In the glass
Aroma: smoke, ripe peach, lemon zest, wet chalk
Palate: preserved lemon, fine salinity, white peach, stony mineral
Cult Sancerre from the steep Monts Damnés slope in Chavignol. Smoky, strict and chiseled, with deep minerality from Kimmeridgian marl over white Portlandian limestone.
What it pairs with
-
Crottin de Chavignol
The wine and the cheese come from the same Chavignol hillside; salinity and lactic cream lock together. -
Plateau royal de fruits de mer
The wine's full-bodied salinity carries oysters, langoustines, whelks and crab in a single sip. -
Turbot with hollandaise
Cotat's textural weight handles rich butter sauce; smoky flint signature lifts the fish. -
Aged Comté (30+ months)
The wine's preserved-lemon depth meets the cheese's hazelnut crystallisation; full body matches aged-cheese intensity.
History
François Cotat took over his father Francis's parcels in Chavignol in the late 1990s, continuing the family tradition of late-harvested, barrel-fermented Sancerre. Monts Damnés is the most chiseled of his three single-vineyard bottlings.
- 1998 — François Cotat begins bottling under his own name from inherited parcels
- 2011 — Wines reclassified from Sancerre to Vin de France in some vintages due to residual sugar from late harvest, since restored to Sancerre
Facts
- Producer
- Domaine François Cotat
- Grapes
- Sauvignon Blanc (100%)
- Classification
- Sancerre AOC
- Oak
- Fermented in old oak barriques; aged on fine lees, no new oak, unfined and unfiltered
- ABV
- 13.5%
- Price
- EUR 80 to 140 at retail
- Drinking window
- 3-25 from vintage
- First vintage
- 1998
Scores
- Vinous 95 (2020 vintage, reviewed 2023)
Frequently asked about Sancerre Les Monts Damnés
What does Cotat Les Monts Damnés taste like?
Smoke, ripe peach, lemon zest and wet chalk on the nose; preserved lemon, fine salinity, white peach and stony mineral on the palate. Full-bodied with high acidity and a long, chiseled finish.
When should I drink Cotat Les Monts Damnés?
Drink between 3 and 25 years from vintage. The wines are intentionally late-harvested and barrel-fermented for ageability; mature bottles develop honey and dried fruit.
Why is Cotat sometimes classified as Vin de France?
Cotat harvests very late for richness, occasionally producing wines with residual sugar above Sancerre's dry threshold. Recent vintages have been re-classified Sancerre after AOC review.
Where is Les Monts Damnés grown?
A 1 hectare south-facing parcel on the Monts Damnés slope in Chavignol, with virtually no topsoil and clay-limestone over white Portlandian limestone.