Château de Sancerre

The history of winegrowing at Château de Sancerre reaches back many centuries. Vines are attested from the 6th century and developed further from the 12th century through the Augustinian monks. In the Middle Ages, Louis de Sancerre, Marshal and later Constable of France owned vineyards in Sancerre; his motto, “Passe Avant le Meilleur” (“Go Forth Before the Best”), remains associated with the estate today.
The estate passed through several notable families and periods of French history. The château was reconstructed in 1874 in the Louis XII style. In 1919 Louis-Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle, creator of Grand Marnier, acquired the Sancerre estate and vineyard holdings. The wine estate was acquired by Maison Ackerman in 2017 and today operates within Orchidées Maisons de Vin.

The estate’s philosophy is centred on allowing people and craftsmanship to “sublimate the terroir”. Benjamin Haas advocates viticulture that is increasingly respectful of the soil and biodiversity, with the objective of revealing the most faithful expression of each vineyard site.
The wines are made, matured and bottled at the estate. Winemaking varies according to cuvée and terroir: temperature-controlled stainless-steel vats are used for the Tradition wines; selected wines such as Cuvée du Connétable are matured in French oak; and amphorae and neutral barrels are used for certain terroir and single-vineyard wines. Hand harvesting is used for the single-vineyard cuvées described in the estate presentation.

The 57-ha vineyard covers the communes of Sancerre, Bué, Ménétréol, Thauvenay and Crézancy. A defining feature is the Sancerre geological fault, which brings very different geological layers into close proximity and creates striking variation over short distances.
The estate describes four principal soil expressions: terres blanches (clay and limestone), terres rouges (with a higher proportion of clay), caillottes (stony, chalky limestone) and clay-siliceous/flint soils. These terroirs shape the style of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, from floral and fruit-driven wines on caillottes to more structured, mineral and age-worthy expressions from clay-limestone and flint. The region has a semi-continental climate and rolling hills overlooking the Loire.

Château de Sancerre states that the vineyard has been certified to Level 4 of the High Environmental Value (HVE) standard since the 2023 vintage. The estate links this certification to performance in biodiversity, fertilisation management, irrigation and phytosanitary strategy.