Domaine Fouassier: Tasting & Drinking
Having visited Domaine Fouassier a couple of times it is clear that this domaine is run by a family with a strong commitment to the Sancerre appellation and its wines. This family have had a presence here since the 16th century, and the current incumbents are the tenth generation to oversee the harvest coming into their cellars (even if these cellars moved out of town during the 1970s).
This commitment also comes through in their methods and philosophies, the domaine having undergone a sustainability revolution during the last two decades. Today the cousins Paul and Benoît Fouassier tend their vines using only organic and biodynamic methods, working to the phases of the moon, and their vinifications are strongly influenced by a minimalistic approach to intervention, the pre-fermentation cold maceration for the red wines being perhaps the most significant nod to modern winemaking. But it is the use of sulphites that influences the style most of all. While I have no issue with the malolactic fermentation in reds, in white wines it can push the style of wine towards a rather perfumed and richer style, with a much softer structural frame. While the best Sancerre has a mix of minerally and acid-defined character, these wines tend to display sweeter fruit, with an occasionally blowsy, soft and mellow style.
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