Rudolph Tissier took the reins of the family business some 20 years ago and takes most of the responsibility for viticulture, while younger brother Florent works the cellar. The thing that hits you most about these boys is their desire to express the unique 'silex' terroir of Sancerre. Yields of between 50 and 60 hl per hectare are an important factor but the Tissiers are at pains to express that excessively low yields can diffuse or destroy the terroir expression. Across a range of tank and barrel samples you get the clear impression that this is a hands-on, no-smoke-and-mirrors affair. The blend is put together from nine or 10 different wines, vinified differently depending on the terroir. Clay, soil, and silex are all given different treatments, such as time on lees and type of yeast. “It's impossible to put terroir into a wine but it's very easy to knock it out,” as Florent Tissier puts it.
