2011 Pouilly Fume

Fermentation – sometimes entirely indigenous, sometimes incorporating cultured yeasts – is usually finished soon enough at Domaine Serge Dagueneau that the first racking takes place just before Christmas, and the material for what would become their 2011 Pouilly-Fume Tradition was far enough along in its assemblage to assess and offer a composite note on the anticipated final results, which will inform several slightly different bottlings in the course of the year. Sweetly floral perfume suggesting gentian and freesia; ripe apricot and mirabelle; along with a hint of nutmeg make for an exceedingly fetching aromatic display, followed by a correspondingly ripely fruited as well as silken palate impression garlanded with inner-mouth florality and laced with bright lime and grapefruit, all of which lead to a satisfyingly long finish in which hints of spice, pungent green herbs, chalk, chewy citrus rind and piquant fruit pit offer counterpoint to the wine’s forward, pliable richness. This will be a delight over the next couple of years. There has been some discussion over the years with importer Peter Weygandt about separating out a second single-vineyard bottling to accompany the Les Pentes, and a tour of this estate’s vineyards accompanied by the tasting of – and extrapolation from – several different interim blends in tank, leaves one in little doubt that the results would be memorably delicious, indeed, no less so than those achieved with any of this estate’s existing ventures into alternative modes of harvest, vinification, and elevage. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800