Domaine Pichot: Tasting & Drinking
For many years I decried the lack of energy in the Vouvray appellation. In the late 1980s some significant figures, namely Didier and Catherine Champalou and Bernard Fouquet, appeared on the scene, but after this it seemed as if the appellation stagnated. Looking back from the 2020s it is clear that this is no longer true, with many exciting new vignerons having stepped onto the Vouvray stage during recent years. It also seems clear, however, that there was always more interest waiting to be discovered in the appellation than perhaps we realised. Perhaps the notion that the appellation was stagnating was as much about the wine press (and I am not excluded from criticism in this regard) simply not visiting and fully exploring the appellation as it was about the appellation itself.
Certainly the presence of Domaine Pichot might suggest so. This family have had a presence in the Vouvray appellation for several centuries, and have been here throughout any expressed concerns about stagnation. The domaine has been consolidated and revitalised by Christophe Pichot, and it has many strengths. Like many in Vouvray I sense Christophe sees demi-sec as being the truest expression of the appellation, with the moelleux cuvées being the Vouvray apogee, and tasting the wines this is where the joy lies. I suspect his production of sparkling and sec wines have a purely commercial basis.
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