Domaine Matthias et Emile Roblin "Origine" Sancerre 2022

Alcohol: 13%

Grape(s): Sauvignon Blanc

Localization: Loire Valley, France

Tasting Notes: While this shows the sunlight of 2020, it is quite nicely balanced by zippy acidity. The nose is clean and focused with a bit of citrus and lime pith. The palate has a texture to it from the warmth of the vintage with ample acidity and a fruit set of lemon/lime, nectarine, and a light slate minerality to finish. 

Notes: This, their classic bottling, stays on its lees until January or February after the harvest, and is bottled roundabout May after a light fining and filtration. Some 80+% of the vines for this wine grow in Kimmeridgian; the remainder in Portlandian limestone (which has less clay than Kimmeridgian but more than Oxfordian). The annual production averages 5,800 cases.

Food Pairing: Perfect as an aperitif and the ideal accompaniment to seafood, fish, white meats and goat's cheese, especially.

The Domain: Matthias and Emile’s vines grow on the hillsides of Maimbray and Sury-en-Vaux in the northern sector of Sancerre. This zone is known for its terres blanches, a.k.a., Kimmeridgian Marls—white soils made of clay and marl and stones on top of Kimmeridgian limestone, and make for pointed, powerful wines that need a couple of years in bottle to show best (and indeed have the potential to age surprisingly well, but almost never are permitted to do so). The brothers have 16 hectares (nearly 40 acres) in Sauvignon Blanc and 3 (just over seven acres) in Pinot Noir. 

For years now the brothers have been plowing profits back into the winery to update equipment and to create a winery in which their wine is now moved by gravity. They’ve also been steadily tweaking their methods of élevage, investing in wood uprights for fermentations and aging, along with 600-liter demi-muids, and extending the aging process. In the vineyards, they’re every bit as proactive–as in 2018, when the harvest took place during a stunning Indian summer with rather warm afternoons so the boys started each morning harvesting at 4 am and stopped at noon.