Winemaker Notes
Clean pale yellow with hints of green and a nice brilliance. Crisp on the nose with ripe fruit and powerful, toasted bread, fresh almonds and hints of butter. Lots of finesse, elegance, white flowers and some mineral on the palate. Very nice, dense and concentrated, this wine is powerful, ripe, crisp, and long on the palate.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Pouilly-Fuissé Le Clos 1er Cru is by far the best cuvée from Château de Fuissé this year, even though it was cropped at a measly 7hL/ha, equivalent to around ten barrels instead of around 50 barrels. It has a lovely bouquet with hazelnut and white tea scents filtering through the subtle tropical fruit. The terroir comes through nicely. The palate is well balanced with a dab of licorice on the entry. Very harmonious and complete, there is a sappy, underlying salinity that gets the saliva flowing on the finish. Excellent.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The source of some of the most sought-after white wines of the Mâconnais, Pouilly-Fuissé is produced exclusively from the Chardonnay grape and tends to be slightly richer in style than wines from its northern neighbor, the Côte de Beaune—mainly due to warmer weather. Wines from Pouilly-Fuissé have some versatility; they can be enjoyed young and can also often improve with a little time in the cellar. Pouilly-Fuissé wines are considered some of the best values for white Burgundy.
Similar to the Côte de Beaune, the soils of Pouilly-Fuissé are mainly limestone and clay. The appellation includes the communes of Fuissé, Solutré (which includes Pouilly), Vergisson and Chaintré. The richest Chardonnay comes from Fuissé and Solutré-Pouilly, whereas the Chardonnay at higher elevation, from Vergisson, expresses more minerality and finesse. Pairing Pouilly-Fuissé with lobster or King Crab will bring great joy not only to your palate—but also your pocketbook!