Much of Sancerre delivers exactly what people have come to expect: crisp, refreshing wine for easy early drinking. Labaille’s Monts Damnés pushes the wine into another register. The southern exposure brings a sun-kissed breadth to the fruit, while the Kimmerigian limestone provides savory grip and texture. The wine is absolutely singing in its energetic youth, but with even just a few years in the cellar, this wine will gain stunning layers of depth and complexity.

Brianne Day went from juggling waitressing and various wine jobs in 2013 to becoming a tour-de-force on the Oregon wine scene in just a few years. Her 2021 Eola Springs Chardonnay is everything we love about her wines: it's vibrant with the shimmering acidity that trademarks Oregon Chardonnay, and layered thanks to Brianne's meticulously nerdy approach to the sites she chooses.

Based in the tiny village of Congy in the Vallée du Petit Morin, the same village that is home to the iconic Ulysse Collin, Girost represents a multi-generation family estate that has been farming here for nearly a century. Like many growers in this quiet stretch just west of the famed Côte des Blancs, the family sold fruit to the big houses for decades before focusing on bottling their own wine. Today, Sébastien farms a small patchwork of mature parcels around Congy, working thoughtfully in the vines and crafting wines that let his chalky, clay-limestone soils really speak.