Domaine Sylvain Bailly

Dynamic Jacques Bailly (heir to a winemaking tradition going back to the 1700s) and wife Marie-Hélène cultivate an array of coveted vineyards around Bué in the eastern Loire appellation of Sancerre, including a plot originally called 'Choix Marchand', source of wines merchants kept for themselves.

Crisp, steely and fresh with notes of mown grass, herbs mineral and citrus. Classic in all senses, with a lovely delicious mouth-watering flavour and pungency.

Goes very well with poached fish, seabream and a curried crust or just simple Lobster and crayfish from the BBQ.

The grapes for this serious and complex Sancerre come from vineyards that lie close to the winery in Bué. After arrival at the winery, the grapes are hand sorted and then pressed, with press juice being fermented seperately from free-run juice. The juice is then settled for upto 48 hours, before ferment in thermo-regulated steel tanks for upto 5 weeks using natural yeasts. The wine then ages in tank on the fine lees over the winter before a light racking in February and then clearing with a Kieselgur filtration and bottling in March.

Gold Medal - Concours des Vins de Bourges, 2018.