Sancerre and the Bourgeois family. Sauvignon Blanc in its true home.

The Loire, garden of France

The Loire is the longest river in France, and vines grow along much of it. French kings built their châteaux along its banks, and the valley is often called the Garden of France. It was also historically the vineyard of Paris. Its most famous name is Sancerre, partly, as one guest jokes, because it is easier to pronounce than Pouilly-Fumé.

Sauvignon Blanc has been grown here for centuries; the family says monks already cultivated it in Chavignol in the Middle Ages. Loire wines, red or white, share one key trait: acidity. These are not big, oaky wines but subtle, layered and fresh ones, often unoaked, with a mineral edge that comes from the soil.

Flint, limestone and Kimmeridgian marl

Sancerre's soils change from slope to slope, and Sauvignon Blanc reflects them clearly. On the eastern side, about 10 to 15% of the appellation is covered in flint, or silex, which gives a smoky, almost spicy character after a few years in bottle. Limestone, or chalky soil, brings a quieter minerality and fruitiness.

The prized Kimmeridgian marl was laid down when the sea covered the area, and you can still find ammonites and tiny fragments of oyster shells in it. Wines from it can show a salty note. The most famous slope is the Côte des Monts Damnés above Chavignol, the damned mountains, steep and backbreaking to work but, as the family says, a paradise for wine. Poor soils and dense planting force the roots deep.

Three generations at Chavignol

Jean-Marie Bourgeois grew up when vines were just one part of village life, alongside goats, rabbits and chickens, and the streets of Chavignol had no proper roads. He started working for his parents at 14. As tourism and the local Crottin de Chavignol cheese grew famous, so did the wines.

Today the next generation runs the domaine as a trio. Arnaud, the people person, handles sales and marketing. Lionel looks after the vineyards and treats each plot like a doctor treating a patient. Their cousin Jean-Christophe is the winemaker. The family farms around 72 hectares, mostly in Sancerre with some Pouilly-Fumé, and in 2000 built a gravity cellar that moves the fruit without pumps to protect it from oxygen.

Sancerre that ages

Sauvignon Blanc is usually seen as a wine to drink young, but good Sancerre can age for a decade or more. The continental climate keeps acidity high even as the grapes ripen, and that acidity is the backbone of the wine. Most Sancerre is made in stainless steel, but the Bourgeois family uses barrels for certain terroirs, choosing them carefully so the wood never hides the soil.

Find out which cuvées Tim Atkin MW and Jeannie Cho Lee MW pick as their favorites, why the family still feels the Loire is undervalued by critics, and how Sancerre answers the rise of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Goat cheese and seafood

Like every good grower, the family also talks about vintage variation. One of them compares each season to a stonecutter shaping a statue: every hot, cold or rainy day chips away at the final wine, which is why no two years taste alike.

Chavignol may be the only village in France with both a wine appellation and an appellation goat cheese. A young, fresh Crottin de Chavignol calls for a young Sancerre, while an aged cheese pairs with an older bottle. Jean-Marie also loves Sancerre with turbot, and Jeannie Cho Lee recommends it with delicate Cantonese seafood.

Go furtherWant to taste along? Find Henri Bourgeois’s wines and where to buy them near you on Wine-Searcher.