Sancerre rouge "Les Herses" AOC 2020

A red wine from Sancerre, carried by cool freshness and a polished structure. The fruit stays bright and clear, the texture chalky and creamy, underpinned by the saline minerality that Matthias Planchon calls "l'eau de roche" — rock water.

The Les Herses site lies in the commune of Ménétreol-sous-Sancerre and covers 3.5 hectares of flint-rich clay soil over a sandy subsoil. Matthias Planchon owns 0.98 hectares of it, south-east facing and partly planted with Pinot Noir: vines averaging 70 years old, 7,700 vines per hectare. His family has been farming vineyards in Sancerre since 1573; he has worked the 5.5 hectares across ten parcels biodynamically since 2018, vinifying each parcel separately.

Single-varietal Pinot Noir, fully destemmed. One year of ageing on fine lees in 228-litre barrels, followed by a further year in stainless steel tank. Bottling is unfiltered and follows the lunar cycle.

Cherry red in the glass with medium transparency. On the nose, cherry and cherry stone, cranberry and cassis, alongside cedar, foliage, Mediterranean herbs and a touch of tobacco. On the palate, juicy, fine and elegant, still taut, with fresh acidity, cool minerality, delicate fruit and a refined tannic structure.

Matthias Planchon trained with Alphonse Mellot in Sancerre and with Geantet-Pansiot in Burgundy, took over the family vineyards in 2012 and bottled his first own vintage in 2019; his cellar is located in the lieu-dit "Le Paradis". His ancestor Jules Émile Planchon discovered phylloxera in 1868 and saved European viticulture through grafting onto American rootstocks. The label carries the notation "Vin Bio et Biodynamique, cultivé sur sols vifs" as well as the AB and EU organic seals. Around 22,000 bottles leave the cellar each year.