Pouilly-Fuissé

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The limestone rocks of Vergisson and Solutré, a prehistoric site, dominate a rolling and rugged landscape where scalloped ridges divide the zone into asymmetric slopes.
• The east-facing slopes are generally moderately steep, while those facing west are markedly steeper, with transverse valleys creating small cirques exposed to the north and south.
• The outcropping substrates are mainly Jurassic limestones and marls, with localised occurrences of rhyolites — acidic volcanic rocks of Palaeozoic age — giving rise to highly stony, acidic soils.
• The most common soils, developed over calcareous and marly-calcareous formations, are thin, stony, and free-draining, while more clay-rich soils have formed at the foot of slopes on colluvial deposits.
• The oceanic climate with southerly influences is moderated by the barrier of the Charollais hills to the west, which provides partial shelter from humid airflows, and by mild air currents arriving from the south via the Rhône corridor.

• Until the eighteenth century the vineyards were planted mainly with Gamay; property deeds of 1820 then attest to Chardonnay as the principal variety, a transition completed in the aftermath of the phylloxera crisis at the beginning of the twentieth century.
• The appellation d'origine contrôlée was officially established by the decree of 11 September 1936, following the dossier submitted by the Union des Producteurs de Pouilly-Fuissé, founded on 13 January 1929.
• The 22 premier cru climats occupy the best-exposed hillsides, often on the reverse slopes of rock outcrops such as Mont Pouilly, the Roche de Solutré, and the Roche de Vergisson, or on calcareous plateaux.

• The wine displays a generally green-gold appearance in its youth, with a dry, refined, and distinguished profile expressing nuances of white flowers and citrus that evolve towards hazelnut, toasted almond, vanilla, or flint.
• The premier cru wines express greater intensity, and may be fruitier, more powerful, or more mineral depending on the origin of the grapes; they are wines for the cellar that require longer ageing to fully express their balance and complexity.

• The oceanic climate, tempered by southerly influences, expresses itself through a softness characteristic of the southern Mâconnais, with the wines affirming a fleshy, fruity typicity on the palate.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Dénominations géographiques complémentaires

• Pouilly-Fuissé complété par une dénomination de climat AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Au Vignerais AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Aux Bouthières AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Aux Chailloux AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Aux Quarts AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru En France AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru En Servy AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru La Frérie AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru La Maréchaude AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Le Clos AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Le Clos de Monsieur Noly AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Le Clos de Solutré AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Le Clos Reyssier AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Les Brulés AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Les Chevrières AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Les Crays AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Les Ménétrières AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Les Perrières AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Les Reisses AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Les Vignes Blanches AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Pouilly AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Sur la Roche AOC (PDO)
• Pouilly-Fuissé premier cru Vers Cras AOC (PDO)

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 7 décembre 2011, JORF 8 décembre 2011
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — BIVB