2022 Les Carrieres de Mezy Cuvee de la Reserve Sancerre Rouge 750 ml

Most of what the world knows about Sancerre arrives in a glass of Sauvignon Blanc—bright, mineral, cutting. The red is a different animal entirely, and it rarely makes it this far. Most producers in Sancerre treat Pinot Noir as an afterthought—a few rows planted out of tradition, vinified and sold locally before anyone outside the appellation gets a look. Bottles with a real story behind them are the exception.

This one has the bones to be taken seriously. The 2022 Cuvée de la Réserve comes from 40-year-old Pinot Noir vines divided across two of Sancerre’s most important soil types: Terres Blanches, the region’s chalky clay that gives structure and persistence, and caillottes, a dry, rocky limestone that brings freshness and lift. The vineyards have been farmed organically since 2015, and the person shaping the wine in the cellar is Stéphane Derenoncourt—one of the most celebrated consultants in the wine world, and not someone who takes on projects casually.

Derenoncourt built his reputation on the Right Bank, working with some of Bordeaux’s most storied estates before expanding his practice across France and beyond. His philosophy has always centered on terroir over formula—on listening to what each site is trying to say rather than imposing a house style.

The combination of those soils produces a wine that feels like it belongs somewhere between Burgundy and the Loire—cool-climate Pinot with a mineral edge that neither region could quite claim on its own. In the glass, the 2022 is light on its feet, aromatic, and finely detailed. Wild strawberry, red cherry, and crushed cranberry on the nose, lifted by rose petal and dried thyme.

This is Pinot Noir as the Loire understands it: not the richness of a warm vintage in the Côte de Nuits, but something lighter, more tensile, and more surprising.

Red Sancerre at this level isn’t something we put in front of our members often. When the stars align—the terroir, the farming, and the person shaping it in the cellar—it’s worth it.