Bernard Fleuriet et Fils

Sancerre, Loire, France

Bernard Fleuriet planted a mere 1ha of Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre back in the early 90s, at a time when he saw huge potential in the market for grape growing and supply. Fast forward to today, and the Fleuriet estate boasts over 30ha [ FACT CHECK NUMBER ] of vines (spread across Sancerre and Menetou-Salon), alongside a further 100ha of ancient grains, everything of which is farmed biodynamically. Bernard’s sons, Benoit and Mathieu, now look after the day-to-day operations of the estate, with Benoit focusing more on the farming and vineyards, while Mathieu focuses his efforts in the winery itself.

There is a very meticulous approach to everything they do at Fleuriet, from the remarkable attention to detail in the vineyards, to the precise, incredibly focused wines that they produce. They are quick to stress the importance of each of the three terroirs they work with – clay, limestone and flint – and often will handle these all as separate bottlings. In the instances of cuvées where they blend across the different sites, it’s clear what each one adds to the specific wines.

The real magic of the Fleuriet lies in their cellar. It is a system of paradoxes, where traditional techniques meet modern equipment. Here, everything follows an ingenious gravity-fed system, split over three floors, allowing for wine to flow freely from press, to fermentation vessel, to ageing vessel, without ever being exposed to oxygen or needing to be pumped unless absolutely necessary. It’s this delicate handling of the juice that retains a real steeliness and fruit forward character in the wines. The collection of vessels here is also awe-inspiring, and allows them to stay creative and honour the fruit in the best possible way they know how. Large format oak, concrete tanks, stainless steel, amphora and old barrique all occupy space here, and give Mathieu the chance to make each wine shine.

Their Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir cuvées exude an elegance that we’ve yet to come across in traditional counterparts from the region. The Fleuriet wines have afforded us the opportunity to champion an appellation that is otherwise inundated with loads of wines that fall significantly shy of what we know exceptional Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot to be, and we feel confident that this is as good as it gets.