Sancerre les Monts Damnes

Less adapted to seafood than traditional Sancerre, the Monts Damnés is better suited to refined dishes, such as: ⋅ Firm-textured saltwater fish with traditional French sauces, ⋅ Coquilles Saint-Jacques, ⋅ Lightly seared foie gras, ⋅ Poultry or veal escalope in cream sauce, ⋅ With various cheeses.

The Monts Damnée Hill is a very uneven and sharp plot of Chavignol, facing south, southeast, with a Kimmeridgian marl soil (combination of clay and seashell). It is one of the most reputed slope of the Sancerre appellation. The Benedictine monks of the Saint-Satur Abbay planted it around the Xth century and in the XIth century, lords and nobles had already started to bid higher in order to get some landlordship of the plots. The name of the plot, literally the “The Damned Mountain” evokes the difficulty encountered by winemakers working in its very steep incline.

This juice is then put into barrels of 600 liters for 12 months, during which it will undergo fermentation and a period of resting on lees.

The grapes are handpicked in small cases of 12kg and sorted on a table. The whole grape is put into the hydrolical press (Coquard), where the pressing is done in a gentle and slow manner in order to obtain a clear juice of the highest quality.

The domain can be found in the pretty village of Chavignol whose reputation for its famous goat's cheese, "Crottin de Chavignol" is wide spread. Since 2010 Vincent Delaporte's grandson, Matthieu Delaporte has been fully focused on further improving the domaine's wines. A more organic approach has been adopted in the vineyards with herbicides no longer being used. Yields have been lowered and oak is being judiciously introduced to the vinification. Our Sancerre wines have a deal of finesse and subtlety and whilst the lessons of the past have not been forgotten we know that improvements can always be made. Since 2015, the harvest is done entirely by hand. This allowed for more selective picking which undoubtedly impacted the quality of the resulting wines. Our wines are all made from grapes grown in our own vineyards which today extend to 33 hectares, three quarters of which are planted with a very fine clone of Sauvignon Blanc, while the rest is the most elegant and delicate of red varieties, Pinot Noir. We aim to give the upmost respect to the terroir and land in which we work and which gives us our living and to care for it for the generations to come.