Tales from the Wine Trail
Tasting Notes - Vins Auvigue, Charney-les-Maçon - July 2008
On to the Southern Burgundy, where we stayed (for the second year) in the lovely Chateau des Poccards, a pocket Tuscan chateau in the little bled of Huringy, north of Maçon. From here we visited Jean-Pierre and Michel Auvigue, at Le Moulin du Pont, in Charney-les-Maçon on July 2.
The tasting was almost entirely devoted to 2007 Chardonnays and demonstrated the high quality of this somewhat difficult vintage in the hands of two excellent winemakers. A secondary but important issue -- born out by several other winemakers during our trip -- was the shortage of wine bottles in Europe. Apparently there have been merger/aquisitions and the consequence of these is that there are effectively only two manufacturers left and they have happily closed several plants - creating a shortage -- and raised prices between 5 and 10 %).
Maçon-Solutré 'Le Moulin du Pont' 07 - (stainless steel) light, bright fresh and fruity, lovely citrus structure, lean on the palate, good length
Maçon-Solutré Cuvée Boisée 07 - nose of fruit and mineral, stone fruits and calcaire on palate, (leaner than 06), very clean, very good length.
Maçon-Fuisée 07 - agrum on the nose, rich on palate with very good balance, very good length
Maçon-Solutré Naturelle 07 - brioche on nose, very clean and fresh on palate, very good length** (in stock. TO)
Saint-Veran 'Le Moulin du Pont' 07 - clean nose, follows with excellent balance of fruit and mineral,
Citrus finish, very good length.
Saint-Veran Fut Chênes 07 - great fruit with hint of oak remaining, rich with excellent balance and structure in the mouth, very good length** (silver medal: really lovely stuff, well-priced -- hard to sell because no one recognizes the AOC)
Pouilly-Fuisée 'La Frairie' 07 - very clean nose, bright structure on palate, bright finish with very good length.
Pouilly-Fuisée 'Les Chailloux' 07 - very fine discrete nose, rich and balanced on palate, sophisticated, very good length.
Pouilly-Fuisée 'Les Crays' 07 - similar profile but drier and leaner, more mineral and excellent for fish, very good length.
Pouilly-Fuisée Vieilles Vignes 07 - very rich nose of flowers and fruit, follows onto the palate, excellent finish.
Pouilly-Fuisée Vieilles Vignes 06 - huge nose, big fruit in mouth, very good length (2 gold medals)
Pouilly-Fuisée Hors Classe 'Réserve Colbert' 07 - rating in Gilbert-Gaillard 98/100 - rich vanilla and fruits on nose, very balanced and surprisingly light on palate, excellent finish, very elegant + fine ****.