We are here on the flinty, clay soil, right on the Sancerre Peak, at the spot on the east side called “La Demoiselle”. The stone is compacted here into a dense layer of sharp, stumbling flints, a soil that is most unfamiliar to the Pinot Noir giving it great originality.
The flinty mineral makes the cherry seem almost like kirsch with peppery notes that are reminiscent of a côte rôtie. A real surprise for such a great variety as the Pinot Noir.
90+pts The Wine Advocate – 2010 vintage
“the Mellot 2010 Sancerre rouge La Demoiselle displays a bright fresh-fruitedness that I missed in the corresponding La Moussiere, and which I can’t help suspecting one can credit in part to this the flint-rich, west-northwest facing site. Fresh and distilled cherry mingle with beef stock; a saliva-liberating salinity quickens the sappy mid-palate; and the satisfyingly juicy finish evinces a genuine sense of levity. This is really a remarkable success for its appellation, not to mention its vintage.”
91pts The Wine Advocate – 2012 vintage
“2012 La Demoiselle is a pure and fresh Pinot Noir from a small plot on flinty clay soils. Red currant, cassis and dark cherry flavors are mixed with fresh raspberry, lime/grapefruit and floral aromas, cayenne pepper and darkly toasted cacao and coffee beans. This powerful, elegant, silky textured and full-bodied red is ripe, sweet and fruit intense, but also refined, fresh and structured by firm, still young tannins and a delicate acidity. It finishes persistently with an animating purity and remarkable finesse and nutty aromas. I would store it for another 3 or 4 years before I start drinking it.”