Domaine Pichot Brut 2014
-
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This sparkling wine shows the potential richness that can come from the combination of Chenin Blanc and bubbles. It's a nutty, spicy and ripe wine. At the same time, its acidity and tense structure give a cool crisp feel.
Jean-Claude Pichot’s family is one of the oldest in Vouvray, with origins as viticulturists and restaurateurs dating back to 1739. The family cellars are located in the charming village of Vouvray, in caverns hewn from the rolling hills which were once quarried to provide stone to construct the grand châteaux of the Loire. Domaine Pichot was established in 1996, uniting the three historic vineyards of the family: Coteau de la Biche, Le Peu de la Moriette, and Le Marigny. The 60 acres of vineyards are all in Vouvray, six miles east of Tours on the right bank of the Loire River. The vines are thirty years old on average and are all of the Chenin Blanc variety. In an era when most Vouvray wines are bottled by ne´gotiants, the stylish wines of the Pichot family continue to show the perfumed elegance of Chenin Blanc and are authentic expressions of a particular terrain, climate, cellar, and the winemaker’s art.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Stretching east along the steep banks of the Loire River, Touraine is a major part of the Middle Loire. Soil variations of clay, sand, tuffeau and gravel throughout its subregions support both white and red varieties. Chinon and Bourgueil remain the source of Loire’s finest Cabernet Franc; various styles of the most outstanding Chenin blanc come from Vouvray and Montlouis.