Who makes it
The defining Gitton move happened in the cellar: every vineyard parcel has been vinified separately since 1945. A Sancerre from silex, a Sancerre from limestone and a Pouilly-Fumé parcel therefore remain separate wines instead of being folded into one broad house blend.
The domaine produces all its wines on site and has marketed them in more than 30 countries for four decades. Pascal, Denise and Chanel Gitton now continue the family operation. The range carries the scale of a 33-hectare estate, yet its named bottles still begin with individual parcels, old vines and specific cellar vessels.
Where it grows
Ménetreol-sous-Sancerre places the domaine at the heart of the Loire's Sauvignon Blanc country. Sancerre supplies the broadest part of the range, while Pouilly-Fumé adds a separate appellation and Clos Joanne D'Orion, a 1.33-hectare parcel planted in 1950. Coteaux du Giennois extends the estate beyond the Sancerre hills.
The labels also mark a shift from appellation to parcel. Les Belles Dames and Les Herses Blanc are Sancerre wines from flint, Les Montachins is a limestone Sancerre, and Clos Joanne D'Orion remains a named Pouilly-Fumé parcel. The grape stays recognisable, while the address changes the bottle's place in the range.
How it is made
The cellar
Separate parcel vinification keeps the differences between vineyard lots intact from harvest through élevage. Flint Sauvignon Blanc is fermented in 600-litre barrels, while chalk-grown Sauvignon Blanc is fermented in stainless steel. Les Belles Dames then spends six months between stainless steel and 600-litre French oak, while Les Montachins stays six months in stainless steel without oak contact.
Les Herses Blanc comes from old vines planted in 1961, 1969, 1972 and 1981. It spends ten months in a 30-hectolitre Slavonian oak oval vat, a larger vessel than the barrels used for Les Belles Dames. Les Herses Rouge takes a different path: three weeks of whole-bunch maceration, eight months in vat and one year in bottle before release.
What they make
Sauvignon Blanc anchors the white range across Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Coteaux du Giennois. Les Belles Dames is a 100% Sauvignon Blanc Sancerre from pure silex, with tropical citrus, pear skin, kiwi, lime and crushed rock alongside intensity and concentration. Les Montachins is another 100% Sauvignon Blanc, planted on Portlandian limestone and raised without oak, giving the range a direct stainless-steel counterpart to the flint wines.
Les Herses Blanc is an old-vine single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc from silex, with intensity and depth and ten months in a Slavonian oak oval vat. Clos Joanne D'Orion brings a 1.33-hectare Pouilly-Fumé parcel planted in 1950 into the lineup. The red and rosé wines move to Pinot Noir: Les Romains is a Sancerre Rosé from vines planted in 1965 with six additional months in bottle, while Les Herses Rouge uses whole-bunch maceration, vat ageing and extended bottle ageing.
Wines to try
First bottle
Start with Les Belles Dames Sancerre Blanc. It is 100% Sauvignon Blanc from a roughly five-hectare parcel of pure silex, aged for six months in stainless steel and 600-litre French oak. Tropical citrus, pear skin, kiwi and lime give the wine its fruit register; crushed rock, intensity and concentration carry it through the middle and finish.