Domaine des Ardoisières 'Silice' Blanc 2024

In Short

A mineral Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre with white flowers, citrus, and gunflint, built on crisp acidity and saline finish.

Quick Facts

• Region: Sancerre, Loire Valley
• Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
• Style: Crisp white
• Best For: Aperitifs, shellfish, light lunches

Why We Stock It

Domaine des Ardoisières makes wines that express Sancerre's stony terroir without overripe fruit or oak, and this Silice is a fine example at a fair price. The minerality here is not a tasting-note flourish but something you can taste: it cuts through the wine and gives it shape. It is the kind of bottle that works equally well solo or alongside food.

Tasting Profile

This is a mineral-driven Sauvignon Blanc with real tension between fruit and stone.

• Aroma: White flowers, citrus zest, gunflint
• Palate: Green apple, grapefruit, herbaceous edge
• Structure & Finish: Crisp acidity, saline minerality, clean lingering finish

Winemaking

Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre's clay-limestone vineyards, fermented and aged to retain the wine's natural minerality and acidity rather than soften it with oak.

Serving & Pairing

Serve chilled between 48 and 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Oysters and raw shellfish are the classic pairing, but the wine is equally good with goat cheese, green salads with sharp vinaigrette, or simply on its own. The salinity and acidity cut through brine and citric dishes without fatigue.

The Estate

Domaine des Ardoisières is a grower estate in Sancerre focused on expressing the specific clay and limestone soils of individual vineyard sites. The domaine works without unnecessary intervention to let the wine's mineral character come through.

Terroir

Sancerre sits on the Loire's left bank in the Centre-Val de Loire region, where clay-limestone soils called caillottes give the wines their distinctive flinty character. Cool nights and warm days create the balance between ripeness and acidity that defines the appellation, and that tension is what makes the wine compelling in the glass.