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Domaine des Aubuisières

Having made a 10am appointment with Bernard Fouquet of Domaine des Aubuisières I found I simply could not locate his offices. After a fruitless search I reversed my appointments for the day and called in on Catherine Champalou; Domaine Champalou is not hard to find. After tasting her wines, I asked her for directions to Domaine des Aubuisières. "Ah...Bernard" was her first comment; she and Bernard, perhaps unsurprisingly as two of the top vignerons of the Vouvray vignoble, were obviously acquainted. "Very good wines." she continued, to which I agreed. Catherine gave some helpful directions, and I was soon being greeted by Bernard Fouquet. His offices are not so hard to find after all - once you know where they are!

Bernard Fouquet runs a 22 ha domaine, which is planted entirely with Chenin Blanc, all of which is entitled to the Vouvray appellation. He has a number of vineyards, all of which are of immense importance to Fouquet; he is a great believer in terroir, and of the individual characteristics of the vineyards. Some are therefore bottled as individual cuvées. They include the following clay and limestone sites:Bernard Fouquet of Domaine des Aubuisieres

And the following sites, which are clay and silex (flint):

Of Fouquet's vineyards, 21 ha are planted with grass between the vines, whereas 1 ha sees mechanical cultivation. He uses biological vineyard treatments and minimal chemicals. The harvest occurs in several tries, the norm for all producers of quality in this vignoble, and goes into pneumatic press. The must is kept under inert gas to avoid oxidation and reduce use of sulphur dioxide. The demi-sec wines, some of the sec cuvées and the sparkling wines all see fermentation in temperature controlled vats, whereas some dry whites and all moelleux cuvées are fermented in oak.

Domaine des AubuisièresI tasted through the range at Domaine des Aubuisières in an atmospheric tasting cellar, hewn from a wall of rock and stuffed with barrels, but hidden behind a very industrial warehouse frontage. This is the real business end of Domaine des Aubuisières, with fermentation vats, crates of bottles, and noisy (they sound a high pitched alarm before they do their business) automated riddling machines. Bernard tolerated my own source of noise - three under the age of seven - very well. "Jouer est normal. Ne pas jouer n'est pas normal", he reassured me. This is a man with a sound philosophy both when it comes to life and wine. I must buy more of his wines; this is made easier, of course, by the fact that his range is of extremely high quality. Fouquet's dry wines include Cuvée de Silex, produced from the three silicious vineyards above, and Le Marigny, which is made from Chenin grown on the clay and limestone vineyards. The demi-sec Les Girardières is sourced from the vineyard of the same name, and so reflects a clay and silex terroir.

The Domaine des Aubuisières range reaches its pinnacle with five moelleux cuvées. A moelleux sourced from the Les Girardières vineyard is the only such cuvée made from a limestone site. Three cuvées reflect clay and silex terroir, these being Le Plan de Jean, Le Bouchet and Le Marigny. At the top of the ladder is Cuvée Alexandre, a wine created with the aid of Demetri Demetriou of Grand Cru Wines Ltd, who at the time was Fouquet's UK importer. The wine was composed of several barrels of wine from Le Plan de Jean, and named in honour of the Demetri's son, Alexandre. Today the blend is a little different, being a blend of wine from Les Girardières and Le Marigny, and as such is the only still wine in Fouquet's portfolio which blends the produce of the limestone and silex vineyard sites. The wine is fermented in barrel and has the potential for long ageing. As a final note, Fouquet also produces some good sparkling Vouvray.

Before I departed Domaine des Aubuisières I mentioned my difficulty finding the domaine, and that I had first called in on Domaine Champalou to taste their wines. "Ah...Catherine" came his reply. "Very good wines". I had déjà vu as once more I found myself in agreement with one of Vouvray's top vignerons. (31/8/04)

Contact details:
Address: Vallée de Nouy, 37210 Vouvray
Telephone: +33 (0) 2 47 52 67 82
Fax: +33 (0) 2 47 52 67 81
Internet: www.vouvrayfouquet.com

Domaine des Aubuisières - Tasting Notes

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2003

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Cuvée Silex 2003: A very pale, limpid hue. Delightful nose that carries me straight back to my tasting in Bernard Fouquet's cave; ripe pears, and also freshly picked mint. Lovely presence on the palate, showing a little fatness in keeping with the ripe vintage. Good mineral character, a little white pepper on a slightly drier finish. Simply lovely style. Drink now or over the next five years. From a Loire Extravaganza tasting. 16.5+/20 (July 2005)

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Cuvée de Silex Sec 2003: An aromatic nose. Good palate, elegant, balanced. Ripe, minerally. It has some concentration and will cellar well. 15.5+/20 (June 2004)

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Le Plan de Jean Moelleux 2003: 100 g/l of residual sugar. Lovely fresh nose. A delicious sweetness on the palate. There is real finesse here. Ripeness too, and with such fine balance this should also cellar well. 16.5+/20 (June 2004)

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Le Marigny Moelleux 2003: 160 g/l of residual sugar. Despite this a very pale wine. So clean and pure on the nose. An impressive, pure, concentrated, focussed palate. Lovely, ripe, cellar-worthy. 17+/20 (June 2004)

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Cuvée Alexandre Moelleux 2003: This already has a deeper, richer hue than I recall from my tasting in 2005. The nose, however, is quite haunting, and again here it already shows some advanced development, although in some respects it still reflects the nose found two years ago. It is still brimming with aromas of tropical fruit, like the melon and pear previously noted, but now there are also rich notes of honey, biscuit and caramel. This all seems very deep and luscious, but also complex and rather evolved, although there were subtle notes of caramel on the endpalate when I last tasted it, and as a nuance this is a very attractive characteristic. On the palate it has freshness, although the acidity is rather low, and how this comes across is in part very dependent on serving temperature. It has a very forward, open and evocative style, rather ripe, rich, creamy and rounded, with low acidity. But there is liveliness too, and some vigour. But overall it has a full, broad nature, and is full of delicious tropical and candied fruit. It is very fine, although I am still uncertain as to how this will age. For label images and more see my Wine of the Week write-up. 19/20 (May 2007)

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Cuvée Alexandre Moelleux 2003: Just a little deeper than the Cuvée Silex, but not much. A pleasing, mineral-laden nose, showing some herb-tinged tangerine skin, melon and pear. And what a palate; creamy yet balanced on entry, showing great concentration and also moderate weight, building through the midpalate. And then an expanse of flavour, touched with joyful nuances of caramel (reminiscent of Baumard's 2001 Quarts de Chaume) and ripe melon fruit, which slowly fades along an elegant finish. Super length. This is stunning. Will go for years, maybe decades. An elevated score. From a Loire Extravaganza tasting. 19+/20 (July 2005)

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Cuvée Alexandre Moelleux 2003: A little more colour here. Ripe, full nose. Superb palate - still very youthful, but a balanced concentration which will age well over the next ten years. 18+/20 (June 2004)

2002

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Le Marigny Sec 2002: Another aromatic nose redolent of ripe, freshly cut pear. Again balanced and elegant palate. There is greater complexity here. Fans out on the endpalate to reveal real interest. Lovely. Again, will cellar well. 16+/20 (June 2004)

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Les Girardieres Demi-Sec 2002: The only demi-sec cuvée produced from the 2002 vintage. Ripe nose. Appropriate texture on the palate. It has delicacy and balance. Very approachable. Will improve short-term. 15+/20 (June 2004)

1990

Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray Moelleux 1990: A yellow hue. Attractive honey and musk nose. A honeyed palate, with toffee notes. A beautiful backbone of fresh acidity. Lovely alcohol. From a 1990 vintage ten year on blind tasting. 18/20 (August 2000)

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