2017 Domaine Hubert Brochard Sancerre Le Cul de Beaujeu

Domaine Hubert Brochard produces classically styled Sancerre blanc, rosé, and rouge from their family-owned winery in Chavignol. The domaine is now run by the fifth and sixth generation of Brochards with 152 acres under vine in Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, and Vin de Pays du Val de Loire.

The domaine is spread across eight communes. These diverse holdings give the Brochards a range of soils. Terres blanches, or Kimmeridgian marl, gives powerful wines. Silex, or flint, yields wines with a strong mineral character, and chalky caillottes bring attractive aromatics to the wines.

Le Cul de Beaujeu is one of Chavignol’s most famous vineyards, a steep, southeast-facing slope with an incline of up to 60 degrees. The vineyard was established by the monks of Beaujeu in the Middle Ages. The name possibly comes from Cul (like a Cul-du-Sac, or a road with no end) to the old castle of Beaujeu. The vines have an average age of 30 years and grow in Kimmeridgian clay and limestone. The vineyard work and harvest are done entirely by hand. 

Tasting Notes

Le Cul de Beaujeu is a wine of great power and intensity, typical of the hillsides of Chavignol. Ripe, exotic notes of guava and passionfruit are accompanied by notes of minerals and herbs. The Kimmeridgian soil brings structure and a unique mineral character to the wine while one year aging on the fine lees before bottling lends richness and texture.