Domaine du Roc des Boutires Pouilly-Fuissé En Bertilionne 2023
£34.95
The wine
Golden yellow in colour, this wine has a fragrant nose with aromas of citrus, apricot and hints of honeysuckle. The palate is refined with a lovely texture and a marked minerality all kept in balance by a vibrant acidity which carries the complex flavours onto the lingering finish.
The domaine works 4.8 hectares of Chardonnay across Pouilly-Fuisse and the surrounding villages, in the heart of the appellation beneath the Roche de Solutre. En Bertilionne was whole-bunch pressed on arrival at the Moulin-a-Vent winery, the must held at 8C and settled off its sediment, then split for fermentation: half in temperature-controlled stainless steel and half in French oak, which is where the texture comes from without the minerality being buried.
The producer
Domaine du Roc des Boutires
View all Domaine du Roc des Boutires winesDomaine du Roc des Boutires sits in the heart of Pouilly-Fuissé, and takes its name from two landmarks: the excellent Aux Bouthiéres vineyard next door, and the Roche de Solutré, the limestone escarpment that rears over the commune of Solutré-Pouilly. The rock is a piece of extraordinary geology and an emblem of the region; locals call it the Sphinx of the Mâconnais.
The Parinet family, of Château du Moulin-â-Vent in Beaujolais, bought the domaine in 2016 and have injected real energy into it. There are 4.8 hectares of Chardonnay across Pouilly-Fuissé and the surrounding villages, worked as individual parcels rather than blended into a single house style.
The winemaking is consistent and unfussy across the range: hand picking, whole-bunch pressing at the Moulin-â-Vent winery, the must held at 8C and settled off its sediment before fermentation. What changes is the vessel. The Mâcon-Solutré ferments in stainless steel and ages on lees; En Bertilionne is split half and half between steel and French oak; and Aux Chailloux, a premier cru since the 2020 classification that gave Pouilly-Fuissé its first twenty-two climats, ferments entirely in used oak and rests on fine lees in barrel.
