WORDS FROM THE CRITICS
Producer Commentary by The Wine Advocate:
“Working in the grand cru of Aÿ and throughout the Vallée de la Marne and the Montagne de Reims, Fabrice Pouillon produces fine, fresh, deep and persistent terroir-driven wines from 6.5 hectares, which he farms with great care and according to biodynamic principles. He employs organic composts, pest treatments, herbal teas, preparations such as 500 and 501, cover crops and so on. The grapes are pressed in an ancient wooden pneumatic press, and the juice is fermented in enameled iron tanks before the cuvées are fermented in stainless steel and older oak barrels (demi-muids and barriques), where everything undergoes full malolactic fermention. The additions of sulfur are little, no more than 30 to 35 milligrams per liter. I did not taste the entire range, but some highlights include the single-vineyard crus Les Valons from Aÿ and Les Blanchiens from Mareuil, both from the 2011 vintage. The Solera and the 2009 Chemin du Bois Méthode Fabrice Pouillon are unusual but exciting Champagnes.
Producer Profile – Peter Liem on The Champagne Guide:
“The Pouillon estate was founded in 1947 by Roger and Bernadette Pouillon, with the help of Bernadette’s uncle, the renowned oenologist Louis Baulant. At this time, most of Pouillon’s vines were in contract with the négoce, but they were able to vinify a small portion of wine from a parcel in Mutigny. Their son James began assisting them at the estate in 1964, and his wife Josette the following year—while the estate had grown by this point, it still comprised just one hectare of vineyards, spread between Mutigny, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Tauxières. James was instrumental in expanding and modernizing the estate, and by 1987 it covered five hectares of vines, including two hectares of chardonnay in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, owned by his wife’s family.
Today, the estate is in the hands of James’s son Fabrice, who joined the estate in 1998, after finishing studies in business, oenology and viticulture. Fabrice took over the estate full-time in 2004, together with his wife Elodie, and in addition to their vines in the Grande Vallée and Côte des Blancs, they farmed nine hectares in the region of Ecueil in the Petite Montagne, obtained through Elodie’s family.
Fabrice and Elodie parted ways in 2014, and Elodie has taken her vineyard holdings to her own estate, Desbordes-Amiaud. In addition, the parcels in Le Mesnil that belonged to Fabrice’s grandmother have been taken over by another member of the family since 2007. This leaves the Pouillon estate with 6.5 hectares of vines today: 3.5 hectares are in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, half a hectare is in Aÿ, and another half-hectare in Mutigny, Avenay and Tauxières, with the remaining two hectares split between Festigny and Epernay.
Fabrice Pouillon has invested heavily in viticulture since arriving at the estate, and today his vineyard work is virtually organic, although he isn’t interested in pursuing official certification. All parcels are plowed, and cover crops are grown where appropriate; all fertilizers and composts are organic, as are treatments against pests. In addition, Pouillon employs various biodynamic practices such as 500 and 501 preparations and herbal tisanes, which he has been using since 2003.
The grapes are pressed using a traditional, 4,000-kilogram vertical press, and most parcels are vinified separately, to maintain a maximum diversity of terroir expression. Fermentation can be carried out in barriques, foudres, or tanks (both stainless steel and enameled steel), although Pouillon has recently been experimenting with 400-liter barrels, particularly for the wines from Aÿ: “Aÿ is a terroir that’s quite puissant,” he says, “and sometimes it can get a little heavy in smaller barriques. Larger barrels can bring more finesse.” A portion of the harvest is fermented with indigenous yeasts, notably those wines that are vinified in barrel, and all wines go through malolactic. Reserve wines can be stored in either barriques or foudres, and one cuvée contains reserve wines stored in a perpetual cuvée that was started in the early 1990s.”
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