(DJ) A French Sauvignon Blanc We Should Be Drinking More Often

[AKR]

A French Sauvignon Blanc We Should Be Drinking More Often
2021-07-29 13:32:52.693 GMT

By Lettie Teague

(Dow Jones) -- MADE FROM THE same grape in almost the same place, Sancerre and
Pouilly-Fumé have followed very different trajectories. Both wines are made
from Sauvignon Blanc and grown in the upper Loire Valley of France, but while
Sancerre is a star, Pouilly-Fumé has largely faded from view, at least
stateside. Most wine shops I visited didn't have a single Fumé on their
shelves.

Fifty years ago, Pouilly-Fumé was so famous and sought-after that American
wine trailblazer Robert Mondavi co-opted part of its name for his own
(California) Sauvignon Blanc. The Robert Mondavi Fumé Blanc was wildly
successful and inspired numerous domestic wineries to follow suit. But by the
1980s French Fumé began to languish as Sancerre started to soar.

The soils of Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre are fairly similar: Both are based on
limestone and clay, and the wines grown in the two places are often said to
taste fairly similar, too. As Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson noted in the
8th edition of "The World Atlas of Wine," "It would be a brave taster who
maintained he or she could always tell a Pouilly-Fumé from a Sancerre. The
best of each are on the same level...."

Since the two wines are admittedly so much alike, I wondered: Why did one take
the world by storm while the other pretty much fell off the map? And are the
Pouilly-Fumés findable in U.S. wine stores today actually worth the search?

I posed the first question to winemaker Karine Lauverjat, who makes very good
Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé as well as a few other wines with her husband,
Christian Lauverjat, in their Sancerre-based winery. "There was a huge media
promotion on Sancerre, and now it's a 'do not miss' place to visit with its
hillside plateau, historic town center and beautiful views," she wrote in an
email. "You could even say that Sancerre has become the most popular town of
France."

Having visited the town of Sancerre -- as well as Saint-Andelain and
Pouilly-sur-Loire within the appellation of Pouilly-Fumé -- I can attest that
Sancerre is a postcard-perfect hilltop town while the other two are mere
modest villages. And the Sancerre appellation is more than twice the size of
Pouilly-Fumé in terms of vineyard acreage.

In addition to white Sancerre made from Sauvignon Blanc there are rosé and red
Sancerres made from Pinot Noir. There is simply much more Sancerre to choose
from. And many Pouilly-Fumé producers also produce Sancerre.

Pouilly-Fumé producer Loïc Caïlbourdin, of Domaine Cailbourdin, allowed that
the two wines might be confused. "It's the same grape variety and the same
soils," he wrote in an email. "We can find two types of wines in Pouilly-Fumé
and Sancerre. One with typical aromas to Sauvignon (more in Sancerre) and one
with aromas from terroirs." ("Fumé," French for "smoked," refers to the wine's
trademark smoky note.) Mr. Caïlbourdin cast a bit of shade on Sancerre: "The
average level of quality is surely higher in Pouilly-Fumé [and this wine]
remains more reasonable on prices than Sancerre, which has raised its rates a
lot without it being justified for many."

I've had my share of mediocre Sancerres, often by the glass at restaurants
where the markup was exponentially high. Josh Nadel, beverage director of the
New York-based NoHo Hospitality Group, once told me restaurants could charge
just about anything for Sancerre, a wine he called "bulletproof."

Does the fact that Sancerre is home to several world-famous names (Cotat,
Bourgeois, Vacheron, Mellot) while Pouilly-Fumé has only one (Dagueneau) have
an effect on wine buyers? Mr. Nadel didn't think so. In his view, Pouilly-Fumé
had its moment on the world stage in a very different era. "There was far less
competition in quality, importing, availability and information sharing,"
wrote Mr. Nadel. He offered a long list of alternatives that appear on wine
lists today, including Sancerre, of course, as well as other French
Sauvignons, Chablis, Chenin Blanc and Spanish Albariño.

Complicating matters further, Pouilly-Fumé is often confused with
Pouilly-Fuissé, a white Burgundy made from Chardonnay. Sometimes even
retailers make this mistake. For instance, when the Wine Library, a large New
Jersey wine shop, featured the 2020 Domaine Raimbault-Pineau Pouilly-Fumé (
$29) on its website recently, the wine was described as a Chardonnay from
France. (When I pointed out the error, a Wine Library staffer promptly fixed
it.)

I did manage to track down nine actual Pouilly-Fumés, seven of which I thought
were quite good. Two were made by Pascal Jolivet, one of the best-known names
in Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre: the 2019 Pascal Jolivet Les Franches
Pouilly-Fumé ( $30) and the 2018 Pascal Jolivet Blanc-Fumé ( $25).

The 2019 Régis Minet Vieilles Vignes Pouilly Fumé ( $25) was even better --
crisp, mineral, precise -- an outstanding expression of Sauvignon Blanc chosen
specifically for the American market according to Anthony Lynch, son of the
famed importer Kermit Lynch. The elegant 2019 Domaine A. Cailbourdin Les Cris
Pouilly-Fumé ( $23), was intensely mineral with a pleasingly saline finish,
while the 2019 Francis Blanchet Cuvee Silice Pouilly Fumé ( $20) was a bit
lighter in body with crisp citrus and slightly smoky notes.

The light- to medium-bodied 2019 Karine Lauverjat Pouilly-Fumé ( $20) was an
excellent buy, also crisp with citrus notes. At the opposite end of the scale,
the smoky 2018 de Ladoucette Pouilly-Fumé ( $42) was big, rich and rather
oaky.

It wasn't easy to track down most of these wines, but the search was certainly
worthwhile. As one who appreciates a good Sauvignon Blanc as well as an
occasional trip back in time, I was glad to find some Pouilly-Fumé producers
still making good wine.

OENOFILE / Pouilly-Fumés Worth Remembering

1. 2019 Régis Minet Vieilles Vignes Pouilly Fumé $25

This wine is a custom blend chosen for the American market by Berkeley,
Calif.-based importer Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant. It's beautifully balanced,
very crisp and precise -- almost Chablis-like.

2. 2019 Domaine A. Cailbourdin Les Cris Pouilly-Fumé $23

Produced from 20- to 35-year-old vines on limestone soils by one of the
region's top producers, this is a terrifically zesty, mineral,
stainless-steel-fermented Sauvignon with a pleasingly saline note on the
finish.

3. 2018 de Ladoucette Pouilly-Fumé $42

The de Ladoucette name is one of the most famous in Pouilly-Fumé, though this
producer's wines are a bit harder to find today than in decades past. The
style is big and rich with aromas that tip into the tropical.

4. 2019 Karine Lauverjat Pouilly-Fumé $20

This is a pretty straightforward Sauvignon Blanc: light- to medium-bodied with
a pleasing citrus note. This wine may lack complexity, but it possesses great
drinkability. A Fumé for a hot summer night.

5. 2019 Francis Blanchet Cuvee Silice Pouilly Fumé $20

For those longing for the good old days of Pouilly-Fumé, the old-fashioned
typeface of this label is a trip back in time. The wine is fully modern,
however: crisp, fairly light-bodied, with notes of citrus and flint.

[Racer Chris]

I used to drink Pouilly-Fumé and Fumé Blanc 30+ years ago.
Lately I've become interested in finding Sauvignon Blancs I like once more.
WRT the article,
I found the Regis Minet Vielles Vignes, which looks quite interesting, locally for $31 and a trip to the big city.

[johnz]

I for one have always preferred Pouilly Fume to Sancerre. Most of the Sancerre's I've had seem a bit "spritzy" to me -- not Fume'.

--Gary Rust

[Blanquito]

I drink so little Pouilly Fume, but I do cellar and love a good amount of Sancerre (but prices have gone a little bonkers, like in so much of the wine world).