Domaine Clos des Rocs - Pouilly-Loche Les Mūres 2022

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Producer	Domaine Clos des Rocs
Country	France
Region	Burgundy
Subregion	Pouilly-Loche
Varietal	Chardonnay
Vintage	2022
Sku	12017338
Size	750ml

  

The limestone-rich red soils of Les Mûres, below which the mother rock lurks at a mere 20 centimeters distance, produce one of this appellation’s finest wines—destined for near-term premier cru status in Pouilly-Loché’s upcoming reconfiguration. Olivier owns a hectare’s worth of 70-year-old Chardonnay here, from which he produces a wine spellbinding in its saline mineral intensity. This cuvée spends 12 months in 500-liter barrels between two and eight years of age, and will develop gorgeously in bottle for well over a decade.

You may be wondering why you haven’t previously heard about Pouilly-Loché, for which you can hardly be blamed. The entire appellation covers a mere 32 hectares, of which nearly 30% belongs to Clos des Rocs. To our knowledge, no estate-bottled wine from the appellation has appeared in the U.S. in the recent past, despite the fact that the AOC dates back to 1940 and enjoys a strong reputation locally in the Maconnais.

As this was our first serious exposure to a full range of cuvees from the appellation, we were eager to understand what, if any, differences in terroir would be evident in the glass. The soils are characterized by iron-rich clay and limestone, often with up to 30cm of dense limestone pebble dispersion at the surface. The resulting wines are leaner than their counterparts in neighboring Pouilly-Fuisse and carry a hint of earth, yet they are quite rich in mineral, with enough fruit density to properly support the robust structural elements. 

The estate counts 8.6 hectares of vines across seven parcels, principally in Pouilly-Loché, with plots in Macon-Loché and Pouilly-Fuissé rounding out the holdings. No chemical products are used in the vineyard and Olivier is committed to organic processes from start to finish, though he has chosen not to pursue certification. All grapes are manually harvested before a long pressing, followed by alcoholic fermentation using only indigenous yeasts.