Notify me
2022 Sancerre “Côte des Embouffants”
Domaine Roger Neveu
A winemaking tradition as long as France’s is bound to produce a few historic vineyard sites here and there. But when some rosy-cheeked monk or abbot—the wine bloggers of their age—singles out a specific plot, you know you have something truly special. In his 1777 history of Sancerre, the abbot Poupart wrote that “the Bouffants hillside is one of the best I know in our Sancerre area.”
It is perfectly appropriate, then, that the “Côte des Embouffants” is now under the care of the Neveu family, who has roots in the village of Verdigny—just half a mile from the vineyard—since the 12th century. Today, brothers Éric and Jean-Philippe Neveu produce a fresh-cut-grass-and-citrus-inflected Sauvignon Blanc of incredible precision from this site. They ferment and age it only in tank and rack by gravity to preserve all the juicy, sun-ripened fruit and lively mineral snap conferred by this steep, limestone-covered hillside. Generously perfumed and incredibly refreshing, this bottling suggests that, nearly 250 years later, our old pal Poupart may have been onto something.
—Dustin Soiseth
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2022 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Sauvignon Blanc |
Appellation: | Sancerre |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Domaine Roger Neveu |
Winemaker: | Éric & Jean-Philippe Neveu |
Vineyard: | 20 years average, 18 ha |
Soil: | Limestone |
Aging: | Wine aged for 3 months before first racking, aged for 8 to 12 months in total |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 13% |
More from this Producer or Region

2024 Sancerre Rosé
France | Loire
Sancerre Rosé is made from Pinot Noir grown in Kimmeridgian limestone soil, and the Neveu family’s interpretation is fine, floral, crisp, and bone-dry.

2023 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie
France | Loire
It fills the mouth with suspicions of honeysuckle and pulpy stone fruits, all while maintaining classic notes of iodine and sea breeze that make this the vinous equivalent of tidepooling.

2022 Quincy “Château de Quincy”
France | Loire
Textured, lush, full of aromatic gooseberry and passionfruit—all supported by spiny minerality.

2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
France | Loire
Juicy and open-knit, it mirrors the sensation of biting into fleshy slices of white peach, nectarine, and guava.

2024 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
France | Loire
Lime blossoms delivered via a lightning bolt of minerally refreshment.

2020 Chinon “Clos de la Dioterie”
France | Loire
Age-worthy red from one of Chinon’s top sites, by a storied domaine.

2023 Pouilly-Fumé “Vieilles Vignes”
France | Loire
Sauvignon Blanc has many incarnations throughout the world, but even in the Loire Valley—the grape’s spiritual home—Pouilly Fumé represents a very distinctive example.

2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
France | Loire
Intensely dry and mineral, the structured Les Arceaux is a bottle to pair with a meal rather than to drink as an apéritif.

2023 Sancerre
France | Loire
An intense exotic nose lures you in before the minerality channels the lightning energy of this pure Sauvignon Blanc.

2021 Vin de France Blanche
France | Loire
This skin-contact wine is redolent of blood orange and hyssop—a perfect apéritif for olives and anchovies.

About The Producer
Domaine Roger Neveu
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmeridgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
2021 Bourgueil “Clos Sénéchal”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Cuvée Sainte Narcisse”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2022 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rouge
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2021 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2024 Cheverny
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2021 Bourgueil “Clos Sénéchal”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Chinon “Beaux Monts”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2023 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Cuvée Sainte Narcisse”
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2023 Val de Loire Rouge Grolleau
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2020 Vin de France Rosé Grolleau/Cabernet Franc “Les Arceaux”
Grange Saint-Sauveur France | Loire
2022 Chinon “Les Petites Roches”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2021 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rouge
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2021 Chinon “La Croix Boissée”
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2024 Cheverny
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2020 Chinon “Les Varennes du Grand Clos”
Charles Joguet France | Loire
Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
I want you to realize once and for all: Even the winemaker does not know what aging is going to do to a new vintage; Robert Parker does not know; I do not know. We all make educated (hopefully) guesses about what the future will bring, but guesses they are. And one of the pleasures of a wine cellar is the opportunity it provides for you to witness the evolution of your various selections. Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.
Inspiring Thirst, page 171