Domaine Serol Chenin Sur Granite Champtoise 2023

More about Domaine Serol

Recently, we tried the wines of Domaine Sérol and had my mind absolutely blown. Looking back at our tasting notes, words like “wow,” “righteous,” and “absolutely delicious” keep popping up.

Here, in an obscure corner of the Loire Valley, is a grower producing truly world-class Gamay with heartbreakingly gorgeous red fruit, mouth-watering mineral detail, and a vibrant, irrepressible energy. These wines remind me of the all-time greats of Beaujolais that made me fall in love with wine in the first place — think Foillard or old-school Lapierre — but with their own unique, earthy terroir signature and electric, crunchy lift. To be clear, these wines absolutely knocked my socks off, and I can’t wait for you to taste them. Best of all, the prices are extremely fair.

The Sérols farm in the Côte Roannaise, a remote stretch of granite hills near the Loire’s source. Once a bustling 19th-century wine region, it’s now an out of the way enclave with a few passionate vignerons. It’s the kind of place where you’re as likely to see Charolais cows grazing by the river as rows of vines clinging to the slopes. If you squint, you can see the hills of Beaujolais in the distance (Villié-Morgon is about 80 km to the east and Sancerre almost 200 km north), but the Côte Roannaise is certainly off the beaten path for most wine explorers. The main attraction in this bucolic region is the iconic three-Michelin-starred Maison Troisgros, just a 15-minute drive from the Sérol cellar door.

The Sérol family has worked this land since the 17th century, but it was Robert Sérol, starting in the 1960s, who began bottling wines under his own name and helped spearhead the region’s viticultural revival. His efforts culminated in earning AOC status for Côte Roannaise in 1994. Today, his son Stéphane and his wife Carine are in charge, and they have transformed the property into a model of sustainable winegrowing through biodynamic and regenerative techniques.

Their vines sit between 400 and 550 meters on the unique local granite-based Gorrhe soils (similar to what you find on the Côte du Py and in the slopes of Cornas) and feature Gamay Saint-Romain, a local biotype of Gamay only found in the region, known for its thick skins and intense perfume. Farming is certified organic and biodynamic, with high-density plantings (up to 10,000 vines per hectare).

In the cellar, hand-harvested fruit is fermented naturally. A good portion of whole clusters are used and extraction is kept to a minimum. The wines are aged in a combination of cement, large neutral oak barrels, and amphorae. In the glass, they feel at once juicy and immediate yet delicate and nuanced, with layers of spicy red fruit, granite-infused minerality, and lively acidity keeping everything in perfect balance. Sulfur is added only when needed. The wines feel open and alive yet always focused, crisp, and clean.