We were extremely delighted and grateful to receive those two messages from Canada this morning. Thank you Joël, Katherine and Howard, for these great appreciations of our Pouilly Fume Old Vines, which pleased us so much and even more than notes given by famous wine-masters critics. What could be better for us than pleasing a customer ? Please receive our best memories of our meeting in Pouilly, two years ago already !

We don’t know it enough but the great Sauvignons Blancs of the soils located in Pouilly-Fumé have an easy decade-years-keeping in cellar improving itself constantly over the time.

After the harvest, our Sauvignon Blancs are quickly brought to the cellar in the harvest skip. During a fortnight, in Pouilly, we can see many tractors which cross themselves in the vines or wine-growers villages, often, for the pleasure of the youngest which observe this unusual activity with bright eyes of desire…

When the grapes arrive in the cellar, they are transfered in one of our 3 Bücher pneumatic presses. Built on 3 floors, among two are buried, our cellar allows us to work by gravity.

Once pressed, the juice, future Pouilly-Fume 2015, goes down naturally, to the lower floor without pumping so as to avoid any damage. The juice takes some rest in a stainless steel tank for several hours before the next stage : the racking…

On Wednesday 9th September, the Wine-Growers Association of the AOC Pouilly-Fume gave the green light to start the harvest of our future pouilly fumé.

On Thursday 10th and under a wonderful sun, Pierre, Jean-Michel, Thierry, Aymeric, Jérôme, Amaury, Alexis, and Delphine, in short, almost all the team working at the estate, (except for Mélanie who presented our Sancerre and Pouilly Fume to our Parisian Michelin-starred-restaurants customers) as well as Michelle and Alexandra, were present for the beginning of the  harvest for picking by hand the first Sauvignon Blanc grapes , which will later become our Pouilly-Fumé 2015.

Every bunch of grape is cut by a shear and put in a basket, directly emptied in a skip, then transfered to the wine press, settled in the cellar.

We use 3 Bücher pneumatic presses, equipped with a membrane which is slowly swelled in order to press our delicate and fragile Sauvignon blanc grapes.

Pictures : Alexandra Porras

After two months of a warm summer and 50 mm of rain which finally fell yesterday, here are the current pictures of our grapes of Sauvignon Blanc which annouce a promising 2015 vintage , if we succeed in escaping hail storms, as those who dramatically affected Chablis’ and Irancy’s vineyard yesterday.

The beginning of the harvest gets closer every day, but we would like to wait for the optimal maturity for our futurs Pouilly-Fume.

Photos : Alexandra Porras

In their last edition released in September, this is our:

• Pouilly Fumé “Les Pierres de Pierre” 2014,
• Pouilly Fumé “Tradition Cullus” 2012 and
• Pouilly Fumé “Villa Paulus” 2014,

which have been selected by the Guide Bettane+Desseauve 2016.

Our Pouilly Fumé “Les Angelots” 2014 has been also commended.

Read their tasting notes & rates below :

Today, release of  the  Hachette Wines Guide 2016.

This year, it’s our Pouilly Fume « Villa Paulus » 2013 which is awarded by a star in the Guide Hachette des vins 2016, with the following tasting notes :

Our Sauvignon Blanc grows day by day and this thanks to the favorable weather that we have these last days.

In one month, the Savignon Blanc grows from flower to little grapes, which will become our futurs pouilly fume

Pictures : Alexandra Porras

After they visited Vinexpo in Bordeaux, we received on friday afternoon in Pouilly sur Loire our Japanese importers, who distribute pouilly fume Masson-Blondelet in Japan.

Program: Visit of the vineyard, of the cellar and wine tasting at the estate of our Pouilly fume.

After a first stop at the Clos du Château Paladi, we went to Les Criots to see the limestone of Villiers, which our pouilly fume “Les Angelots” comes from.

Then, we made a stopover in Les Bascoins, Kingdom of the Kimmeridgian marls, soil of our pouilly-fume “Villa Paulus”.

We stoped at Les Chailloux on Silex slopes of Saint Andelain, where our futurs pouilly fume “Les Pierres de Pierre” gently grow. Finally, we finished our vine tour in Les Plateaux and Les Coques Vieilles, and took the remains of the Roman way in Pouilly.

Pictures: Alexandra Porras

On Friday afternoon, after they visited Didier Dagueneau Estate in Saint Andelain, we had the pleasure to receive the team of one of our English importers : H2Vin.

Program : Visit of our vines of pouilly fume with a stop at the Clos du Château Paladi, followed by a wine tasting of our pouilly fume at the home !

Pierre and Mélanie Masson explained their philosophy about working the soils and the vines and remained attentive to answer to all questions.

Tight timing : after this nice meeting, H2Vin team had to leave us, to go to Sancerre, where Jean-Dominique & Jean-Laurent Vacheron were waiting for them…

Pictures : Alexandra Porras

Pictures : Michael Sager-Wilde

This is time for tying-up the Sauvignon Blanc vines of our futur pouilly fume.

Right now, our permanent employees team constituted by : Thierry, Aymeric, Amaury, Jérôme, and Stevens work of the maintenance of the vine which grows quickly.

We are currently on a period of tying-up.

In our estate, this work is entirely manual. Tying-up consists in raising wires which hold Sauvignon Blanc shoots of each side of the rows in order that the vine does not leave in all directions.

Today our team is in « Les Fouinelles » (this is one plot of our vineyard) in the Bouchot in Pouilly sur Loire

Everything is all right, the vine is beautiful, the land is dry, the pressure of the disease (mildew) is low and nevertheless it is a real race against the clock in which we are engaged. Because storms are announced at the end of the week, which could damage our vines and so our future pouilly fume !

That’s why Thierry, Aymeric, Amaury, Jérôme and Stevens work tirelessly to finish the tying-up in time in order that the vine is protected at the best for all breakages, which could be made by storms or violent winds…

Next… Tying-down…

Pictures : Alexandra Porras in the vines of Domaine Masson-Blondelet.