Domaine Cailbourdin Pouilly-Fume Les Cris (375ML half-bottle) 2009
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Robert
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Les "Cris" is the local term used to describe a parcel of vines planted in caillotes or pebbly limestone soil.
Extraordinarily elegant, when young this wine possesses aromas of fruits (pineapple, citrus, peach) and mineral tones. After 1 or 2 years the aromas refine and become more and more marked by the minerality of the terroir.
On the palate, Les Cris is powerful, well-structured and very rich. Excellent balance is achieved due to the perfect ripeness of the grapes at harvest.
Les Cris Pouilly-Fumé is at its best served with fish, especially fish in sauce (goatfish, pickerel, pike, etc.). Its also a fine accompaniment to an assortment of cured meats, and of course a natural companion with fine goat cheese.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Cailbourdin 2009 Pouilly-Fume Les Cris – from classic, pebbly Kimmeridgian soil, as its name implies – leads with smoke tinged gooseberry, sage, and pennyroyal; delivers cut, brightness, and a strong sense of chalk dust on the palate; and finishes with an invigorating, refreshing injection of salt and fresh lime. This displays an almost laser-like focus and cut you’d least expect to encounter in 2009 and lays down mineral traces that all of the saliva and lip licking it induces won’t remove. In fact, I can’t recall having tasted another wine this fine, nor such an outstanding value from Cailbourdin.
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Praised for its stately Renaissance-era chateaux, the picturesque Loire valley produces pleasant wines of just about every style. Just south of Paris, the appellation lies along the river of the same name and stretches from the Atlantic coast to the center of France.
The Loire can be divided into three main growing areas, from west to east: the Lower Loire, Middle Loire, and Upper/Central Loire. The Pay Nantais region of the Lower Loire—farthest west and closest to the Atlantic—has a maritime climate and focuses on the Melon de Bourgogne variety, which makes refreshing, crisp, aromatic whites.
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The Upper Loire, with a warm, continental climate, is Sauvignon Blanc country, home to the world-renowned appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Pinot Noir and Gamay produce bright, easy-drinking red wines here.