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Press Reviews

Wine Align

92 points - David Lawrason

This is from a leading Saumur producer of Loire chenin blanc with vines planted in calcerous clay soils near the Loire River outside of classical town. It is both rich and delicate, a juxtaposition I find in some of the world's best whites. It is not however an intense, flashy, acid and mineral driven chenin. Fermentation in neutral barrels has created a pale gold hue and softened the nose to gentle honeyed, spicy state along with ripe pear/apricot jam fruit. It is medium-full bodied, smooth and dry, almost creamy, with the grape's acidity and minerality arriving more on the finish. The complexity and length are excellent, with a touch of wood spice and bitterness as well. Tasted August 2022

94 points - John Szabo

2019: This leads with a terrific nose very much in the varietal/regional idiom, honeyed, floral, apple and lemon zest-scented, complex and exotic, not to mention stony. The palate displays a similar level of poise and composure, cool, transparent yet with a heavy freight of flavour , and terrific length. This is really quite extraordinary wine, delicious now, but surely capable of a decade or so in the cellar. Top notch. Tasted March 2019.

93 points - Michael Godel

2019: The rare and elusive 100 per cent chenin blanc from Samur makes full use of clay-calcaire-tuffeau soils for this dry and piqued white wine. So crunchy and expressive with an expansive character that fills the mouth by making contact withy every nerve and pour. Benchmark and controlled explosive example, rare or otherwise. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted March 2020.

91 points - David Lawrason

2019: It is rare to come across fine Saumur chenin, a central Loire Valley appellation overshadowed by Vouvray. This is mid-weight, dry and quite firm classic with a fairly generous nose of pear, spice, vague fresh herbs and wet stone. It becomes quite dry and somewhat grapefruity bitter on the finish, trailing solid minerality as well. Very good to excellent length. Tasted March 2020.

Press Reviews

Wine Align

93 points - John Szabo

2018 vintage review: Stéphane Riffault's 13.5 ha estate includes 3ha planted to pinot noir, of which La Noue represents 2.5 hectares across seven adjoining parcels with vines ranging from 8 to 56 years old, planted on both marls and Kimmeridgian limestones. Vineyard care is rigorous in the extreme (also certified organic), and the effort shows through in the final product, made in minimalist fashion. The 2018 is very much on the riper and fleshier end of the Sancerre Rouge spectrum, brimming with succulent red and black cherry (griottes), yet cool and classy, nicely composed, with fully integrated wood nuances. The palate is all class, vibrant yet fleshy, fresh yet generous, with a fine twang of limestone salinity and a tannin-acid complex that yields fine silk, more spun than woven. The wine gains succulence and energy with aeration, so be sure to serve in large-bowled pinot glasses or gently decant before serving, with a light chill for best effect. It should also hold comfortably in the cellar for another 3-5 years. Tasted May 2021.

Robert Parker

90+ points

2018 vintage review: From 30- to 58-year-old vines on terres blanches and marl soils, Stéphane Riffault's 2018 Sancerre La Noue was cold-macerated and fermented with whole clusters for a total of four weeks. It offers an aromatic, fruity, elegant and charming bouquet of red cherries, raspberries and redcurrant intertwined with stony notes. Concentrated, round and mellow on he palate, this is an elegant, already accessible and maybe too charming (?) Pinot with ripe black berry and licorice aromas on the aftertaste. It was aged for a total of 16 months in 228- to 600-liter oak casks prior the bottling in February. Tasted right after the bottling in February 2021.

I didn't taste wines from Stéphane Riffault for a long while, although I had them in very best memories. The 2016s and 2017s I tasted recently (far too late for potential buyers yet early enough for collectors who cellar them) are exciting. The 2017 Rosé is vinous and elegant, and among the whites, the clear, precise and linear 2016 Les Desmalets and the complex, structured 2016 Les Chailloux are outstanding. Shortly before the deadline for this report, I received the younger vintages—2018 and the fascinatingly vibrant and energetic 2019. These younger vintages include several new highlights, namely the single-parcel wines 468 and 538, which, tasted as barrel samples, are among the finest and most expressive Sancerres I have tasted in many years. The 2019 Les Chailloux is another highlight once again, as is the 2020 Rosé, which is more "a masquerade of a red wine," as Riffault's US importer, Jon-David Headrick, expresses it perfectly. All in all, the Domaine Claude Riffault has become one of my personal favorites of the AOP, and Stéphane's style seems to be moving toward more textured wines, a result of the trend to use more oak. Stéphane's brother is winemaker at the Domaine Étienne Sauzet in Puligny-Montrachet, and they might have an intense exchange about viticultural and winemaking techniques. I remember having tasted many wines grown predominantly or entirely in stainless steel years ago, and I also remember the transition to concrete vats and small barrels; these remain, but larger wooden casks are also in use today. For example, the generic white Sancerre is aged in both 500- and 600-liter wood containers; the Sancerres Les Boucauds is aged in a combination of pièces bourguignonnes (228 liters), 350-, 400- and 500-liter wood containers as well as 600-liter demi-muids. Les Chasseignes ages in both 350-liter barrels and a 20-hectolitre foudre that, in turn, is the cask for the fantastic Sancerres Les Denisottes and Les Chailloux. The Monoparcelles 469 and 538 are vinified in 350-liter barrels before the élevage of eight months takes place in a 20-hectoliter foudre and for another month in stainless steel tanks before bottling. The red Sancerre La Noue is aged in a combination of 228-, 250- and 600-liter oak vats, whereas the Sancerre Rosé is entirely aged in a single 228-liter pièce bourguignonne. 

With his rosé, Stéphane Riffault is looking to break the stereotype image of rosé and to produce a great, gastronomic vin de rosé, which he describes as "serious" and makes it "like a clear red." He accepts a loss of freshness in favor of complexity by aging it like a red Pinot Noir. In the end, this makes sense and adds another serious and vinous wine to a remarkable series of ambitious, terroir-driven Sancerres that are far more than just fresh and easy. I even had the impression the rosé is potent enough to be aged even longer on its lees, and Stéphane admits that he’s still unsure about this and that there is a possibility that he might age it longer than expected, but he’s afraid that what he would gain by aging it longer would be offset with an even further decrease in freshness. He added that bottling in March will give him a "happy medium," but this is yet to be seen. 

In an email conversation with Jon-David Headrick, who detected the Domaine Claude Riffault many years ago, he told me that Stéphane is not actively trying to make "wines that are counter to his appellation." Instead, "he’s trying to push the boundaries as to what can be made in the appellation. For so long, Sancerre has been known as an appellation that produced simple, fresh wines, and he wants it to be known as one of the great terroirs of France, having the ability to produce 'great white wines of stature and complexity.'" As such, Stéphane has been systematically tasting and speaking with great growers in Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace and Loire regions like Savennières to help him refine his style. "His primary references are in Burgundy where he has taken a lot of cues," reports Headrick. However, he is quick to point out that "Stéphane is not trying to make a Burgundy wine in Sancerre and dislikes this terminology. He is, however, taking the best of the ideas that great domaines in Burgundy have to teach him and adapting those to Sauvignon Blanc, his appellation and his parcels. " 

One of the ways Riffault thinks he can produce great, gastronomic whites is to concentrate on extended lees aging. In fact, the "sur-lie" aging is much longer than it was before since "he believes that aging on the lees, and more lees, in wooden containers is one of the ways to achieve this." 

One could fear the power, richness and density of the 2019 vintage could have made the new wines from Stéphane Riffault too big, but in fact, he has mastered the challenge incredibly well and kept as much freshness as possible in his full-bodied, structured and sustainable wines while practicing this extended aging. In any case, you should use a big Burgundy glass for all of his wines, particularly for the 2019s—and let them breath enough air. I have the series over a week, and even after seven days, they deeply impressed me.