Domaine Carette Pouilly-Fuisse 2010

Domaine Carrette Is located in the village of Vergisson, at the foot of the famous rock of Solutré, which many consider the heart of Pouilly-Fuissé. Their 40+ parcels are spread over fourteen hectares, eight of which are in Pouilly-Fuisse and three of which are in the neighboring St. Veran. In 1980, Henri Carrette, a farmer-sharecropper, managed to buy several hectares of vines in Vergisson. His son, Jean-Michel, built up the winery to its present size, but in the early days, almost all the wine was sold in bulk. Estate bottling began seriously in 2008 and is now run by Jean-Michel’s son, Hervé, and his oenologist wife, Nathalie, a native of Alsace. Herve works largely in the vineyards and the cellar, while Nathalie follows the development of the wines, having studied science and winemaking at the University of Montpellier. The Carrettes work very carefully in the vineyard and prefer to protect their plants with organic products (they became certified in 2023) and use traditional plowing to improve soil circulation. The grapes are hand-harvested. In the cellar, a cold soak and soft pressing helps bring forth clear fruit aromas. Spontaneous fermentation takes place with native yeasts, and the wines go through malolactic fermentation. The wines then age on their lees and are bottled in spring or summer, depending on the cuvée. These are lovely wines of great purity and typicity, reflective of their clay-limestone soils and of their individual sites.