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Sancerre is a stunning wine region; a huge divot out of the earth forms the steep banks over looking the Loire from which the best fruit is sourced. Terres blanches, is the most common soil type, consisting of tight packed chalk over marl. The best wines are tight knit, extraordinarily aromatic, with mineral, flinty aromas, and distinctive texture, a world away from the gooseberry, grassy numbers that are so common in our market. If this hasn't been your experience of Sancerre, you have been drinking the wrong wines (don't worry there are lots of "wrong" wines in Sancerre!). Domaine Alphonse Mellot is possibly the most highly regarded estate in the region.It is certainly the highest ranked Domaine. Now run by the eighteenth Alphonse Mellot (with the 19th set to take over!) their focus is definitely on producing the textural, aromatic white wines that make this region unique. Yet perhaps these wines most distinctive feature is their purity and refinement. They can be reminiscent of white burgundy - except that they typically age better than most white burgundies do these days! Jacqueline Friedrich summed it up perfectly when she wrote; "Each Sancerre [from Mellot] is at its most elegant: discreetly herbaceous, a beautiful weave of citrus, oak, and minerals." Alphonse Mellot is the highest rated producer in Sancerre, according to the leading French wine guide "Le Classement". In fact Mellot is today given the same rating as the legendary Didier Dageuneau - they are the only two producers in the eastern Loire to get a two star rating.

Michel Bettane & Thierry Desseauve, The World's Greatest Wines
"...[the Mellot family's] worthy aspirations have gradually raised them to the peaks of the great Sauvignons of the world. Alphonse Mellot's white Sancerres are amongst the most brilliant and pure illustrations of the genius of the Sauvignon grape."