Too many years ago to contemplate, a driving holiday in France was the thing to do and I always particularly enjoyed the Loire Valley with its fairy-tale Chateaux, cheese, pies (pithivier) and of course amazing wine regions.
I think the first type of white wine that I was really hooked on was Sancerre from the west side of the upper Loire and after that, its cousin Pouilly-Fumé from the other side of the river.
The Sauvignon Blanc grapes used to produce Pouilly-Fumé are grown on limestone which is something that ought to be detectable in the wine, which typically has a mineral quality to it.
Recently, with Adam’s assistance, we explored a bottle of Domaine Chatelain, Harmonie, 2018 Pouilly-Fumé bought here in Lodi. On average this wine retails for around €18.50 but given the issues referred to in a previous post, we had to pay closer to €30.00. The wine was a Gold Medal winner in the Concours Mondial des Féminalise, Paris in 2019.
The wine had a greeny-gold colour to it, something akin to freshly cut straw, with the scent of grass and apricots , perhaps even a hint of white pepper and something flowery. There was nothing particularly to suggest the mineral notes we’d been expecting, give the terroir in which it had been grown.
It’s along time since I’d drunk any Pouilly-Fumé and I was expecting sharpness and flavours of grapefruit. Instead we experienced more of an unripe peach taste and again something flowery. The acidity was lower than anticipated (medium plus) with medium dryness and of course low tannins.
Overall the wine lacked character. It might conceivably improve in another year or so but I for one won’t be trying this one again in a hurry and especially not at that price.
My Kind of Food 