Domaine du Vieux Puits En Châtenay 2005 Tasting Notes

Pouilly-Fuissé En Châtenay 2004

Our exclusive Pouilly-Fuissé En Châtenay this year comes from the 2004 vintage, which after the exceptionally hot weather of 2003, returned for the most part to ‘normal’.  However, the life of a winemaker seldom runs smooth and those who remember last autumn’s newsletter would have seen a picture of Thierry’s vines after the tornado that hit Vergisson on July 20th last year.  Some of the Chardonnay vines that he uses for his other cuvées of Pouilly-Fuissé were completely stripped of fruit and leaves and yet some only a hundred metres away were untouched.  We are fortunate that our little patch of En Châtenay is well protected by the rock of Vergisson and suffered only minor damage.  The result is a crop reduced by about 10% - but of very good quality.  

After the heatwave of 2003 which produced in the wines atypical (but delicious) tropical fruit flavours and low acidity, the 2004 vintage is very much back to the ‘classic’ style of white burgundy - rich and honeyed but at the same time refreshingly citrussy with just a hint of cloves courtesy of a judicious amount of oak-ageing.  Thierry aims to produce a balanced style, which is why only a third of the wine is matured in oak (some French and some American barrels) - the rest being matured in stainless steel cuves to enhance the citrus-fruit freshness in the final blend.  This is a mouth-watering wine with complexity and length; delicious now, it will also repay keeping for a year or two.  Lightly chilled (not too cold - a couple of hours in the fridge is enough) this is a delightful apéritif; to enhance foie gras, or with creamy sauces on grilled fish or white meats, look no further.