Dimitri Mesnard Quincy Quartz (France)

Our mate Dimitri Mesnard is a Master Sommelier – but this is the wine that he secretly makes himself, with grapes grown in his back garden! This is pure and precise Loire Sauvignon Blanc – it’s as good as Sancerre – but without the price tag!

There is subtle stone fruit and citrus on the nose with lemon flesh, more stone fruit and minerality on the palate with a fresh finish.

Quincy is a village to the south west of Sancerre in the Central Loire valley, with its own appellation for Sauvignon Blanc. Wine was made here for centuries before the first written reference to it in 1120, and the parish's wines were the first of the eastern Loire to receive official AOC status – in August 1936 – just a few months earlier than Sancerre.

The vines grow on sandy/clay soil and the vineyards are managed according to the strict, enviromentally responsible guidelines demanded by the Terra Vitis certification. When Dimitri Mesnard MS, whose family worked vineyards in Villalin, inherited a tiny plot in Brinay, he chose to work with the Tatin family who advised him on vine selection and vinification. Following a very warm and early 2018 harvest, mature Sauvignon Blanc was gently pressed and vinified with precise thermo-regulated fermentation before maturing on fine lees with regular batonnage (lees stirring). The entire 3,000-bottle cuvée was bottled in January.