Comte Lafond, Sancerre Blanc

This is a stunning Sancerre. For that matter, it's a stunning wine full stop. Wonderfully textural and engaging, it has wonderfully up-front flavours of citrus and green apple and is possibly the best food-matching Sauvignon Blanc going.

The wines made by the Ladoucette winery have long been revered as some of the finest in the Loire (and therefore France) and in particular the central vineyards of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé, which is their base. Developed in the 18th Century, the extraordinarily beautiful and idiosyncratic Chateau du Nozay is administrative home to the various estates that the family have purchased over the centuries. The two closest to the Chateau are also based there for wine-making purposes too, Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé.

The Comte Lafond Sancerre is named after the founder of the Chateau and estate (the Comte Lafond) and the Pouilly Fumé is named after the entrepreneur descendant of the Comte Lafond, Baron Patrick de Ladoucette. his name is given to the Pouilly Fumé de Ladoucette and their flagship cuvée, Baron de L. These wines are widely considered to be the apogee of Sauvignon Blanc in the world.