The Sancerre every NYC somm knows and loves
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2021 Michel Thomas & Fils Sancerre Loire Valley 750 ml
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
A Rare Coup in a Challenging Sancerre Market
By the time we’d hit the fifth bar of the afternoon, we were all out of small talk—and patience.
Our importer friend had asked us out to drinks in New York City, promising news on a REALLY special Loire Valley allocation. We pinballed from Tribeca’s Odeon to Café Luxembourg on the Upper West Side, then to old-school gem J.G. Melon, but had yet to bring up the coveted mystery bottling.
We finally demanded he tell us—what’s this Loire Valley game-changer we were promised?
He flashed a sly smile and responded with a question: “What’s the one thing every place we’ve been to has in common?
Answer: They all have Michel Thomas & Fils Sancerre on their wine list.
An absolutely classic go-to in NYC sommelier circles, this nervy French Sauvignon Blanc is a benchmark of mineral-inflected, Loire white-wine quality. With restaurants facing staggeringly low supply and skyrocketing prices on Sancerre, this 2021 bottling is one of the wine market’s hottest commodities.
The Thomas estate is a multigenerational family-run affair: in 1970, Michel and his son Laurent took over the operation from Michel’s father, who started the winery in 1946.
Michel and Laurent’s Sauvignon Blanc, grown on their 42-acre vineyard in the tiny hamlet of Sury-en-Vaux, gives us everything we want from a Sancerre: mesmerizing complexity, a mineral backbone interwoven with a thread of bright acidity, fresh herbal notes balanced with tones of green apple and melon, and a dry, delectable finish.
That perfect harmony and pinpoint precision are what makes this one of France’s great whites to bring to dinner. It’s ideal as an aperitif, and pairs beautifully with dishes ranging from fresh-shucked oysters to grilled halibut.