Gerard Boulay Sancerre La Côte 2020

First made as a single parcel in 2010, La Côte comes from the majestic La Grande Côte vineyard, a south-to-south-east facing hillside on the outskirts of Chavignol. La Côte has quickly become one of the heavyweights of Boulay’s range. It’s the domaine’s coolest terroir and the last to be picked. The site’s pure Kimmeridgian limestone soils, and the late picking date, deliver both density, and absurd precision on the palate. Vinified and aged in three and four-year-old barrels, the terroir here delivers a more expressive style than Monts Damnés, yet one that still bristles with tension and mineral notes.

If the vines are still quite young (a good twenty years all the same) by this domaine’s standards, they nevertheless express all the mineral essence of this limestone terroir with incredible intensity. From the first pour, the 2020 La Côte is laden with orchard fruits, citrus and underlying mineral tension. There’s a latent power rippling through, underpinning the textured wealth, tight phenolics and intense chalky drive, while the finish is marked by a smoky-saline twist. It’s a towering wine of power, complexity, and coiled energy, and for those who can wait even a few years, you can expect something very, very special. We suggest you cellar as you would a top white Burgundy.