To keep the character of the wine and support it in its evolution, keeping it cool and in a consistent temperature are the two most important things to consider. If the wine is too cold or too hot, the molecules in the wine can start to slow down, break down or even change. Storing wine at the right temperature keeps all those unfavourable chemical interactions from happening. Average annual production over the last five years is around 7 million liters (1.85 million US gallons).There’s nothing like the disheartening realisation when opening up your favourite bottle of Puligny-Montrachet (or any white wine for that matter) to find that it hasn’t been stored at the right temperature. ![]() Planting density must be at least 6000 vines per hectare. Vineyard yields are set from 6500 to 7500 liters per hectare. This compares with around 30ha (74 acres) of Chasselas. There are now around 1325 hectares (3275 acres) of Pouilly-Fumé vines in 2005. ![]() Plantings of Sauvignon Blanc vines in the area rose at the cost of the Chasselas. The 1970s and 1980s saw Pouilly-Fumé's popularity increase greatly, along with the total vineyard area. Thus Sauvignon came to be Pouilly's most widely planted grape variety. When the solution to the phylloxera epidemic was identified – grafting European vines onto American rootstocks – Sauvignon Blanc proved to be more responsive to grafting than these red varieties. Until phylloxera wiped out vast tracts of vines in the 1860s, the vineyards around Pouilly-sur-Loire grew mostly Gamay and Pinot Noir. This is a mix of silica, limestone, and flinty clay. Local winemaking legend Didier Dagueneau even named one of his top bottlings 'Silex'. Both have excellent heat-retention and light-reflecting properties and help the vines to achieve optimal ripeness in the cool growing season here. Limestone and flint are the most important components. The key soil types are divided into limestone, marlstone, clays of various compositions and the all-important flint. ![]() It has been intricately studied and mapped. In true French style, the local terroir is given the credit for Pouilly-Fumé's very particular aroma and flavor. Most modern Pouilly-Fumé will improve in bottle for between three and six years. The resulting wines were aromatically and texturally more complex than the standard unoaked wines, and also better-suited for mid-term cellaring. The 1980s saw a number of producers introducing an element of oak into their Pouilly-Fumé wines, either via barrel fermentation or barrel maturation, or both. They have a vibrant streak of green fruit aromas (lime, green apple, gooseberry) supported by mineral aromas of wet wool, slate and smoky flint. It is a key point of differentiation for Pouilly-Fumé's winemakers, and a source of great local pride.Īromatically speaking, Pouilly-Fumé wines are some of France's most vivacious, although they are typically less pungent than the notoriously grassy styles of Sauvignon Blanc produced in New Zealand (particularly Marlborough). This distinctive smell is often referred to as pierre à fusil, which means 'flint' (literally 'rifle stone'). It denotes the struck gunflint aroma that characterizes the local Sauvignon Blanc wines. These villages are technically in Burgundy, although Pouilly-Fumé remains a quintessentially 'Loire Valley' wine. These run from Mesves-sur-Loire in the south to Saint-Martin-sur-Nohain, a few miles to the north. The official Pouilly-Fumé viticultural area encompasses seven parishes on the right bank of the Loire. It is sometimes understandably confused with Pouilly-Fuissé (a Chardonnay-based wine from southern Burgundy). 'Fume' is short for Blanc Fumé, which is the local nickname for Sauvignon Blanc. 'Pouilly' is short for Pouilly-sur-Loire, the village the wines come from. The Pouilly-Fumé name is composed of two parts. ![]() The village's Chasselas-based wines gained the Pouilly-sur-Loire title at the same time. The Pouilly-Fumé appellation was created in 1937 originally as Blanc Fumé de Pouilly.
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