Cousins Pascal and Francois Cotat are the low-key legends of Sancerre, their names whispered with reverence among the wine-savvy crowd. Like their neighbor Boulay, they work with the Kimmeridgian limestone soils of Chavignol—but the Cotat cousins play by their own rules. Their Sancerres aren’t your typical crisp and lean whites. Instead, these wines are lush, deeply concentrated, and demand a good five years or more to fully come into their own. And when they do, they’re here for the long haul. Sure, there’s the expected zing of acidity and a whisper of herbs, but Cotat wines are more about layers of ripe fruit and a structure that feels almost sculpted. Think opulence, think power—these aren’t your garden-variety Sancerres. The first sip is a revelation, an eye-opener. And that Kimmeridgian minerality? The Cotats pack it in like no one else, delivering a profile that’s both intensely stony and subtly evocative of oyster shells and even shrimp tails. Between the cousins, there’s a quiet rivalry in style. Pascal’s wines, from older vines, are the bolder siblings—muscular and intense. Francois, on the other hand, offers a more refined, elegant take. But in a blind tasting, the lines blur, and you’d be hard-pressed to tell one from the other. It’s all part of the Cotat magic.