A precise Sauvignon Blanc from silex terroir, combining smoky minerality with fresh green fruit. An energetic single-vineyard wine from biodynamic viticulture in the Loire.
Bottler: Domaine Vacheron, Rue de Puits Poulton, 18300 Sancerre / France
In the glass
Colour
Medium straw yellow with slightly greenish reflections.
Nose
Fresh, green and very precise: lime, gooseberry and green stone fruit meet apple, elderberry, mint, hay and boxwood; with air, lime zest and a cool, smoky-stony note emerge.
Palate
Initially almost weightlessly light, then increasingly taut and tense. Lively acidity, juicy green fruit and garden herbs, fine creaminess and a silky texture; on the finish, a smoky silex imprint, saline minerality and a long aftertaste.
Character
A clearly defined, energetic Sancerre – fresh and precise, yet not austere. It expresses the grape variety directly, green and edgy.
Pairing
Oysters and other seafood, poached fish with herb sauce, fresh goat’s cheese.
Notes
A classic single vineyard on the eastern flank of Sancerre on silex soil, the characteristic flint that lends the wine its taut, smoky-mineral signature. Around ten months of fermentation and ageing in Stockinger foudres and barriques; Domaine Vacheron has been BIODYVIN-certified since 2005 and is one of the pioneers of biodynamic viticulture in the Sancerrois.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Medium straw yellow with slightly greenish reflections — clear and youthfully luminous in the glass.
Nose
Fresh, green and remarkably precise: lime, gooseberry and green stone fruit meet apple, elderberry and a fine grassiness. Mint, hay and a hint of boxwood join in; with air, lime zest and a cool, smoky-stony note move to the fore. A very clearly defined Sauvignon Blanc in which grape variety and silex speak equally.
Palate
At first almost floatingly light, then increasingly taut and tense. A lively acidity runs through the juicy green fruit, while garden herbs and lime combine with pronounced stony spice. Fine creaminess and a silky texture provide balance before the wine becomes grippier and more angular towards the finish.
Finish
Long and mineral: the smoky silex imprint and a saline note carry the aftertaste — energetic, precise, by no means austere.
Terroir & origin
Les Romains lies on the eastern flank of Sancerre and is one of Domaine Vacheron’s classic single vineyard sites. The vineyard is shaped by silex — the flint that stores heat and gives the Sauvignon Blanc its characteristic smoky, mineral signature. The family estate covers 46 hectares and has been farmed according to BIODYVIN guidelines since 2005 — as one of the region’s first wineries. Cousins Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent Vacheron run the estate in the fourth generation; their apprenticeships in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and with Aubert de Villaine in Burgundy respectively continue to shape the style to this day: Burgundian precision meets Loire elegance. Each vineyard site is vinified separately.
Grape variety & vinification
100% Sauvignon Blanc. The wine ferments and matures for around ten months in a combination of Stockinger foudres and barriques — an ageing that sets a fine, silky texture against the sharpness of the silex without diluting it.
Food recommendations
The cool stony spice and green fruit call for maritime dishes: oysters, ceviche or grilled sole. The wine also reveals its full precision alongside asparagus with hollandaise sauce, a fresh goat’s cheese tart or a herb risotto.
Special features
Les Romains shows the Sauvignon Blanc direct, green and angular — the cool, smoky expression of the silex takes centre stage here. A Sancerre for all those who seek tension rather than softness.
