As I have written in the past, the Marc Brédif Chinon is one of the great bargains in the world of Loire Valley reds these days. The wine is made from vineyards planted on gravelly soils and raised solely in stainless steel tanks. The 2023 is the current vintage of the estate’s Chinon on the market and comes in at a cool and classic 12.5 percent octane this year. The wine offers up a deep and refined bouquet of cassis, black cherries, cigar ash, tree bark, gravelly soil tones and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and elegant in profile, with a fine core of fruit, lovely soil undertow and grip, fine-grained, buried tannins, lovely focus and a long, very nicely balanced finish. Good juice. 2030-2070+.

The 2023 “Les Deux Tours” from Baron Patrick de Ladoudcette is a very fine example of Touraine Sauvignon Blanc. The bouquet is bright and complex, wafting from the glass in a blend of gooseberry, green apple, fresh-cut grass, chalky soil tones and a topnote of white flowers. On the palate the wine is vibrant, complex and full-bodied, with a lovely core of fruit, excellent soil inflection and grip, a fine spine of acidity and a long, complex and beautifully balanced finish. Fine juice. 2025-2032.

Pleasing hints of pastry, lemon curd and chopped hazelnut enrich a juicy core of ripe white peach and apricot fruit in this focused blanc de blanc with a creamy mousse. Backed by vibrant acidity, it shows good length and expression through the lightly salty finish. Drink now through 2032.

The beautiful amphitheater vineyard of la Poussie is one of the finest in all of Sancerre. The 2023 vintage here has produced a superb young Sancerre, offering up a vibrant and complex bouquet of lime, green apple, gooseberry, chalky minerality, fresh-cut grass and a topnote of citrus blossoms. On the palate the wine is bright, focused and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, lovely mineral undertow, a fine spine of acidity and a long, nascently complex and very nicely balanced finish. This wine has a superb track record for aging and though, it is certainly tasty already, it will be an even superior tipple if given a year or two in the cellar. Fine juice. 2025- 2040+.

The Comte Lafond bottling of Sancerre from Patrick Ladoucette is an excellent wine in the 2023 vintage. The wine’s aromatic constellation delivers a deep and complex blend of lemon, gooseberry, fruit blossoms, a lovely base of terres blanches soil tones, gentle notes of grassiness and a lovely topnote of other Sancerrois botanicals. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and complex, with a superb core of fruit, lovely soil undertow and grip, a fine girdle of acidity and a long, beautifully balanced and still fairly youthful finish. This is tasty already, but more complexity and precision will emerge if the wine is given a bit of bottle age. It is first class Sancerre! 2025-2035+.