Anthony & David Girard, Sancerre “Les Monts Damnés” Loire Valley, France 2018 (750mL)

When you acknowledge Les Monts Damnés for what it is—a bona fide Grand Cru—the price tag for Girard’s version is even more glaring. The vineyard, of course, is the stuff of legend: a parcel so steep you need to be a skilled rock climber to scale it, or employ the use of treuils (winches) to transport grapes down the slope, as the Girards do. The soils are the same dense Kimmeridgian limestone found in Chablis, and the resulting wines are Sauvignon Blanc at its gem-cut best: wines structured for extended aging, with as much mineral intrigue and impact as any white Burgundy. “Under-valued” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Getting hands on some of this is something to celebrate!

While it is plenty delicious now, and capable of remaining so over the course of many days open, today’s 2018 will also age well for a decade-plus. That’s a pretty great ROI for a $35 bottle of wine. In the glass, it displays a brilliant yellow core with neon green reflections leading out to a silvery rim. Perfumed aromas of yellow apple, lemon blossoms, candied citrus, peach pith, passionfruit, honeysuckle, white flowers, crushed chalk, wet stones, and oyster shells carry over to a laser-sharp, medium-bodied palate. If you’ve ever wondered what tasters mean when they talk about “minerality” in wine, this will settle the matter for you once and for all.