Claude Riffault Sancerre Les Denisottes 2020 (750ML)

95 WA / 93 VM

Based on fruit from 41- to 54-year-old vines on extremely shallow Kimmeridgian soils in a southeast-facing cru at 260 meters in altitude, the 2020 Sancerre Les Denisottes is bright, pure and elegant yet also deep, dense and intense on the flinty-mineral nose that reveals iodine and crushed stone notes and is utterly fascinating. It doesn't show the warmth and richness of the vintage at this early stage but an exciting terroir and adapted winemaking. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, intense and concentrated, grippy and structured, never ending river of salts and gravels. The wine reveals gorgeous purity and is as dense and intense as it is firmly structured and persistently salty, with lots of terroir-driven finesse and energy. Only when the wine gets warmer, it reveals the same lychee nuances as Les Chailloux. Les Denisottes remains one of my personal favorites from the Sancerreois to have with oysters or scallops. 14% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in January 2022.—Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate

The 2020 Sancerre Les Denisottes offers a ripe, rounded expression that is calm and succulent but ties together beautifully, finding a tension and moving forward relentlessly. It provides a more structured, serious and savory style compared with the Chasseignes cuvée, which is more charming and open. Intense, concentrated and full of sinew.-Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media