The various Sancerre cuvées of Sauvignon Blanc produced by Gerard Boulay are considered by critics and wine lovers alike to be some of Sancerre’s finest and they warrant your attention, however, we recently enjoyed a bottle of Gerard Boulay’s Pinot Noir and we were blown away by it. Red Sancerre is often overlooked by Pinot Noir lovers because it is usually prohibitively expensive—due to the miniscule amount produced. Although the chalk rich soils are very similar to those of Vezelay in Burgundy, most French Pinot Noir drinkers tend to stick with Burgundy.

Gerard Boulay works his vineyards manually and describes his role as one of “surveillance—to make sure nothing goes wrong. In general he works by instinct, “au feeling” because he wants to “let the wine live” and tries not to interfere with the natural process. “C’est la nature qui fait le vin” (Nature makes the wine). He adds no yeast and minimal amounts of SO2 during fermentation, which helps lend his wines their purity.

Produced in small quantities, this is a luscious, supple and pure Pinot Noir that was lovingly crafted from ancient vines and aged in neutral wood for twelve months. Cherry red in the glass, it displays notes of sweet strawberry tea and chalk infused earth tones on the nose. Ripe red fruit flavors shine on the palate with cherry and strawberry in the foreground as chalk infused plum holds up the background. A deft note of acidity carries the well-integrated, wood infused tannins along into a supple yet powerful finish. This Pinot has a pretty, restrained elegance and it is an ideal match with pork loin, braised beef or grilled duck breast.

—Donald