyards have a south-south-west exposure, on land with a slope of 20-25%. The soil is plowed with horses, so as not to suffocate the soil and not to repress the microbial activity that brings life to the terroir. No fertilizers or chemical fertilizers are used. Acaricides and insecticides are banned and human intervention is as limited as possible. Some wild plants and herbs are left to grow between the rows, to maintain the biodiversity of the area. Yields are very limited. The manual harvest is carried out as late as possible, when the small bunches have orange, almost purple hues.
Since June 2007, the Sébastien vineyards have been certified in organic conversion. The 2010 harvest was the first officially organic (Bureau Veritas certification). But Sébastien wanted to go further, with biodynamic practice (Demeter certification).

Enzymes are not used in the cellar, acidity is not corrected, sulphites are not added and the wines are not clarified or filtered. In general, we try to limit the interventions, so that the vinification and aging are as natural as possible. A long maturation in barrels and bottling in good weather and on a waning moon make it possible to offer wines – red and white – full-bodied, rich and very intriguing. Sancerre whites very different from the stylized stereotype imposed by the sauvignon with the taste of green pepper, tomato leaf and flint...