Domaine Philippe Charmond Puilly-Fuisse ‘La Roche’ 2015
There are as many styles of Pouilly-Fuisse as there are rock faces on the surrounding hills. But what they all have in common is lemon and butter (some even say ‘butterscotch’). Then, depending on altitude, exposition, age of the vines or the winemakers’ methods, you will find a fascinating spectrum of flavors. This ‘La Roche’ keeps it fresh. Great balance between the lemon and the butter, driven by the mineral that gave the vineyard its name. Juicy, floral, light and elegant. Not an ounce of fat.
The village of Vergisson, perched on the flanks of the Roche de Vergisson and with the rock of Solutre as a backdrop, is one of the prettiest villages in the Maconnais. It is also one of the rockiest. Therefore, there are as many styles of Chardonnay here as there are rock faces, expositions and elevations. Philippe Charmond’s uncle was a grape farmer, and in 1987 handed over his 16 acres of vines to Philippe. It was not until 2001 that the domain produced its first estate-bottled wines, and the main goal of the production since then has been to modernize the winery to be better able to control fermentation, storage and bottling. Much of this requires investment. It is the Catch-22 of all small-production domains. But the difference between good and great wine is not only in the physical equipment of the winery. In fact, the most important element separating good and great is attention to detail, perfection. So Philippe Charmond has been working, literally, from the ground up to make great wine. Plowing rather than herbicides. Sexual confusion rather than insecticides. Manual harvest. Whole cluster fermentation. And an important investment in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks.
BURGUNDY 2015 VINTAGE
We have resisted writing the Elden Selections Burgundy 2015 harvest report until now (April 2017), mainly to let the hub-bub and hyperbole settle down, but more importantly to be sure that the claims we are about to make are justified. We’ve seen too many vintages vaunted as ‘the year of the century’, when really the wines simply showed well young. Burgundy 2015 is a truly extraordinary vintage. The reds are rich, ripe, balanced and powerful. And from all over the region they express chiseled, focused terroir. Despite their youthful seductive charm, these are wines to keep, with serious ripe tannins already melted into explosive fruit.
Comparisons have been drawn with the 2005 vintage, though there is more concentration in the 2015s than in the 2005s. Like a caterpillar changing to a butterfly, great vintages often go to sleep in the bottle. And 2005 is just reawakening from several ‘dumb’ years. It’s been worth the wait. The wines have metamorphosed. 2015 might be similar. And if the comparison is apt, investors in 2015 should appreciate the youthful beauty of this great vintage now, but be prepared to be patient.
That said, 2005 was no ‘year of the century’. But 2015 is also being compared to 1990, which arguably was. And I hear that Michel Lafarge, one of Burgundy’s respected elders, says he remembers drinking 1929s, and he draws parallels. The whites are a bit more uneven, and early reports claimed that the vintage lacks acidity. Certainly, these are wines which are riper and more luxuriant than the exquisite purity of 2014 white Burgundy. But there is no risk that well-made wines will be overly ample or flabby. The best wines will have benefited from the barrel. Comparisons are drawn to 1985, one of the great vintages in white.
The heterogeneity in 2015 white Burgundy is due to the tricky growing season, which was mostly hot and dry, but which cooled significantly in September. Was it better to pick early or late? And did the wine deserve more or less barrel aging? These are questions which will be answered producer-by-producer, bottle-by-bottle over the coming years. But what is clear is that they 2015s are concentrated, fresh and structured.
We believe that to understand a vintage, it is important to look at the weather. Because Burgundy is a single-grape wine, the only thing that changes from year to year in a producer’s vineyard is the weather. So we look for patterns and try to analyze what makes a good year, a bad year…and in this case, an excellent year.
The winter of 2014-2015 was uneventful. It was never really cold, but when it was, it was dry. Mostly it was mild, so we had more rain than snow. We would need the replenished water reserves in the long hot summer ahead.
April was warm and dry, and bud-burst took place early. Mornings in May were sunny, afternoons cloudy, and overall cool and dry. The vines began to flower in the last week of the month, so we knew we were looking at a harvest in early to mid-September.
In early July, the mood started to mount towards hopeful. The weather had been steady, dry and cool. But slowly during the month, temperatures began to rise, and in the last week of July hit 30C. The flowering had been successful, so there was a good crop on the vines.
Day after day of warm dry conditions brought drought considerations into play. But no hail for once! August continued in this way. Hot and dry. A little welcome rain later in the month, but just enough to keep the stress levels down. But no storms or hail. And extremely healthy fruit on the vine. No rot, no mildew, no odium. The mood was optimistic, even euphoric.
Harvest ostensibly started the first Monday of September. And days later the weather broke, and a cool period set in for ideal harvest conditions, stabilizing acidity levels. It stayed this way until September 12th when the first serious rain in two months fell in the southern part of the region. Harvest was disrupted for a few days, but the 19th, it was pretty much all over.
POUILLY-FUISSE
MACONNAIS
The rocky outcrops of Solutré and Vergisson, emblematic of these vineyards, remind us 20,000 years ago one of the most fully evolved prehistoric cultures flourished here. The region is a magnificent landscape, and the wine villages are charming tourist destinations. Pouilly and Fuisse are two distinct villages in the production zone, but their wines and those from the villages of Vergisson and Chaintre are sold under the Pouilly-Fuisse appellation.
Produced in the communes of Fuissé, Solutré-Pouilly, Vergisson and Chaintré.
Wines
Pouilly-Fuisse should be elegant and full of charm, with its distinctive minerality to the fore. It ranges in color from pale to golden, and the nose, often dominated by flinty smoke can be nutty, floral, citric, biscuity, grassy and honeyed, making this one of the most varied of the white Burgundies. Terroir plays heavily in the wines from this appellation, and accounts for the enormous number of named vineyards being bottled separately. An experienced taster can distinguish zones and even individual vineyards. Pouilly-Fuisse, well made, is a noble wine, opulent and structured.
Terroirs
Lying on a foundation of fossiliferous limestone identical to those found further north in the Côte-d'Or, the bajocien escarpments of Solutré and Vergisson owe their dramatic profile to the presence of hard fossil corals which have resisted erosion. The vines are planted on the slopes and at the foot of these two hills on clay-limestone soils of jurassic origin mixed with scree from the upper slopes and, in one spot, schist. The hillsides are cut into by little steep-sided streams which give the slopes an easterly or south-easterly exposure. Altitudes are 200 to 300 meters.
Color
White wines only - Chardonnay
Production surface area
1 hectare (ha) = 2,4 acres
757.20 ha
Food
Rich and complex, Pouilly-Fuisse has a characteristic hint of minerality which makes it work with some noble ingredients like crustaceans (king prawns, lobster, crayfish) and foie gras. When acidity and minerality are in balance, it goes well with white meats such as veal or poultry in cream sauce, as well with the goat's cheese that the region is famous for. Its aromatic power means it can also match spicy and perfumed dishes such as couscous, tajines, or sweet-and-sour oriental dishes.
Appellations
On the label, the appellation 'Pouilly-Fuisse' may be followed by the name of a specific vineyard, known as a climat.
The following climats are village wines from a single vineyard, known as a lieu-dit:
A la Chaneau
A la Cotonne
A la Croix Bonne
Au Bois Billon
Au Bourg
Au Bucherat
Au Buchot
Au Chapal
Au Clos
Au Gaulia
Au Gros Bois
Au May
Au Métertière
Au Moule
Au Peloux
Au Sauge
Au Suif
Au Vignerais
Aux Bouthières
Aux Chailloux
Aux Charmes
Aux Combes
Aux Concizes
Aux Coreaux
Aux Grands Champs
Aux Morlays
Aux Murs
Aux Plantés
Aux Prats
Aux Quarts
Aux Vignes Dessus
Barvay
Beauregard
Bois Dayer
Bois de Lacroix
Bois des Fousses
Bois du Molard
Bois Lafaye
Bois Sansonnet
Bois Seguin
Champ Potard
Champ Ruy
Clos de la Maison
Clos Gaillard
Combe Poncet
Derrière la Maison
En Bertillonne
En Bonnard
En Buland
En Buterie
En Carmentrant
En Cenan
En Champ Roux
En Charmont
En Chatenay
En Chauffaille
En Courtesse
En France
En Larzille
En Nanche
En Ouche
En Pomard
En Pragne
En Recepey
En Ronchevat
En Rontenoux
En Rousselaine
En Servy
En Tancul
En Tillier
En Vallée
L'Arse
La Barrière
La Baudotte
La Bergerie
La Brétaude
La Bucharlatte
La Cadole
La Carrière
La Chardette
La Chattière
La Corège
La Côte
La Croix Pardon
La Dépendaine
La Folle
La Frérie
La Gorge au Loup
La Grange Murger
La Grouillère
La Maréchaude
La Mouille
La Petite Bruyère
La Roue
La Ruère
La Teppe Charpy
La Terre Jeanduc
La Toule
La Truche
La Verchère
La Vigne des Verchères
Lamure
Le Bois des Taches
Le Carron
Le Champ Rocher
Le Clos
Le Clos de Monsieur Noly
Le Clos Reyssier
Le Grand Pré
Le Haut de Savy
Le Martelet
Le Moulin
Le Nambret
Le Plan
Le Repostère
Le Routé
Le Sabotier
Le Sang Clos
Les Belouzes
Les Bois Denis
Les Brulés
Les Chardonnets
Les Chataigniers
Les Chevaux
Les Chevrières
Les Combettes
Les Condemines
Les Courtelongs
Les Crays
Les Creuzettes
Les Croux
Les Fourneaux
Les Gerbeaux
Les Grandes Terres
Les Guilloux
Les Insarts
Les Jettes
Les Longues Raies
Les Ménétrières
Les Murgers
Les Perrières
Les Piasses
Les Plessis
Les Prâles
Les Préauds
Les Prés Hauts
Les Prouges
Les Quarts
Les Robées
Les Rontets
Les Rossins
Les Scélés
Les Séries
Les Terres du Perret
Les Travers
Les Verchères
Les Verchères de Savy
Les Vernays
Les Vieilles Plantes
Les Vignes Blanches
Les Vignes des Taches
Long Poil
Maison du Villard
Mont Garcin
Petite Croix
Petites Bruyères
Pierre Lotey
Plan de Bourdon
Pouilly
Pré de Vaux
Pré des Aires
Solutré
Sous le Four
Sur la Roche
Sur la Rochette
Sur les Moulins
Vergisson
ers Agnières
Vers Châne
Vers Cras
Vers Faux
Vers la Croix
Vers la Roche
Vers Pouilly
Vers Saint Léger
Vignes de la Fontaine
Vignes de la Hys
Vignes de la l'Eau
Vignes de la Roche
Vignes Derrière
Vignes des Champs
Vignes du Riat
Vignes Mottin
Vignes sur la Fontaine