Sancerre AOC Blanc Auksinis 2016 - Domaine Sébastien Riffault

Color: Golden yellow.
Smell: The nose is intense with notes of ripe yellow fruit, honey, vegetal and earthy notes on an aromatic and mineral background.
Taste: On the palate it is a white wine of great maturity and Mediterranean. Despite its opulence, it remains a tense wine, amidst minerality, matter and typical traits of botrytis.
Food pairing: Perfect for fish and shellfish dishes, vegetable based appetizers, fish first courses.

Soil: Calcareous clay.
Extension of the vineyard: 1 ha.
Type of plant: Guyot.
Vines density per hectare: 7,000.
Average age of the vineyard: 50 years.
Average production per hectare: 20 hl.
Vinification and aging: Spontaneous fermentation with 50% of botrytized grapes in stainless steel tanks, followed by malolactic fermentation. Aging for 36 months on the fine lees in old barriques.
Total sulfur: 5 mg/l.
Bottles produced: 8,000.

Domaine Sébastien Riffault

The Domaine Étienne et Sébastien Riffault was born in 1900 in the Loire region, within the AOC of Sancerre. Sury-en-Vau is the village where today, Sébastien and his wife Juraté, work 12 hectares of vineyards producing a wine that is pure expression of one of the most interesting terroirs in France, where it is Sauvignon Blanc to find the ideal place to grow . Sébastien believes in a working cycle of the vineyard in compliance with natural methods, at first certified organic, today it follows the principles of biodynamics: the plowing of the soil, rich in silica, is carried out with two mares, allowing better oxygenation of the soil; only natural fertilizers are used in the vineyard, without the use of chemicals and only harvested when the grapes have reached full ripeness (when they reach an orange-purple color). The age of the vines is around 50 years old, they are located on the hilly area overlooking Sancerre, with a slope of 20-25% and rooted in soils rich in limestone and silica, particularly suitable for the cultivated varietal. In the cellar only spontaneous vinification, no clarification or filtration nor sulphites. A long aging in barrels and bottling with a waning moon allow us to offer wines - red and white - rich and very intriguing. But forget the whites of Sancerre of the stylized stereotype with the taste of green pepper and tomato leaf. The names of the wines are in Lithuanian, in honor of Sébastien's wife: Auksinis - golden, Skeveldra - piece of stone and Akmènimé - made with stone.