Domaine du Bouchot - Pouilly-Fumé "Caillotes" 2022 (750ml)
Price: $56.99
| Producer | Domaine du Bouchot |
| Country | France |
| Region | Loire Valley |
| Varietal | Sauvignon Blanc |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Sku | 206721 |
| Size | 750ml |
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Domaine du Bouchot Description
There was a time when one was taught that the easiest way to tell the difference between Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé was that the wines on the east bank of the Loire had an unmistakable gun-flint aroma. I’m uncertain if this old adage is still trotted out, but I was skeptical the first time I heard it as I compared wines from the two appellations side-by-side. In the thirty-odd years since, I’ve learned that both terroir and winemaking can leave an impression on a wine, and I wonder if gun-flint was, more often than not, due to abundant yields and the unjudicious use of SO2. So, apart from the wines of a certain iconic estate that feels more superlative than typical and the equally atypical naturalistas that have dabbled in the terroirs of Pouilly, I’ve kept my reservations about Pouilly to myself and enjoyed terroir-driven Sauvignon Blanc from elsewhere.
At one point, Pouilly was the more commercially successful mid-Loire Sauvignon Blanc, as the railroad made transport to Paris and beyond far easier than for Sancerre. As odd as it may sound, the short distance between Sancerre and the railroad line that ran along the Loire’s eastern bank was just enough of an impediment. Over time, increasing demand for Pouilly-Fumé required the expansion of vineyards and yields, but the acreage of great terroirs in Pouilly is far smaller than in Sancerre. By the time the A77 was constructed, Pouilly had a defined style and market. The inwardly focused and conservative winemakers in Pouilly, many of whom also grew various other crops, were not prepared for competition across the river. While Sancerre innovated and top producers explored terroir and vineyard-specific wines, Pouilly carried on being Pouilly. Being native to the appellation but having experienced making Sauvignon Blanc abroad, Antoine has the passion of someone born again and the sort of maverick attitude that makes him stand out among his peers.
Domaine du Bouchot was founded in 1985 by Rachel and Pascal Kerbiquet. Starting with two hectares of vines planted on Kimmeridgian marl by 1995, they expanded their holdings with two additional hectares of Sauvignon Blanc on Portlandian limestone while converting all their vineyards to organic farming. By 2008, they worked all their vines biodynamically and utilized indigenous yeasts for spontaneous fermentations. When Antoine Gouffier returned home from abroad, he soon took over the day-to-day management of Domaine du Bouchot, purchased the estate in 2019, and achieved organic and biodynamic certification in 2020. Under Antoine, the estate spans 10 hectares of vines planted to Sauvignon Blanc with a little Chasselas in the village of Saint-Andelain.
South and east of the hamlet of Le Bouchot, the soil changes from Kimmeridgian marl to a thin layer of fine clay over fractured Portlandian gravel and bedrock. Apart from a few scattered hilltops along the A77 to Mesves-sur-Loire, this is the southern edge of Savignon Blanc in Pouilly-Fumé. Caillottes comes from 1.68 hectares of vines in the lieux-dits of Le Pappillon, Les Petits Pappillon, Les Chantalouettes & Vaurigny.
Vinous: 93 Points
The 2022 Caillottes has real tension despite the ripe vintage. This is clean and pure. There's an orchard fruit flavor with lees-derived pastry notes. Excellent concentration and intensity join substance and structure, perhaps an effect of the low yields due to the dry vintage.
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