Sancerre: three soils on one walk
From Crézancy in the west, over the Kimmeridgian hills and the town of Sancerre, across the fault to the flint and the Loire. Tap a layer to read it.
Swipe the plate sideways to see the whole section.
Schematic. Sources disagree on the age of the caillottes (Oxfordian or Kimmeridgian). The beds are drawn as gently tilted planes and the Sancerre fault as one line; throw and contacts are illustrative and to be checked against the BRGM 1:50,000 sheet for Sancerre. Which Dauny parcels sit on marl and which on flinty clay is still to be confirmed with the grower; Clos du Roy is placed by its commune, Crézancy, and drawn dashed. Bué and Chavignol lie up to 0.9 km off the line. Ground from AWS terrain data.
6 layers, youngest at the top
Single vineyards we pour from. Tap one on the plate.
Why one village tastes three ways
- Kimmeridgian terres blanches give the fullest, longest-lived Sancerre.
- Caillottes, thin stony limestone, give early, perfumed wines.
- Silex, east of the fault, gives tight, smoky wines that need time.
- Growers blend across soils, or bottle them apart to show the difference.
Did you knowThe terres blanches of Sancerre are the same Kimmeridgian stage, with the same small oyster, as Chablis, about 90 km to the north-east.
Pas Mal wines on this ground
Crézancy-en-Sancerre
- Sancerre Clos du RoyDomaine Dauny
- Sancerre Rouge PynozDomaine Dauny
- Sancerre Terres BlancheDomaine Dauny
Coteaux du Giennois, further down the Loire
- Coteaux du Giennois PynozDomaine Dauny
Sources: BIVC (Loire Centre wine board) appellation notes; Jancis Robinson, Oxford Companion to Wine: Sancerre; BRGM 1:50,000 geological map, sheet Sancerre; Vignoble Dauny producer notes; AWS Terrain Tiles; Vignoble Dauny, Clos du Roy technical sheet; Guide Hachette, Le Clos du Roy (lieu-dit, Crézancy).