Let’s first address the elephant in the room: The price went up. I wasn’t happy about it. My colleagues weren’t happy about it. Even Cotat’s own importer wasn’t happy about it. We grumbled before pulling the cork, caviled after pouring the wine, and kicked up a fuss while swirling. But that was the last negative sound we uttered because Pascal Cotat’s 2021 “Monts Damnés” is a unanimous Top-Five white wine of the year for us. Period.
Among the most precipitous and highly desirable vineyards in Sancerre, if not the entire Loire Valley, “The Damned Mountains” is an iconic cru that delivers a super-rare, tightly allocated, investment-grade collectible in the hands of Pascal Cotat. Vintage after vintage, he delivers a lush and explosively mineral Sauvignon Blanc powerhouse that’ll go 12 rounds with Dagueneau’s $175 “Silex.” Says Robert Parker, “Cotat produces old-style Sancerre...rich, full-flavored...they are some of the finest Sauvignon Blancs I have ever put to my lips.” And this 2021 is the finest I’ve put to mine since I’ve worked here. Whether you heed Parker’s words or ours, it doesn’t matter—just make sure you experience this magnificent bottle! Cotat’s “Monts Damnés” is consistently among the most exciting allocations we receive per annum. This year, it’s also the smallest. Four-bottle max.
Originating in the 1940s, the Cotat family domaine was passed from brothers Paul and Francis to their respective sons, François and Pascal, in the 1990s. Dedicated to the unique terroir of each site, the Cotats were among the first winemakers to vinify and produce single-vineyard bottlings in Sancerre, but the cousins eventually created two separate labels due to tedious government regulations. While François stayed put in Chavignol, his cousin charted the path for Domaine Pascal Cotat in Sancerre and built a separate winery.
Within the hamlet of Chavignol, Les Monts Damnés, or “damned mountains,” is the name of a series of steeply pitched vines the Cotat family has farmed for 75 years and counting. The cursed vineyard name is apropos given that the Cotats, by necessity, invented a system in which harvesters strap cushions to their rear ends to slide down the steep slopes. This wine is sourced from the highest parcels on the north-facing slope of this famous vineyard, which is distinguished by its subsoils of pure chalk—the same, gleaming white terres blanches found in Chablis. Left behind from ancient seabeds over 150 million years ago, this special soil offers a distinct, intense minerality that is entirely its own.
Cotat’s vines on Les Monts Damnés average about 35 years of age, and few winemakers can rival Pascal’s talent and dedication in the cellar—even fewer, if any, have the restraint to match his skilled late harvests. He’s known for hand-harvesting roughly a week later than others in the area, and as a result, his wines possess greater weight, ripeness, and complexity. In 2021, the whole-bunch grapes were gently sent through a pneumatic press and the juice fermented on indigenous yeasts in old demi-muids (large French oak barrels). It was then transferred into even older and larger barrels called tonneaux for under one year. An unfiltered and unfined bottling occurred in accordance with the lunar calendar.
While I’ve certainly enjoyed the last few vintages of Cotat, they’ve been BIG, as in full-bodied, high-alcohol, dripping-with-opulence Sauvignon Blancs. The stunning 2021 is a formal return to mindblowing elegance and mineral precision. This rolls out of a Burgundy stem with bright, lifted aromas of guava, gooseberry, green apple, sweet melon, grapefruit, white flower, honeysuckle, crushed white stone, damp herbs, and candied lime. The palate is poised and medium-bodied with incredibly deep, tension-filled layers that trigger an avalanche of mouthwatering acidity. This is a glorious, grade-A white wine that’s built to age but I strongly recommend opening at least one within the next year.
