Gérard Boulay

The history of this family estate in Sancerre goes back to 1380, when Jean Boulay owned vineyards in Chavignol. The Clos de Beaujeu vineyard was already renowned for the quality of its white wine. Remarkable because Sancerre was the region for red wine until phylloxera arrived. The steep, south-facing limestone slopes above the small hamlet of Chavignol offer one of the most remarkable terroirs in the world. Gérard Boulay, the current owner, has densely planted his eleven hectares of vineyard with 8,000 vines per hectare.

A modest man with a twinkle in his eyes
This extremely modest Boulay produces what many consider to be some of the most distinctive and sublime wines in Sancerre. The man himself is as focused and intense as the wines he makes. Despite his modesty, he is proud of his work. Gérard doesn’t just focus on the grape itself, he’s especially focused on the soil it grows in: “We don’t want the grape variety to express itself directly in our wine. We prefer the complexity of terroir over varietal aromas.”

‘It’s nature that makes the wine’
All the vines are harvested by hand – organically farmed since 1990 – with just four men helping him in the vineyards. The youngest vines were planted in 1972 on slopes with Kimmeridgian soil or terre blanche. This allows the terroir of Chavignol to shine through all of Gérard’s wines. In the cellar, all the wines ferment naturally because yeast is never added. The use of sulphur is minimal, with only the Sancerre blanc Chavignol Tradition undergoing a light filtration before bottling. Each of Gérard’s Chavignol terroirs (such as Clos de Beaujeu and La Côte) is aged on the dead yeasts (sur lie) in used oak. He sees himself as a ‘supervisor’ who ensures that nothing goes wrong. Gerard works ‘by feeling’ because he wants to ‘let the wine live’ and therefore does not want to interfere with the natural process: “C’est la nature qui fait le vin.”

A class apart
Gérard Boulay’s wines – especially the Sauvignon Blancs – are characterised by lively purity, clear ripeness and accurate reflection of the soil. This gives the wine striking minerality, structure and wonderful class. His rosé and red wine from Pinot Noir also meet this. Jancis Robinson: “The style of Boulay is a world away from the normal refreshing but forgettable norm. These wines can really be compared to a white Burgundy in terms of satisfaction and complexity.”