The vineyard and its wine
Our vineyard, a little less than 5 ha among the most beautiful and eldest parcels of land of the appellation, we grow, as craftsmen, Chardonnay vineyards. We are committed to a demanding environmental approach, respecting the natural equilibriums of the land, presently certified as ‘Haute Valeur Environnementale’ and, in the very near future, we will become fully “bio”.
We take great care to maintain the soil in perfect condition for the vine to root deeply and we make a number of different cuvees. The resulting wines have a harmonious balance of fruit and acidity which, combined with a rich mineral content, produce elegant wines, all of which are raised in oak casks.
The Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru
of the vineyard
I. “Premier Cru”
The “newborn “ of our Pouilly family: the « Premier Cru Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly».
After ten years of work under the control of many experts, during the harvest of 2020, the INAO (The National Institute for Appellations of Origin) awarded the Premier Cru label to certain plots of the 5 villages that produce Pouilly-Fuissé.
Well located in the heart of the appellation, a good half of our plots of Pouilly have received the precious label of recognition. And it is not only the quality of the soils, exposure, underground water networks that are recognized but also the quality of the viticultural work and treatments which are now necessarily pushed towards “more organic”.
Our small estate is officially entitled to two Premier Cru appellations in Pouilly Fuissé: the one of “Pouilly”, from the « Clos de Pouilly » parcels, and the one of “Aux Bouthières”, a plot located a few dozen meters from the first.
It is in the spring of 2022, after eighteen good months of maturation (including more than a year in French oak barrels), that the first bottles of this Premier Cru Pouilly were available to our customers. Its arrival on the tables, wonderfully applauded by good sales, was also the occasion to create a label and a “counter-label” for this Premier Cru.
This success exceeds all our forecasts, to the point of foreseeing its rarity at the beginning of 2023, barely 10 months after its bottling. A kind of record for us!
And as the quantity of our 2021 harvest was low, we have chosen not to raise any: the 2022 Premier Cru has been sold from winter 2023 only and is already totally sold! The 2023 is promising, will be of quality, powerful like its elder of 2020, and is now ready for you!
The Pouilly-Fuissé
of the vineyard
II The Pouilly-Fuissé ” Tradition “:
This is the one we have been producing for decades now: it benefits from the upward thrust of the Premier Cru. The plots of land are close or even adjacent. the winegrower and his team, the equipment and methods of cultivation, the care and the cellars, vats and barrels are the same as those of the Premier Cru. It is therefore the extraordinary engine that is driving new and rapid progress in all the appellations of our terroir: a more traditional natural culture, an ever more respectful oenological follow-up: in short, more of what others call “organic”. With the air draught towards the quality of the Premier Cru, the plots of these traditional Pouilly-Fuissé are less common and also more in demand. If they are aged in barrels for less than a year, they can be more seductive for palates looking for more finesse.
III Our last vintages :
Vintage 2020: beautiful spring: everyone was actively working in the vineyard while in the city people were “confined”. The rows are separated by more than 1 meter and the air is well ventilated! Dry summer but a nice rain,10 days before the harvest, saved the year. It was the return to the traditional harvest with students, staying at the domain, mixed with some local harvesters. Nice atmosphere! The musts were full and powerful; maturation and aging in barrels went well. Wine for long ageing.
Vintage 2021: Late frosts, terrible hail, and a very wet summer: Result: Less than 15% of the usual quotas and quantities of the harvest but thanks to the concentration, no major defects, fortunately.
Well monitored and matured, the 2021 wine was good, to be drunk now, rather young, but its ageing will be more limited. The low quantity has created a shortage of wine in 2023; the harvest was done in September, therefore without students, but with local harvesters still housed at the estate.
Vintage 2022: frost narrowly avoided in April, good rainfall in June which allowed us to withstand several episodes of heavy heat wave. The vines held on but their berries, sweet as can be, gave less juice than expected. Harvesting was in early August, again with hard-working students. Fermentations were finished in the fall and the prospects are more than encouraging in terms of quality. The whole range of our Mâcon and Pouilly Tradition is available since mid 2023 and the Premier Cru since the following autumn. Patience has been required for a great year: the reward is now there! It is be a wine which can be kept.
Vintage 2023: equilibrate year ; in July a quick hail passage has impacted some of our plots, but in a very limited way. Pretty harvesting end of August onwards. It allows a good work in our oak barrels (fermentation) and a bottling in the middle of 2024 : in July the Pouilly-Fuissé tradition and in August the « Premier Cru ». This 2023 vintage is of the same quality of the fantastic 2020 one : minerality, « rondeur », long in the palate, with a fine and pleasant delicate taste of spices and citrus fruit. It should be long ageing.
Vintage 2024: no frost in april and a rather damp year (requesting lot of wineyards treatments ; hail in July impacting very inequally our plots. Only Solutré and Pouilly villages were touched : their output is up to 50% of usual and authorised quotas. Its quality seems to follow nice tracks : Good fermentations performed before winter time. If everything continues correctly our bottles will be available for you from 2025 summer onwards.