2023 Francois Crochet Sancerre Exils, Loire Valley

This distinctive wine has weight, power, minerality, and a personality that hits you with full force. It is ripe, smoky, and mineral, with high acidity and fruit sweetness. Vinified and matured in old oak with fine lees. Pure pleasure.

95 points, Beverley Blanning MW, Decanter

The 2023 Exils hails from the flinty soils of the village of Thauvenay in the Sancerre appellation. This is a greener, stonier style with real mineral drive. It’s not tender nor gentle but firm and lithe, slithering across the palate like a snake. Ripe citrus fruit and distinctive tension bring balance to its sinewy frame.

91 points Rebecca Gibb, MW for Vinous

François Crochet has earned a reputation as one of Sancerre's finest growers, producing small production wines that capture the individuality of the Loire Valley's most distinctive vineyard sites. Exils is a compelling expression of old vine Sauvignon Blanc, reflecting Crochet's meticulous approach in both the vineyard and winery. Crafted with minimal intervention, it is a wine of remarkable precision, depth and quiet power, revealing just how complex and age worthy great Sancerre can be.

Sourced from mature vines rooted in the limestone and clay soils around Bué, the 2023 vintage benefited from an excellent growing season that delivered beautifully balanced fruit with outstanding aromatic intensity and mineral definition. Careful lees ageing adds texture and complexity while preserving the purity and freshness that define this exceptional cuvée.

The colour is a brilliant pale straw with subtle green reflections. Aromas of preserved lemon, grapefruit and white peach are interwoven with elderflower, crushed chalk, flint and delicate wild herbs. The palate is beautifully layered and finely textured, with concentrated citrus and stone fruit framed by vibrant acidity and a striking mineral backbone. Hints of oyster shell, smoky flint and citrus pith unfold across a long, poised finish that lingers with exceptional clarity and a profound sense of place.

A magnificent partner for freshly shucked oysters, grilled John Dory, lobster with beurre blanc, sashimi, goat's cheese or asparagus with hollandaise. Enjoy now for its precision and energy or cellar confidently for ten to fifteen years as further complexity and nuance emerge.