Pascal Cotat 2025
The release of a new vintage from Pascal Cotat is always something to be excited about as the wines are arguably some of the Loire valley’s finest Sancerre produced today. Today’s offers of Les Monts Damnes and La Grande Cote are the two cuvees that define the Cotat style - incredible concentration, chiseled minerality, with an ability to age that puts them in rare company for Sauvignon Blanc.
Much of what makes Cotat so distinctive comes from a remarkably traditional way of working. The steep vineyards of Chavignol are worked by hand, the fruit is traditionally allowed more time to ripen, fermentations happen naturally in old demi-muids, and the wines are raised in older neutral wood which allows for more oxygen giving the wine a more expansive richness. It’s an approach that has given Cotat its unmistakable combination of tension, texture and longevity.
The 2025 vintage marks the beginning of a new chapter. Pascal’s longtime vineyard manager, Benoît Fleuriet, and Benoît’s son Aymeric are beginning to take on more of the domaine, with Pascal still very much involved. Aymeric has spent years working alongside him, and 2025 is his first independent vintage under the Pascal Cotat label. For now, the story is really one of continuity—the same vineyards, methods and character that have defined Cotat for decades.
As for the wines, they’re why the domaine has the reputation it does. Young Cotat has that combination of searing acidity, chalky minerality and concentration that I love about Sancerre. Give the wines some time and they become something else entirely. The tension relaxes, the texture deepens, and smoky, savory and citrus notes begin to emerge around that mineral core. That pull between how good they are young and knowing what they can become is part of what makes Cotat so hard to resist.
Les Monts Damnés and La Grande Côte both have that depth and energy, but they come from two very different slopes and evolve in their own way. Having both side by side is really the best way to understand what Cotat does so well.
The more chiseled and energetic of the two, with bright citrus, pear and a smoky mineral edge. There’s plenty of concentration, but Les Monts Damnés is really about its tension—crisp, precise and tightly wound, with a long, chalky finish. There’s a real sense of drive through the wine, and that structure should only become more expressive with time. This is the more linear and mineral side of Cotat.
The broader and more generous expression, with ripe citrus and yellow fruit, more texture through the middle and a deep chalky mineral core. There’s richness here, but plenty of acidity underneath, giving La Grande Côte a great balance of depth, freshness and length. It feels more expansive across the palate than Les Monts Damnés, with the fruit and texture carrying through the finish. Still unmistakably mineral, just with a little more breadth around the edges.
