Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Pascal Jolivet Pouilly Fumé is a vibrant yellow color with a dry focused nose of citrus and mineral. On the palate the wine is medium in body, incredibly precise and layered with clean, driving acidity.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Subtle aromas of hot stones, flint and dried mangoes following through to a full body, with layers of fruit. A tangy and bright finish. A typically bright and vivid Loire sauvignon.
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Wine Spectator
A pure, chiseled style, with tarragon and verbena notes streaking through, while lemon curd and white peach flavors hold the core. Flint and gooseberry accents chime in on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
After spring frost and a very dry summer, yields were dramatically low in the appellation and Jolivet's 2017 Pouilly-Fumé reflects this in its beautifully clear, healthy and bright fruit aromas intertwined with refreshing citrus fruit notes on the nose. Round and juicy on the palate, this is a concentrated and firmly structured Pouilly with remarkably refreshing acidity and elegance. The wine is linear and has a stimulatingly salty finish. It is lovely today and will be for at least another 5-8 years. Tasted in January 2021.
The house of Pascal Jolivet is one of the youngest and most dynamic in the Loire Valley. Founded in 1985, this specialist in the wines of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume has very quickly gained a leading position with the Michelin-starred restaurants of France. Pascal owns an estate of more than 40 acres evenly divided between two appellations.
He believes strongly in letting nature make the wine as much as possible, and seeks to tame the more aggressive qualities of the Sauvignon Blanc variety. His wines show the benefits of stainless steel vatting with naturally occurring yeasts. They are fermented cool rather than cold and are left of their lees for four to six months, gaining subtle but complex aromas as a result.
The Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume both originate from the Jolivet estate. The Sancerre is a composite of the three soil types in the district: calcareous clay, limestone, and flint. It is more flowery and subtle than many of its type. Pouilly-Fume, from the opposite bank of the Loire, comes from a large diversity of glacial soils and is normally more austere and minerally.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
Famous in the Loire and throughout the world for perfumed Sauvignon blanc, Pouilly-Fume sits due east, across the Loire River from Sancerre. Limestone soils with clay and flint (also called silex) contribute to the wines' freshness and often times smoky, flinty, mineral character.