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About the Wine
From the prized 80 year-old vines of the domaine, this is an incredibly scarce micro-cuvée variant on Les Doyennes, and the product of a single 180-litre clay amphora. As such, the wine particularly stands out from the others in the currently release – where they are tense and angular, this wine possesses a completely different character, the sharper notes filed down, soft-edged and diffused. It’s fascinating to see how this small vessel has taken the wine in such a different direction. An open wine of great purity, with delicate florals and a gentle forward-motion that seems to melt into the palate.
The grapes were harvested towards the end of September for optimum ripeness, then direct-pressed. Usually this wine sees a long ageing in barrel, but for this cuvée a small amount was reserved for the amphora. Here it rested for 18 months before a short move to fibreglass cuve before bottling with no additions in July 2025.
About Thomas Puéchavy
Thomas farms his 3 hectares organically and the vines vary in age from 20 to 80 years old. Sitting directly between the estates of Vouvray royalty, Domaine Gaston Huet and Clos Naudin, Thomas is something of the underdog. Fortunately, they too have been practising organic and biodynamic vineyard work for many years now, so they are good neighbours to have. The soils here differ from the majority of the region in that the limestone dominates over clay, contributing to that tightly-wound coil of acid and crystalline orchard fruit that characterises his wine.
In the cellar the grapes are pressed directly into barrels and given as much time as they need before bottling, with no filtration or additions at any stage. The finished wines span the full spectrum, from sparkling, through fresh and dry to oxidative and demi-sec. We have a couple of wonderful cuvées from the 2020 and 2021 vintages to begin, hopefully with more to follow in the future. They are fascinating expressions of the region that have made a big impression on us - we look forward to sharing them with you too, while they last!