This is a new cuvée from Alphonse Mellot, derived from old vines in Chavignol. Like with all the Mellot wines, the fruit is ripe, organically grown and very pure. The structure and concentration will allow the wine to age. Drink from 2020. ROGER VOSS

From a set of old-vine sites in Chavignol, this is stonier and tauter than Les Romains, with quiet woodland-flower scents over a ground of pear fruit. The palate is long, elegant, pristine and a little more giving than the nose suggested: subtle, creamy, almost toothsome fruit which nonetheless retains all its poise and delicacy.

The 2016 Sancerre Satellite assembles the fruit from different lieux-dits and soil types of Chavignol and opens with clear, intense and well-concentrated fruit with herb notes on the bright yet deep and very elegant nose. Full-bodied and dense on the palate, with mild, perfectly interwoven acidity, a lingering phenolic grip and fine salinity, this is a perfectly matured Chavignon classic with substance and first hints of maturity. However, the wine is so stable, dense and firm that you can enjoy it for the next 5, maybe even 10 years. - Stephan Reinhardt