2020 Sancerre Monoparcelle 538
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Tasting notes
The 2020 Sancerre Monoparcelle 538 is a full bodied, mouth filling Sancerre that's richly textured and deeply satisfying, reflecting both the old vines and the ripe vintage. A dill-like note courses through the wine's core, but this is not an exotic or aromatic Sancerre, focusing on savoriness, texture and a Zen-like meditative state. There's mouthcoating texture and a seemingly tannic character that is likely the limestone giving the mouth an assured clasp on the long, herbal finish.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The intensely yellow-colored 2020 Sancerre Monoparcelle 538 shows a rich, fresh, mineral and intense sur lie bouquet. It is from a southeast- to south-facing 0.44-hectare plot with 48-year-old vines rooting in extremely shallow Kimmeridgian limestone soils at 260 meters in altitude. The bouquet reveals lemon and iodine aromas of melting stones and comes along pretty much like a great wine from Burgundy. It is lush and intense yet also refined and elegant on the palate, with lychee notes at this early stage (lychee seems to be a Riffault signature flavor of the vintage). This is a pure, persistently salty and penetrating mineral Sancerre with firm but fine tannins, ripe acidity and a long, textured and even fruity finish. This is, again, a very promising, incredibly long and complex yet still somewhat austere (but so tensioned) Monoparcelle. Tasted as a sample in January 2022. To be bottled in March this year.