While Lucia Mineur-Billet pulled samples from a stainless steel tank and led us through the ins and outs of vinification, her stepfather, Régis Minet, quietly moved through our small group, gifting us fossils he’d found in and around the vineyards. Though the domaine still bears Régis’s name, Lucia is in charge now. Driven by a desire to create, she left a successful career in wine sales to earn a degree in viticulture and take over the family estate. From sixteen different parcels representing the appellation’s diverse terroirs—Kimmeridgian marl, calcaires de Villiers, and terres blanches, to name but a few—Lucia crafts the archetypal Pouilly-Fumé. Fermenting each parcel individually gives her room to respond to every vintage’s unique characteristics while preserving, in her words, “the historical identity of the estate’s wines.” Kermit described Régis’s Pouilly-Fumé as having “class and exquisite harmony”; after I tasted Lucia’s recent vintages, my notes are filled with similar descriptions. The wine has a distinct elegance. The classic Sauvignon Blanc characteristics are present, but understated—floral notes, subtle citrus, a cool grassiness—and there’s a chalkiness so textural you can feel it as you taste. The overall impression is not of brash, over-the-top flavors, but of poise and refinement.

I poured a glass of this wine for a friend the other day, and after the first sip he immediately pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. That’s a pretty good sign. Grassy and piquant with a citrus and mineral-tinged finish, it checks all the boxes.

While we often think of Sancerre as brisk and lean, not every vineyard delivers this style. Simon Chotard’s Les Coutones is from one such terroir. Sourced from a single south-facing parcel, it’s soft and enveloping, with green apple, pear, apricot, and honey notes. Simon vinifies it in large, neutral foudres, which supports the wine’s natural roundness without weighing it down.