Sancerre Grande Cuvee - Domaine Jean Paul Balland

When you taste Jean-Paul Balland's "regular" Sancerre, you can hardly imagine that it would be possible to make a better wine in the area, but after tasting his "Grande Cuvée", you revise your opinion. This wine is absolutely the pinnacle of Sancerre!

The color has the classic greenish hues of the area, and the aroma is intense, with delicate nuances of almonds, lychee, elderflower and citrus fruits. The taste has a fullness, a richness and a finesse that only the greatest Sauvignon wines provide. The aftertaste is long, and although the wine must be considered a very powerful wine, it leaves an impression of freshness, finesse and minerality. Serve it with a good fish in sauce or with oysters and shellfish - e.g. lobster or scallops.

Sancerre "Grande Cuvée" is only produced in the best vintages and is made exclusively from Sauvignon grapes, which come from plots (totaling 2.14 ha.) with 25 to 45 year old vines, 60% of which are located on the so-called "Caillottes" soil and 40% on "Terres Blanches".

"Caillottes" consist of gravel and limestone and give very delicate wines, and the white "Terres Blanches" consist of clay and chalk, which give stronger wines. The harvest is done by hand, and the grapes are immediately destemmed and pressed with a gentle air press. The must undergoes a long fermentation with the grapes' own yeast cells in 600 l. temperature-controlled wooden barrels, and is then matured on its "lie" (leak) for about a year with 60% in wooden barrels (600 l.) and 40% in steel tanks.

Contents: 75 cl
Grape: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Alcohol: 13.5%