Gerard Boulay Sancerre Clos de Beaujeu 2024
Gerard Boulay Sancerre Clos de Beaujeu 2024
Tasting Note: Intense flavors of ripe citrus, Kaffir lime, sweet herbs, and white stone fruit are layered over a strikingly rocky texture. Saline minerality, caraway spice, and mouthwatering phenolic grip provide both energy and depth. The finish is long and focused, marked by stony precision, chalky cut, and persistent mineral drive. As the entry wine in the range, it already ranks among the finest expressions of Sauvignon Blanc you are likely to encounter.
The Clos de Beaujeu is among the most historic sites in the village of Chavignol. In the 14th century the Clos de Beaujeu supplied the Cathedral of Bourges with white wine. Today it is one of Boulay’s ‘blue-blood’ historic sites. Boulay farms two parcels in this terroir, including one within the original Clos of this vineyard, established by the monks of Beaujeu in the Middle Ages. The soils here are particularly rocky—limestone rich and strewn with fossils—like parts of Chablis in fact. These rocky soils make this a parcel that is very difficult to farm. A second, even steeper parcel at a 60 percent gradient lies closer to the village. Together these south-east facing plots make the Clos de Beaujeu the source of some of the domaine’s most structured and nervy wines. This was naturally fermented and raised in large, upright cask (60%) and in three- and four-year-old 300-litre barrels (40%), for 10 months.
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vineyard: Boulay owns two plots that total .75 hectares in Clos de Beaujeu. Vines are between 30 and an incredible 110 years old.
Orientation: south-east facing
Soil: Kimmeridgean limestone and clay or "terre blanche" (similar to the soils of Chablis)
Viticulture: Gerard manually works the soil. All fruit is hand-harvested.
Vinification & Aging: Naturally fermented and raised in large, upright cask (60%) and in three- and four-year-old 300-litre barrels (40%), for 10 months.