The main body of our estate is on the mid-slopes below the town of Sancerre close to the small village of Ménétréol, where records suggest monks settled and planted vines in the 12th century.
Starting with a small plot of a less than hectare in 1945, Marcel & Huguette Gitton discovered and pioneered single-site, terroir-focused Sancerres. Marcel Gitton, the grandfather, was passionate about vineyards and separating each cuvée according to different soils, graftings and exposure. This was possible thanks to the diversity of soils available around our village.
ménétréol-sous-SANCERRE
Our soils are fragmented around the hill of « L’Orme aux Loups » (Wolve’s Elm, 324m) which used to host flint quarries before the 1970s. In fact, Huguette’s father used to work there and load the boats on the canal with what we call blocks of « silex », as his wife was running her bistrot by the canal.
Half of our vineyards are vinified on this Silex stone which is difficult to work, but rewarding when it comes to the taste of the wines made there. We like to think of it as a particularity as it represents less than 10% of the total AOC Sancerre vines. Our vine stocks’ average 50 years old, and our vinification methods add extra complexity to our wine range. We vinify ourselves every year up to 12 Sancerre whites, 3 rosés and 4 reds.
Key figures
200 000 Bottles / year – 80 % Sauvignon 20% Pinot Noir
3 AOCs : 27 ha Sancerre – 5 ha Pouilly Fumé – 2.5 ha Côteaux du Giennois