2022 les Chailloux 93-95VM
Domaine Claude Riffault

Terroir 2: Silex
Les Chailloux comes from 15-45-year-old vines from a unique site in the village of Sury-en-Vaux. While silex soils (Flint) are common in the neighboring Pouilly-Fumé and the eastern edge of Sancerre, it is fairly scare in the northwestern part of Sancerre. Stéphane Riffault farms about 1 hectare of vines in this lieu-dit, a more profoundly mineral, smoky and tightly-wound wine capable of aging gracefully for many years. Aged on the lees for 10 months in large, neutral French oak barrels.

93-95 Vinous Media
There's nothing shy about the 2022 Les Chailloux. It is firm and focused with a strict structure, backbone of acidity and flinty power that guns through the wine from start to finish. There's concentration and substance wrapped up in this compact wine, whose edges have been curved by time in foudre on lees. I've called this a strict, school mistressy wine in the past, and in 2022, it remains strict but less uptight. Elderflowers and nettles meet subtle autolytic notes on the long, direct finish. - By Rebecca Gibb MW on June 2023

Vine Age: Up to 53
Farming: Certified organic and biodynamic
Soils: Kimmeridgian limestone (Terre Blanches) & Caillottes
Winemaking: Hand harvested, natural yeast fermentation in stainless steel tanks. 8 months in concrete tanks.