Gerard Boulay Sancerre a La Cote 2022 750ml

First made as a single parcel in 2010, La Cote comes from the majestic La Grande Cote vineyard (sometimes referred to as La Cote d’Amigny), a south/southeast-facing hillside on the outskirts of Chavignol. La Cote has quickly become one of the heavyweights of Boulay’s range. It’s the domaine’s coolest terroir and the last to be picked. The site’s pure Kimmeridgian limestone soils and the late picking date deliver density and absurd precision on the palate. Vinified and aged in three and four-year-old barrels, the terroir gives a more expressive style than Monts-Damnes, yet one that still bristles with tension and mineral notes.
If the vines are still relatively young by this domaine’s standards (a good 20 years all the same), they nevertheless express the mineral essence of this limestone terroir with incredible intensity. As always, La Cote is the most open of the single-vineyard wines, this year leading with ripe citrus—in the orange/bergamot spectrum—and crystalline passionfruit aromas. The palate is deep, complex, radiant and focused, with a great core of spicy fruit, driving acids and lovely purity, tapering to a super long, chalk-licked finish. It has everything to go toe-to-toe with a top 1er Cru Burgundy.