Pouilly-Fuissé is one of the most historic communes in Burgundy. The wines made from vines growing in the sloping, amphitheater-like hills here have been among the most acclaimed Chardonnays, and white wines generally, for centuries. Yet they remain exceptional values, likely because those vines are in the heart of the Mâcon instead of the Côte d’Or. All the better for us! This is how we can offer a single-vineyard wine from a stellar vintage, made by one of the region’s best estates (and the first to go organic 70 years ago) for a mere pittance compared with the prices of those neighbors to the north. Finesse, balance, spice, texture, and minerality in droves all for a sub-$50 price tag? That’s right, and that’s the rub. Now you know what to do!
Just as Burgundy in general, and the southern subregion of the Mâcon specifically, was rocketing into post-war industrialization of the vineyards and cellars, Jeannine and Pierre Guillot went the opposite direction, becoming the first fully organic growers in the region in 1954. Today, their grandsons Emmanuel and Patrice carry on the family tradition of meticulous farming, natural winemaking, and bottling single-vineyard wines that perfectly capture the beauty and distinction of their terroir. If the Guillot clan had hailed from the Côte de Beaune their wines would be highly allocated and well into the triple digits, but instead they landed in the “humble” Mâcon, a blessing for all of us who love white Burgundy without the crazy price tag.
We’ve seen a renewed interest in the Mâcon, Burgundy’s southern stretch, over the past decade or so. It’s no wonder why, with prices in the Côte d’Or rising ever higher, but the truth is that true Burgundy aficionados have long known that the Mâcon is capable of greatness. That reputation rests largely on the strength of Pouilly-Fuissé, an appellation whose limestone-laden clay soils closely resemble those from more famous villages to the north. In the Mâcon’s relatively flat and gentle landscape, Fuissé stands out for its drama: densely planted Chardonnay vines encircling a massive, 1,600-foot-high limestone outcropping known as Roche de Solutré. And it’s where the Mâcon’s most dramatic wines are made, too, it’s here that the region’s open-knit fruit is buttressed by crackling freshness and minerality. So singular are Pouilly-Fuissé’s vineyards that, as of 2020, 22 of the village’s climats have earned “Premier Cru” status.
The Guillot brothers don’t own any vineyards in Pouilly, but for some years now they’ve had access to a small, but excellent climat that is named “La Métertière.” The vineyard is farmed organically (of course) and the Guillot team does the harvesting. The grapes, like all of their top wines, are fermented and aged in French oak barrels, mostly neutral, using only native yeasts and without additions of any kind except for small amounts of SO2 when needed. After 12 months of aging with the lees in barrel, the wines are racked back into steel tanks for six months to settle naturally and then bottled without fining or filtration.
Guillot-Broux’s Pouilly-Fuissé “La Métertière” is in the same league as most Premier Cru White Burgundy, and should be treated as such. After a brief 20-30 minute decant, serve cool, not cold, in large Burgundy stems. The pale, straw gold hue shows the wines youthfulness, but the aromatics are fully realized are begin to really pop after a little oxygen is allowed to interact in the glass: Fresh cut apples, Meyer lemon, acacia flowers, honeysuckle, raw cream, and tiny hints of wood spice all float above a medium body, lushly textured wine that finishes with wet rock minerality and flecks of gray sea salt. After a few sips you’ll be thinking of Meursault, and realizing that you have a tremendous value on your hands. All the more reason to stock up before our tiny allotment of 2021s is gone.
