SOLD OUT! The 2016 Philippe Girard Cuvée Silex is my top summer Sancerre pick, and it’s our new Wine of the Week. Why you ask? Because Sancerre pairs perfectly with summer. It’s bright, it’s crisp, it’s refreshing, and it’s absolutely delicious.
In case you’re not familiar, Sancerre is one of the top Sauvignon Blanc zones in the world, and this reserve bottling from small grower Philippe Girard is about as good as it gets. It possesses great acidity, super intense aromas and flavors, and you’re going to love it.
2016 Philippe Girard Sancerre Cuvée Silex
90 points Wine Enthusiast
SOLD OUT
This estate has quite the track record. The family was tending vines and making wines at the time of the French revolution, but they kept it all for themselves or allocated small amounts to good friends. This all changed in the 1960’s when Marius Girard began bottling, marketing, and selling the family’s wines to top restaurants both near and far. Today, the estate is still family owned and operated with 16 acres planted to Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. Located in the village of Verdigny, one of the top terroirs in Sancerre, the vines for Girard’s Cuvée Silex are located along the banks of the Loire River.
Part of what makes this wine so special is the dirt! The best vineyards of Sancerre mix limestone, clay and silica to form a flint and sand mixture known as silex, and you can certainly taste it in this wine. Fermented entirely in stainless steel and aged on its lees for 4 months, this is distinctively delicious Sauvignon Blanc that could come from no other place. Pure, intense, and highly aromatic, it offers up a bevy of aromas and flavors. Ripe and zesty, with lovely notes of gooseberry, lemon curd, citrus zest, flinty mineral, this is prototype Sancerre! I could hang out with it for hours, smelling and sipping and then repeating over and over.
I recommend you do the same! Enjoy this one during the dog days of summer as a cocktail/aperitif or pair it with flaky white fish in an herb-butter sauce. You’ll thank me! Cheers and happy drinking and eating in Asheville.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville