2021 Jean-Max Roger La Grange Dimiere Sancerre Rose

Sancerre makes about 2,600 hectares of wine a year. Roughly 80 percent of it is white and 20 percent is red. Rosé accounts for less than one percent. So, they're hard to come by; anyone making one is usually deadly serious about it (like Jean-Max!)

The Roger family has farmed in Bué since the sixteenth century, and their name appears in local records by the early 1600s. Jean-Max studied enology in Beaune, came home in 1971, and took over four hectares from his parents. He built that into 26 hectares of Sancerre plus holdings in Menetou-Salon, including significant pieces of Clos du Chêne Marchand and Le Grand Chemarin, two of the best vineyards in the appellation. His sons Étienne and Thibault joined him in 2004.

La Grange Dîmière is named after one of the old tithe barns in Bué, where farmers once delivered the church's share of the harvest. Roger's ancestors made wine in that building, and it is still the oldest part of the winery.

The Pinot Noir comes from Vinon, Bué, and Sancerre, planted on flint, Kimmeridgian marl, and the chalky stones locals call Caillottes. Vines run 25 to 45 years old, farmed on organic principles. Fermentation is long and runs on wild yeast, then the wine sits on heavy lees to pick up the mineral edge. This is a serious-food-wine style rosé.