2010 Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Longeays, Dom. de la Soufrandière, Bret Bros
White | Ready, but will keep | Code: 9692 | 2010 | France > Burgundy > The Maconnais > Pouilly Vinzelles | Chardonnay | Medium-Full Bodied, Dry | 13.5 % alcohol
-
Eligible for storage in our Bonded Warehouses, terms and conditions apply. See Further Details
Scores and Reviews
|
Burghound 90-93/100 |
The Grape
Chardonnay is the "Big Daddy" of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world. It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
The Region
Pouilly-Vinzelles is a small appellation in the Mâconnais region of Burgundy, situated next to the famous Pouilly-Fuissé appellation, and the Pouilly-Loché area, which is often regarded as a sub-region of Pouilly-Vinzelles itself.
As with Pouilly-Loché, Pouilly-Vinzelles shares the name with the famous town of Pouilly, and as such the two appellations benefit from the association with the established name of Pouilly-Fuissé. Pouilly-Vinzelles concerns itself entirely with the production of white wine from Chardonnay, resulting in a very typical but high-quality Burgundian white, with notes of fruit and slight minerality, much like the whites of its immediate neighbours.
Pouilly-Vinzelles, Les Longeays is a beautiful vineyard next door to Les Quarts. It makes dense concentrated wine, with an extra dimension in 2010: grace, freshness and underlying power.
Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buying Director
The three Bret Brothers are now presiding over an expanded cellar at their home base, Domaine de la Soufrandière, though this development is intended to give them better working facilities rather than because they want to grow the business dramatically. It is a particularly small crop this year as a result of some hail damage as well as the poor flowering experienced elsewhere. Despite this, the wines are exactly what the Bret’s like to produce – pure and crystal clear, with intensity more than weight.