Domaine Denizot


Growing Area
Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé
Proprietor
Thibauld & Jennifer Denizot
Size
20.5 hectares
Farming Practice
Organic
  • Biodynamic practices

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Denizot of Sancerre and Pouilly

We first heard of Domaine Denizot from Dominique Roger of Domaine du Carrou in Bué, who called Thibauld and Jennifer Denizot maybe the best young producers in Sancerre. He proved to be right.

Thibauld trained at the Académie Viticulteur in Beaune, and together he and Jennifer are the sixth generation of the family to farm here. Their cellar is in Verdigny, but the family’s roots are in Amigny, where about two-thirds of their Sancerre parcels sit. The rest are spread across Verdigny, Chavignol and Sancerre itself. Most of the vines grow on Caillottes, the stony, limestone-rich soil the region is known for. Other parcels are on Terres Blanches and Kimmeridgian marl.

In October 2019, the Denizots bought about 2.2 hectares in Pouilly-Fumé from the estate Thibauld’s maternal grandparents founded in 1960. Under a family agreement, they chose the best parcels when the previous generation retired.

In the vineyard, Thibauld and Jennifer farm with a level of care few estates can match. Seven full-time staff work only in the vineyards. Every vine is pruned using the Guyot Poussard method, carefully planned to keep sap flowing freely and the vines healthy for decades. Some parcels are trained on a “4th wire” system, which raises the trellis and gives the vines a larger leaf canopy to ripen the fruit. As part of their biodynamic approach, the vines are treated with herbal infusions and teas. On the steepest plots, where Denizot is trying to avoid soil impact and erosion, treatments have started to be applied by drone.

The cellar is built from massive blocks of cut stone that hold insulative properties the Denizots believe gives their wines a particular energy as they age. Each plot is fermented separately with native yeasts. The wines are then given extended aging in oak or concrete vats, and are bottled without filtration. The only addition is a small amount of natural, volcanic sulfur.

Denizot is an estate on the rise, one to watch closely.

wines

White

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:

White

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:

White

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:

White

Varietal/Blend
Sauvignon

Vineyard Area
From a mix of terroirs 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:

Red

Varietal/Blend
Pinot Noir

Vineyard Area
From 60-year-old vines in 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.

Red

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


Marketing Materials: