Menetou Salon Henry Pellé 'Les Bornes' Sauvignon Blanc 2021

From the producer who almost single-handedly put Menetou-Salon on the map as a serious competitor to its big-name neighbours, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, this wine is really a delight.

Crisp and cleansing, with brilliantly pure lemon fruit, this is what the Loire is all about and, between you and us, the prices haven't caught up yet, so now's a good time to get in there.

Les Bornés, which means ‘clay soil’ in the Berrichon diaelct, is made from grapes grown on a combination of the different areas of the Menetou-Salon region.

For four generations, the Pelléfamily has been producing Menetou-Salon and Sancerre appellation wines in Morogues to the far east of the Loire Valley. Their aim is to bring out the expression of each terroir, applying high standards and rigour, using neither herbicides nor insecticides. Biodiversity and their work on the soils enable the vines to draw out the qualities and complexities that lie deep down within the region's clay and limestone soils (Kimmeridgian marls).

In the cellars, they intervene only when they have to, applying the appropriate techniques and ensuring the wines are made as naturally as possible. The diversity of our products is the result of careful blending that they re-evaluate with each new vintage, vinifying grapes from different vineyard parcels separately, so that they capture all their subtleties.

Winemaker Paul Henry-Pellé was born in 1985, studied at VITI in Beaune and came back to the Estate in 2006.

The vines are planted at a density of 7500 plants/hectare and the grapes are pneumatically pressed, before being allowed to settle in a cold environment for 48 hours. Fermentation take place between 14°C and 18°C, for three to four weeks and the wine is aged in stainless steel vats, on fine lees, for six months.

Highly aromatic and crisp, it has beautiful minerality that gives its neighbour Sancerre a run for its money. Can age for a few years and should develop nicely.