2022 Comte de la Chevaliere Sancerre Rouge 750 ml

The Wall Street Journal has referred to Sancerre Rouge as “the connoisseur’s wine,” calling it “sensational drinking,” and we’re smitten with Comte de la Chevalière’s 2022. It’s a delicious, pale-ruby 100% Pinot Noir raised on the same pebble-strewn clay-limestone soils that produce some of the most famous Loire white wines in the world.

It also happens to be sensationally rare: Only one-fifth of Sancerre is red, and just a sliver of that makes it out of France.

For Burgundy fans, this is a slam-dunk: a bottle that delivers what might cost three times as much if it came from that pricey region. Flooded with dark cherries, and showing floral, spring-air freshness and the fine mineral structure that, this gorgeous Pinot will be a welcome addition to any red-wine lover’s cellar or dinner party—and a conversation piece that will keep the table buzzing until every last drop is gone. 

Grape growers have cultivated Pinot Noir in Sancerre since the Middle Ages, but as sleek, grassy Sauvignon Blanc stole the limelight in recent decades, the red wine of the region became a niche obsession.

That’s now poised to change. While Sancerre shares much of the same limestone soils as Burgundy, the cooler northern climate has historically favored white grapes over red. But with climate change, Pinot Noir in Sancerre is filling out with ripe muscularity. This 2022 maintains its racy, refreshing acidity, even as the fruit becomes richer and juicier, coiled in soft, smooth tannins and closing on a chalky finish.