Domaine Denizot
Appellation: Sancerre
Proprietor: Thibauld & Jennifer Denizot
Size: 20.5 hectares
Farming Practice: Organic
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Brightest of Young Stars
We first heard about Domaine Denizot from Dominique Roger of Bué’s Domaine du Carrou. “There are only a handful of truly serious, excellent young producers,” he said, “and they’re one of the best.”
We soon paid them a visit and it didn’t take much to recognize the family’s deep-rooted commitment to both quality and sustainability. Over the years, they’ve built a reputation in the region that speaks as much to their respect for tradition as it does to their willingness to push boundaries. Their wines vividly reflect the land, carrying an unmistakable imprint of both the past and present.
Today, Thibauld Denizot, who studied at the Académie Viticulteur in Beaune, is at the helm of the estate with his wife Jennifer. They represent the sixth generation of a family whose hands have long shaped the region’s vineyards.
Though Verdigny is where the cellar resides, their ancestral roots lie in Amigny, which is why 65% of their Sancerre parcels are there. The rest is split between Verdigny, Chavignol, and Sancerre itself.
Most of their vines (90%) sit on Caillottes—rocky limestone. This includes precious plots in Les Bouffants in Chavignol and Côte de l’Épée in Amigny. The remaining 10% are on Terres Blanches, soils rich in Kimmeridgian limestone marl.
The range of wines produced is a reflection of the estate’s diverse parcels, each bottling a showcase of subtle differences between sites.
Their core offerings include, Ozmoze Blanc, a densely packed but firm Sauvignon assembled from Amigny, Chavignol, Sancerre and Verdigny. After harvesting by hand and carefully sorting, the grapes are directly pressed. The juice ferments with indigenous yeasts in concrete and stainless steel vats before spending 12 months on the fine lees, giving it a richness that enhances its texture and complexity. Damoclès Côte de l’Épée is drawn off a steep, southeastern-facing slope in Amigny. Its crystalline purity and precise minerality are a testament to the singularity the parcel’s poor and rocky soils. From Verdigny, Les Bouffants is a blend of two sections: one gently sloped and high up the hilll on Caillotes, the other below it, on unforgiving terrain made up of Griottes (little stones). The combination produces deep structure, rich texture, and great aging potential.
Then there’s Biorga, a Pinot Noir from 60-year-old vines in Les Beaux Regards in Verdigny, reflecting a seldom found potential of Sancerre Rouge. Fermented in tank and aged 228-liter barrels, it reveals an elegant and pure Pinot Noir drawn off these stones over clay-limestone.
In October 2019, Thibauld and Jennifer acquired 2.2 hectares of vines in Pouilly-Fumé, part of his maternal grandparents’ estate, founded in 1960. When the sons retired, a family agreement made it possible for Thibauld and Jennifer to not only purchase the land, but also select the best plots for future production. It was both an inheritance and a challenge—a continuation of a family tradition in this corner of the Loire.
The Pouilly-Fumé vineyards are nestled on Silex soils in the Butte de Saint Andelain, and Terres Blanches in the village of Boisfleury. The wines from these vineyard are charged with a tonic-like aromatic complexity, rich in texture and driven by a sharp limestone minerality.
Denizot is an estate on the rise, one to watch closely.
Wines:
Varietal/Blend: Sauvignon
Vineyard Area: From vines in Amigny, Chavignol, Sancerre and Verdigny
Soil: Caillotes
Exposure: South, southeast
Vine Training Method: Guyot
Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and gently pressed pneumatically. The juice moves freely by gravity to a combination of concrete and stainless steel for fermentation and aging on the fine lees.
Maturation: One year with a gentle filtration before bottling
Marketing Materials:
Varietal/Blend: Sauvignon
Vineyard Area: From famous hillside (with 40% incline) located in Amigny called Côte de l'Épée.
Soil: Caillotes (Oxfordian rocky limestone)
Elevation: 250 meters
Exposure: Southeast
Vine Training Method: Guyot poussard
Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and gently pressed pneumatically. The juice moves freely by gravity to 600-liter demi-muids and 350-liter cigares (both from Atelier Centre France) where the wine ages on the lees.
Maturation: Minimum one year in barrels before racking to stainless steel before for six months prior to bottling.
Marketing Materials:
Varietal/Blend: Sauvignon
Vineyard Area: Les Bouffants is a steep limestone hillside in Chavignol (touching Les Mont Damnés) Denizot's holding is divided into two parts. The first (Haut de Bouffants makes 75% of the holding) is situated on the top of the hillside with very stony Caillotes soils (larger stones). The terrain is easier to work here. The second part (Pente de Bouffants for 25% of the plot) is a steep slope of finer, softer limestone called Griottes (many smaller stones). Here, ripening is faster, with golden grapes despite lower yields.
Soil: Caillotes and Griottes
Elevation: 250 meters
Exposure: South
Vine Training Method: Guyot poissard
Vinification: Grapes are hand-harvested and gently pressed pneumatically. The juice moves freely by gravity to 600-liter demi-muids and 350-liter cigares (both from Atelier Centre France) where the wine ages on the lees.
Maturation: Minimum one year in barrels before racking to stainless steel before for six months prior to bottling.
Marketing Materials:
Varietal/Blend: Sauvignon
Vineyard Area: From a mix of terroir from the village of Boisfleury (.9 hectares) and the village of Saint Andelain (1 hectares)—vines are between 35 and 55 years old.
Soil: Dense limestone on the Boisfleury plot with Silex on the Saint Andelain hilltop.
Elevation: 220-260 meters
Exposure: South-southeast
Vinification: Hand-harvested. Long and gentle pneumatic pressing. Careful handling of juices without rushing the musts (by gravity and slow and gentle pumping). Fermentation with native yeast in concrete and stainless steel vats. Aging on the lees.
Maturation: One year in concrete vat (fined and unfiltered)
Marketing Materials:
Varietal/Blend: Pinot Noir
Vineyard Area: From 60-year-old vines of Les Beaux Regards in Verdigny
Soil: Caillotes over clay-limestone
Elevation: 240 meters
Exposure: Southeast
Vine Training Method: Guyot poissard
Vinification: From the moment the grapes arrive in the cellar, they are handled gently and with respect for the fruit. The grapes are protected with dry ice as soon as they are placed in vats to prevent oxidation of the juice and to control the temperature of the harvest. Cold maceration for more or less 7 days, depending on the vintage profile. Natural fermentation using indigenous yeasts over a two-week period. The number of pump-overs and punch-downs is dictated by the vintage profile and daily tasting of the juice obtained. The free-run juice is then racked into 228-liter barrels (1/3 of two previous wines, 1/3 one previous wine, 1/3 new wood) from different coopers. Malolactic conversion in barrels.
Maturation: Minimum one year in barrels before racking to stainless steel for six months before bottling.
Varietal/Blend: Pinot Noir
Vineyard Area: From vines in the villages of Verdigny and Sancerre.
Soil: Limestone pebbles ("caillotes") in Sancerre and Kimmeridgian marl ("terres blanches") in Verdigny.
Exposure: Varying southern exposures
Vinification: The grapes are harvested by hand and then carefully handled and placed onto a conveyor belt where they're brought up and into an open-top concrete tank. The tank contains dry ice to protect the grapes from oxidation. Cold maceration lasts for more or less 7 days depending on the profile of the vintage and natural fermentation using native yeasts lasts for about two weeks. The number of pumpovers and punchdowns is dictated by the profile of the vintage as well as daily tasting of juices obtained by (mostly) pumpovers. Once all sugars are broken down into alcohol, the free-run juice and press juice are racked to concrete and blended.
Maturation: One year dictated by the completion of malolactic fermentation which occurs naturally
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