de Ladoucette Pouilly-Fume 2015

Pale golden-green in color. The nose develops a natural range of subtle floral and earthy green plant aromas such as acacia, ferns, peppermint and white nettles. Notes of stony minerals and lemon give the wine a beautiful structure balanced by a fruity roundness, with a finish marked by hints of citrus fruits.

The largest and most famous Pouilly-Fume vineyards have been in the hands of the Comte Lafond and Ladoucette families since 1787. Pale golden-green colour. Considerable intensity on the nose. It has an exceptional full range of floral, exotic and citrus fruit aromas such as white blossoms, hawthorn, broom and white nettles and grapefruit. These notes are enhanced and strengthened by the mineral note of gunflint (flint stone heated by the sun). The flavour is pleasant and lively, tempered by a fruity roundness with notes of pear, green apples and citrus fruits, which boost the mineral and stony hardness of gunflint. The finish brings to mind a pleasant lemony freshness.

This Pouilly-Fumé is elegant and classic in style sourced from the 165 acres of estate vines. No plot lies more than six minutes from the winery so the grapes are always picked and pressed at optimum quality. Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc, harvested from 25-35 year old vines, destemmed and deleafed. pressed by three gentle presses, designed to give 80% ‘free run juice’ (most presses only allow 40% to run off).

A unique feature of the wines of de Ladoucette is that unlike the majority of wineries in the world they only use free run juice. This juice is squeezed from the grapes by gravity alone, no pressure is needed, just the sheer weight of the grapes. This process avoids any harshness or stalkiness that can come when skins and pips are crushed during normal pressing methods.

A long, cool fermentation follows in stainless steel to preserve freshness and aroma. Keeping the wine in contact with its lees for nine months, combined with stirring the wine each month for a short period, imparts great flavour and body into the wine, and no oak aging is needed at any stage. After blending the wine is stored in glass vats and bottled just prior to shipment to retain all the freshness of the herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc. The result is the essence of the finest quality Pouilly Fumé.