2023 Nicolas Millet Domaine des Cotes Blanches Sancerre 'Les Garennes', Loire, France

Winemaker Notes

Very little Sancerre is like Nicolas Millet’s Les Garennes.

Simply put, few Sancerres come from organically farmed vineyards like Millet’s, and few are made with the hands-on care that he shows in the cellar. Needless to say, most Sancerres aren’t single-vineyard bottlings made from 45-year-old vines highlighting coveted limestone soils filled with caillotes.

It seems the best values in European wines almost always come from a winery led by a new generation.

Because of how long it takes changes in the vineyard and in the cellar to reach the finished products, the market is pretty slow to respond—so you have what is, in effect, a new winery at the pricing of the old one.

And although Nicolas Millet took over his family’s domain just over a decade ago, he had to make changes slowly. After all, he was the ninth generation of Millets to work the land in and around the town of Bué, so there was a lot of entrenched opinion about How Things Were Done.

But the Burgundy-educated Nicolas slowly evolved the winery, moving to organic farming—now certified, and incorporating biodynamic elements—and increasing care in the cellar. Winemaking now relies less on sulfur and technology, and more on constant vigilance, time in tank, and gravity for bottling and moving wine. Nicolas now vinifies each parcel separately, as well—tremendous work for a patchwork of 40 different tiny plots, averaging less than two hectares each, acquired over the years.

Les Garennes hails from one such vineyard, which measures 13,800 square smoots—a mere four hectares of vines. In the warm 2023 vintage, the limestone soils’ alkalinity and water-holding capacity gave elegance and precision to a beautifully fruited wine.