2018 Sancerre Rouge

New talent alert: Stephanie and Jean-Philippe Agisson have made some of the most delicate, harmonious wines in the appellation in 2019 and 2020. Jean-Philippe Agisson has a serious CV – he’s the current winemaker at Didier Dagueaneau, having spent 12 years at Alphonse Mellot (2006-2018). In 2017, Agisson launched his own label with his wife, whose uncle owned the vineyards they now manage in the village of Sury-en-Vaux. The pair farm 1 hectare in Sancerre and produced their first wine, Equilibre, in 2017, which was grown on Kimmeridgian soils. In 2020, they added a Pouilly-Fumé, La Belle Endormie, sourced from a 0.5-ha plot on Portlandian soils. The barrel samples were breath-taking, transparent and finely structured with delicate aromatics. The couple also makes a red Sancerre, which is delicate and floral with a decent proportion of whole bunch lending lift and structure, but the whites are currently the stars. Sury-en-Vaux has long been overshadowed by other villages like Bué and Chavignol, as many of its growers have sold their fruit to cooperatives and larger producers; however, with the Agissons, Claude Riffault and more, Sury’s star is rising.