Sancerre
2024: A Test of Endurance

BY REBECCA GIBB MW | AUGUST 7, 2025

Every vintage seems to evoke a word or
phrase that sums up its mood—not always cheerful, but always telling of how we
adapt and endure. These words capture a zeitgeist, encapsulating what
preoccupies us, what unsettles us, what defines us. In Sancerre, 2024 has found
its own word of the year. Not one chosen by Oxford or Merriam-Webster, but by
weary vignerons surveying rain-sodden, mildew-filled vineyards: catastrophic.
It’s a word rarely whispered beyond the conclaves of cellars, but in this premium-priced
Loire Valley appellation, it’s the word on every grower’s lips after a cold,
wet growing season that battered grapes and morale alike. 

Sadly, there’s no sugar-coating the 2024
vintage. You could use the sweetest, finest, glitter-speckled sugar, and you’d
still struggle to disguise the fact that the season was a washout.&nbsp; If a winemaker mentions the number of
barbecues they’ve had in the summer, that should set alarm bells ringing that
it was a poor year. Indeed, in 2024, barbecues were fired up once or twice at
best.

The 2024 vintage got off to one of the
earliest starts ever, with temperatures in February and March 1.5˚C above average.
This led to an early budburst, causing worries over potential frost, but the
relatively warm spring meant there were few frost-fighting nights. June and
July saw rainfall that totalled two-and-a-half times the ten-year average, but it
did not come all at once. Every few days, just as things were beginning to look
up, it would rain again. August provided a break in the wet weather, but mildew
had long established itself and losses were devastating, particularly in
organic vineyards.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1754575948788-Moody+skies+dominated+the+2024+season+in+Sancerre_Vinous.jpg">Moody skies dominated the 2024 season in Sancerre. In a chemical-filled battle against the
elements, conventional producers saved their crops from destruction, but the
resulting wines are difficult to recommend. Even though the fungicides provided
protection to the relatively larger crops, spring and summer conditions led to
underripe fruit. In 2024, producers were permitted to chaptalize as much as 2%
versus the usual 1%, but the flavors in the wines are on the green end of the spectrum
and the acidities are very high. These eyewatering acid levels are a function
of high malic acid content in the grapes, which requires sunlight to degrade. In
the absence of sunlight, all that malic acid remains. In some instances,
slightly musty aromas are present in the wines, which can suggest a fungal
issue. After all, machine harvesting does not discriminate what goes into the
tank. 

One Region, Two Worlds

The divide between quantity-oriented and
quality-oriented producers is stark in 2024. In more clement vintages such as
2018, 2019 and 2020, warm, dry conditions allowed producers to ripen healthy
grapes without too much difficulty. However, in challenging vintages, the more
conscientious growers stand out. For those that managed to forge a decent wine
out of the hellish 2024 season, yields are minuscule. Consequently, there will
be very little wine that enters the market.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1754575750716-Luc+Prieur+of+Domaine+Paul+Prieur+is+one+of+the+young+generation+of+vignerons+making+strides_Vinous.jpg">Luc Prieur of Domaine Paul Prieur is one of the young generation of vignerons making strides in quality and farming. A large proportion of top-tier producers in
Sancerre farm organically, and their inability to use systemic fungicides meant
that their 2024 crops were more severely affected than those of conventional
producers. Rampant mildew required an average of 19 copper sprays for organic
producers versus 12 for conventional producers. Organic growers had to face the
reality that they were using more petrol and compacting the soil to a greater
extent than their conventional counterparts, negating a swathe of the environmental
benefits that organic farming is supposed to offer. Organic viticulture is meant
to be sustainable. But if you lose your entire crop because you farm organically
and that threatens your business? That’s wholly unsustainable. A number of
producers, including Domaine Tabordet and Michel Redde, abandoned their organic
status in 2024, the latter just a year after achieving certification. Redde declassified
their entire crop and will not release a single wine from the vintage. Winemaker
Sebastien Redde explained, “We favor organic and biodynamic growing, but after
2024 we won’t look for certification. It’s not practical if you have extreme
conditions. We don’t want to be constrained and lose the crop again.”

Single-vineyard wines from top producers in
2024 will be a rarity, with the tiny yields preventing many from filling even a
single tank or foudre. It’s also clear that many bottlings from the 2024
vintage will contain a decent splash of wine from the generous 2023 vintage. Official
rules allow for up to 15% of another vintage to be included in a blend, and in
this case, the previous vintage was abundant. The 2023s are ripe, fruity and
approachable, making them a natural choice to both enrich the 2024s and keep
customers supplied until the 2025s make their way into bottle. There were also
ways to enrich the 2024s in the winery. For example, Hubert Brochard undertook
lees work to build palate weight and round out the wines’ angular contours in
conjunction with the use of a variety of fermentation vessels. Others allowed a
little malolactic fermentation to soften the palate. 

Reds will be almost non-existent in 2024,
with the fruit instead going to Rosé production.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1754575814143-Rodrigo+Zamorano+is+making+big+changes+at+Hubert+Brochard+in+Chavignol_Vinous.jpg">Rodrigo Zamorano is making big changes at Hubert Brochard in Chavignol. Looking Back On 2023

It’s a blessing that 2023 was so abundant,
particularly for those who made little or no wine in 2024. Good water reserves
in the soil, no worrying frosts and good flowering allowed for huge yields,
which required quality-conscious producers to thin crops in order to
concentrate and ripen the fruit, as discussed in <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/sancerre-combat-fatigue-aug-2024">last year’s
article</a>. While the season was warm, the large crops took longer to ripen. Just
as the fruit was nearing maturity, rain swelled and diluted the berries. Many producers
decided that the costs of green harvesting didn’t justify the means, instead choosing
to make selections in the winery. These producers chose to use the free-run and
first-press juice only, rejecting later-pressed juice, which is lower in acid
and more vegetal in character. The wines certainly don’t have the power or
concentration of the 2022s, but they are approachable in youth and easy to
drink. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1754575906525-Sancere+Cover+3.jpg">Blue skies and sunny days were in short supply during the 2024 season.A Last Word

Catastrophic
may never make Oxford’s word of the year, but it defined Sancerre’s 2024. The
wines are unlikely to show the region in its best light. With prices still
heading north, one must wonder: will Sancerre’s allure prove as weatherproof as
its reputation?

I tasted the wines for this report in July
2024 in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, both at visits to estates and in centralized
tastings.© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/sancerre-combat-fatigue-aug-2024">Sancerre: Combat Fatigue</a>, Rebecca Gibb MW, August 2024 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/sancerre-s-charm-offensive-jul-2023">Sancerre’s Charm Offensive</a>, Rebecca Gibb MW, July 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/sancerre-sees-red-dec-2022">Sancerre Sees Red</a>, Rebecca Gibb MW, December 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/sancerre-finding-its-place-aug-2022">Sancerre: Finding Its Place</a>, Rebecca Gibb MW, August 2022

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