Emile Balland, Coteaux du Giennois Blanc Le Grand Chemin 2020 Dom. Balland

Get to know: Emile Balland, Coteaux du Giennois Blanc Le Grand Chemin

Tasting Note

Super old vine Sauvignon Blanc with plenty of intensity and aromatic complexity. The nose is all about the minerality, citrus, and honeyed notes. The palate is taut and round with superb balance and length. Very nice cuvée that will age easily.

Try this with white fish, grilled or in sauce or a goats cheese.

Kate Says

“Here’s a fab wine from Coteaux du Giennois which is next door to Sancerre and gives you a very similar style of wine. You get the grapefruity, gooseberry minerality that you would expect and it has the same effortless elegance on the palate. I’d love this at a picnic or with a plate of goats cheese.”

Producer Info

The estate is comprised of just 9 total hectares; 1 in Sancerre and 8 in the Coteaux du Giennois. Emile’s holdings in the Giennois lie within the villages of Bonny-sur-Loire and Beaulieu-sur-Loire where the vineyards rise gently from the banks of the Loire. From these calcareous soils, with sub-strata of silex and clay, come the wines Emile calls Les Beaux Jours.

The cuvée “Le Grand Chemin” comes from vines over 20 years old, rooted on siliceous terroirs and flint clays, on limestone subsoil. “Le Grand Chemin” refers to the old Gallo-Roman road, on which the village of Bonny-sur-Loire was built, where the estate is located. Later it became the famous Route Nationale 7 which contributed so much to the discovery of the appellations of the Centre-Loire.

After pressing and cold decantation of the juices for several days, the wine ferments in oak barrels of 225, 300 and 500 liters. It is then aged on the lees (yeast) until the harvest of the following year to bring brings intensity and aromatic complexity. The different barrels that make up the cuvée are finally blended in vats and rested for about 6 months, before bottling.