Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez Carrette’s Pouilly-Fuissé.
I have been dreaming about Nathalie Carrette’s white Burgundies since first tasting them several years ago in Vergisson, and I am honored to announce that after much hand-wringing, we have finally received our first allocation at France+Western!
When the top sites of Pouilly-Fuissé were upgraded to Premier Cru status with the 2020 vintage, La Revue du Vin de France gave their top 96/100 score to only two bottlings of the appellation: the Pouilly-Fuissé “Premiers Jus des Premiers Crus” from Guffens-Heynen (with an average US retail price of $350/bottle), and the Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru “Les Crays” from DOMAINE CARRETTE (retailing for around $60/bottle).
“Located in a well-ventilated area, this climat is the highest in the appellation (between 320 and 400 meters altitude)...the terroir consists of very stony, deep, non-compacted, sloping brown limestone soils over blue clay. Great purity right from the opening, the magic of Les Crays works instantly. The profile is refreshed by fine notes of orgeat and rock chips, all curved by a very appropriate woodiness. The whole is harmonious and precise, magnified by this vintage.” - Christian Martray, La Revue du Vin de France
Nathalie and her husband Hervé are blessed with 16 hectares spread across Pouilly-Fuissé, Saint-Véran, Mâcon Milly-Lamartine, and Mâcon Solutré, all of which are now certified organic with the 2023 vintage. Hervé is constantly at work in their vines, strictly devoted to grass and pest management, and following a rigorous green harvest to control yields for optimal concentration and balance. In the cellar, Nathalie works only with native, wild yeast fermentations for vinification parcellaire, and ages their whites in a combination of Demi-muids, larger oval foudres, and barriques from Radoux, Rousseau, and Berthomieu for up to 24 months for her Premier Crus, with a maximum of only 10% new oak for the top Premier Cru sites.
Below the old vines in Premier Cru “Les Crays” with Nathalie’s father-in-law, Henri.
Together their combination of immaculate work in the vines, harvesting at peak ripeness, and delicate, deft oak regimen have caught the eye of the Revue du Vins de France, Bettane & Desseauve, Hachette, and Decanter, achieving top marks alongside the much pricier names of the Mâconnais.
2023 Mâcon Solutre-Pouilly
2022 Pouilly-Fuissé
2022 Pouilly-Fuissé “Aux Charmes” (previously “En Ronchevat”)
2022 Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru "Les Crays”
Nathalie and Hervé’s “Les Crays” bottling comes from a steep 0.89ha parcel of 35-year-old vines just below the famous rock of Vergisson, and from their 2022 vintage yielded just 363 cases. Nathalie offered 20 of them to France+Western on our opening allocation (along with a few magnums).
Along with our opening order of her 2022 Burgundies, Nathalie also had a few cases of her 2021 vintage Pouilly-Fuissé “En Ronchevat” stashed away (the parcel that has now legally been renamed “Aux Charmes”) which we graciously accepted.
2021 Pouilly-Fuissé “En Ronchevat”
