Merlin-Cherrier· Bue, Sancerre

Bué is the village I send people to when they think they already know Sancerre. Thierry Merlin-Cherrier farms fourteen hectares here, fourth generation on the family's vines, and he works the three classic soils of the appellation across a single small domaine, Kimmeridgian marl, flint, and clay-limestone, climbing from two hundred to three hundred metres.

What I admire is the restraint. No new oak, only a light filtration, the wines left on their lees to gather texture. This is Sauvignon Blanc with nothing to hide behind, no toast, no overt fruit, just the soil reading through. The flint parcels of Les Chasseignes give the sharpest, most saline expression of all.

It is honest, unshowy Sancerre at a price that still makes sense, which is rarer every year. I keep it on the list as the benchmark by which I judge the others.