Domaine Nicolas Girard Menetou-Salon Terre Blanche 2020

Add 6 bottles to the cart and receive an additional 38% off!

This is a safe place to admit that we all love Sancerre... but we don’t all love paying Sancerre prices. If you do a small side-step, however, right next door to Sancerre, you’ll find Menetou-Salon in the Loire Valley, and it’s just as good as its neighbor for a praiseworthy fraction of the price! This Sauvignon Blanc is 50% OFF and under $20 on six or more bottles – and we are enraptured by its smoky minerality, laser focus, and chock-full basket of swirling citrus flavors. I have a feeling it’ll steal your heart just as swiftly!

You may have noticed – but we can’t get enough Nicolas Girard. With the insane demand for all things Sancerre these past several years – Nicolas Girard is our security blanket. We’ve direct imported them for years, and sold truckloads of all sorts of their wines. Simply put, they’re our go-to in terms of exceptional quality and their incomparable value.

This iconic Sancerre estate was established in 1875 and lies just outside of the town of Sancerre. The Girard family modernized the winery and vineyards when they bought the estate in 1973, and ever since, it has become the base for not only the original estate, Domaine des Brosses – but also the offshoot brands by the new, younger generations of the Girard Clan. Alain Girard, Nicolas’s father, comes from several generations of winemakers in the tiny village of Chaudoux, located directly north of the famous town of Chavignol. Nicolas, alongside his brother, Anthony, has since taken over winemaking duties – and like their father before them – each has their own label, made in slightly different styles, from across the estate’s holdings (and some other unique parcels in surrounding regions, like this wine from Menetou-Salon). This structure allows each winemaking generation to pursue their own experiments, while still growing within, and eventually re-shaping the house style for the next generation. Together, they are making a stunning portfolio of high-toned wines that are fresh, modern, and aromatically pure.

Just west of Sancerre proper, with much the same type of terroir and grapes (namely, Sauvignon Blanc), Nicolas Girard makes this little, insanely priced gem from Menetou-Salon – Terre Blanche! That means “White Earth”, i.e., the region’s famous chalky limestone, and with those same cooling influences of the Loire River, presto! We basically have Baby Sancerre! This packs all the freshness, the verve, the tingly, zippy, tropically magic of a proper Sancerre. Aromas of lychee, lemon balm, tangerine, and white grapefruit combine with accents of matchsticks and sea spray... backed up by epically delicious flavors of bruleed grapefruit, quince, and tangerine. Weighty and creamy at first, but then tightening and focusing into a pure energy beam of electric citrus intensity! Crisp and exceptionally long on the finish, this is just everything you, me, EVERYONE loves about Sancerre – just without the price tag! While it lasts!

PAIRING IDEAS: Roast a filet of Alaskan King Salmon and serve over a bed of creamy parmesan risotto, with some roasted corn, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and green beans, topping it all off with fresh lemon, basil, and chopped pistachios. Summer dream meal, complete with this zippy gem of a wine!