Domaine Pichot ‘Les Larmes de Bacchus’ Vouvray Tries de Grains Noble 1996

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Domaine Pichot

“Less well known than Huet or Clos Naudin, the Pichots merit as much praise.”
Le Classement, La Revue de Vins de France

The Pichot family is one of the oldest in Vouvray with origins as restaurateurs going back to 1739 later followed by the purchase of the superb Coteau de la Biche vineyards in 1770 establishing them as growers to help supply the restaurant. Their vineyard holdings are mostly located all at the top of the village with the largest holding which makes up their classic Coteau de la Biche in the prime Vallee de Nouys which is perfectly sited for making drier styles of wine and faces south-east. The Pichot family also own most of the “premiere coteau” site of Le Marigny located just above the village opposite Clos du Bourg. These are quite simply regarded as being amongst the very best vineyard sites of the appellation.

One of the first domaines of Vouvray to export to the U.S.A. Domaine Pichot are perhaps better known in export markets than at home in France as Christophe spends most of his time ‘hands-on’ in the vineyards and winery and being such a small producer he is very focused for each step of production. Domaine Pichot are very well known for the brilliant quality of the stunning sweet wines, although their dry and demi-sec wines are also superb. Right across the range these are remarkable wines that will age effortlessly for decades (as vintages back to 1950’s very generously shared from the family cellar have demonstrated) and will also provide great satisfaction from a young age.
The recent additions of the single vineyard wines of the dry Clos Cartaud and off-dry Clos Berger are made in small 200-250 case lots in brand new very small stainless steel tanks especially for the Australian market in recognition of our particular passion for the drier spectrum of Vouvray.

A family time-line from the first purchase of vineyards in 1770 to today.

1770: Purchase of the Coteau de la Biche vineyard becoming the property of the family Dattee-Flock (3 hectares of vines and a large cellar).
1893: The vineyard expands under the impulse of René Besnard, son-in-law of Grandma Dattee (1.5 hectares).
1935: Gérard Pichot marries the daughter of René Besnard and wears the vineyard of Coteau de la Biche to 6 hectares of vines.
1957: Jean-Claude and Danielle Pichot buy a house and a vineyard of 10 hectares, it is the birth of Peu de la Moriette.
1984: Christophe Pichot bought a vineyard of 8 hectares of a single standing on a magnificent terroir Le Marigny.
1996: Jean-Claude and Christophe creates a society which groups the three vineyards under the same banner of Domaine Pichot.
1997: Construction of a winery on the family property Coteau de la Biche. 1998: Installation of our stainless steel vat room (1500 hls) and a system thermoregulation.
1999: Purchase of a Bucher pneumatic press.
2009: Expansion of our winery and installation of our group Bucher tangential filtration system as well as a Costral bottling unit (cap, screw caps).
2010: Transformation of our former labeling room into a tasting room for the reception of our customers by Caroline Pichot.
2011: Investment in an automatic disgorging machine of TDD brand. Creation of the website to help you discover the secrets of Domaine Pichot wines.

In the Vineyard

Most vineyards located in premiere coteau and Vallee de Nouys just above the village of Vouvray

Coteau de La Biche
Clos Cartaud
Clos St Mathurin
Clos Berger
Le Marigny

All vineyards are farmed organically with grasses grown between the rows to reduce the uptake of moisture and vigour to the vines. The average age of vines is high with the Clos Cartaud vines around 75 years old. While Vouvray as a whole produces about 40% sparkling wines and 60% still wines at Domaine Pichot more than 85% are still wines made into sec, demi-sec or moelleux and less than 15% being made as sparkling wines. The style of the wines here is among the driest of the appellation for each style with sec typically being from 3-7 gms/litre residual and demi-sec from 13-17 gms/litre with moelleux most often around 60 gms/litre. Harvesting is mostly done by hand and yields are kept low at an average 25 hl/ha.

In the Winery

Vinification in stainless steel tanks at low temperature with a small amount in used oak barrels for the still wines, 10% aged barrels for sec and 20% for demi-sec and more for sweet wines. Wine aged on fine lees for 6 months before bottling using tangential filtration.

Produced only in the best years from 1 hectare of 60+ year old vines in the superbly sited premiere coteau vineyard of Le Marigny located opposite Clos du Bourg just above the village. The family spend months working this vineyard then harvesting by hand to produce between 1 and 3 barrels in the best years. These painfully low yields give a wine with remarkable acidity that masks its 298 g/l residual sugar. This stunning wine will age effortlessly for 50+ years given careful cellaring. Only 800 bottles produced.

A Chenin Blanc Primer

Styles

Just like Riesling, Chenin is capable of producing an incredibly diverse range of wines from fresh dry (sec), to botrytised sweet wines of insane complexity.

Similar to German Riesling’s Trocken, Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese et al., Chenin from the Loire has a classification system related to sugar levels.

• Sec (dry)
• Demi-Sec (off dry) typically 15-25 g/l residual
• Moelleux (slightly sweeter) at approximately 40-50 g/l.
• Moelleux 1er Trie (the first picking of botrytised berries) that produces a wine with residual sugar of about 60-100 g/l and yet also with very high acidity.
• Tries de Grains Noble, botrytis wines with residual sugar of 150g/l to 300 g/l and yet also with very high acidity.

The dry wines tend to be mid-weight building a lovely level of opulence as they ages.

Flavours: Watch for the perfume, pear, citus spice, hints of apricot & jasmine in the sec, these wines build complexity as they age. The sweet wines add an array of aromas and flavours not dissimilar to the great Sauternes, ginger, honey, marmalade, patisserie notes, grilled nuts marzipan and beyond. Again as they age complexity builds.

Balance: Huet’s wines have impeccable balance across each of the styles, marrying natural acid and delicious flavours.

Mouthfeel & Texture: When very young they have a lovely texture which becomes luscious and simply put caresses your tongue as they age. As the levels of residual sugar increases the mouthfeel builds yet across the styles remains light and clean.

It’s just so easy to hoover!

When your tasting, think about the 5 elements below, they’ll make it simple and ensure you cover off the important aspects of good wine. We’ll be exploring these in detail in a series of posts for members only soon!

Tips for Drinking these Wines

🌡Temp: 14°C. We tend to drink whites an edge to cold. Don’t drink them straight out of the fridge! Let them warm up a little. They’ll become much more expressive, generous, and, lucious to drink.

🍷Decanting: You might be surprised, but, wines of this quality and youth will benefit from being thrown in a decanter.  The air will help them open up. If you’re using a Coravin or other wine preserver, pour enough into each glass to be able to try them over the course of several hours. These young whites will open up and be more expressive with a bit of time in the glass.

⏳Time: I love trying good wines stand alone, with food, and, often the next day. It gives them the chance to shine and ensures you don’t miss a good wine through impatience or fail to bring out it’s best by not marrying them to food.

🕯Cellaring: Like all good Chennins, Huet’s can be incredibly long-lived.  In a nutshell, give them 5-10 years and they’ll start to show their potential. Don’t be afraid to go 20 years.

🧀🦐🐟🐓🐖Food Match: The exact match does vary a little according to the wine. The dry and demi-sec wines marry well with white meats, veal, crustaceans, and, fish. The sweeter they become the more suited they are to cheese wine, desserts, foie gras and game!

The Best 2 Options for Preserving your Wine:

1. Grab a Coravin wine preserver.
2. Watch this video, “Stop the Wine-ocide” Kaani 2012 – My Deep Dark Secret, one of my first, about saving open bottles of wine from the drain, sorry about the quality, but, the message is still there.

Where in the world is Domaine Pichot?

The Loire Valley is scattered over 175,000 acres stretching from the Atlantic Ocean across to central France. Cover such a large region it is natural that it’s been broken down into sub-regions that specialise in the growing of specific varieties. Chenin Blanc is largely grown in the middle-Loire in Anjou-Saumur and Touraine within which Vouvray resides as does Domaine Pichot.

The Loire Valley Wine Group produced a quirky little primer for the regions, varieties and styles produced across the Loire Valley.