Jonathan Pabiot, 2024 Update
More than ten years have now passed since I met Jonathan Pabiot and tasted his wines for the first time. Ten years of joyous wines, a number of which have found their way into my cellar.
Over those ten years on there have naturally been a few changes in the Pouilly-Fumé arena. Most notably there has been a significant departure, Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau having thrown in the appellation towel to bottle all his wines as Vin de France, which arguably leaves Jonathan Pabiot as the leading domaine still working within the appellation. More pertinently there have been a few changes in-house, Jonathan having chosen to rename a number of his cuvées a few years ago; old names such as Florilège and Prédilection are out, and new names such as Léon and Luminance are in. And the introduction of a young vines cuvée, Prélude (which was renamed Elisa), was a good move from Jonathan, bolstering the quality of his domaine-level blend, Léon.
Importantly, one thing that has never really wavered here has been Jonathan’s commitment and quest for quality. I have found one or two cuvées wearing their malolactic fermentations on their sleeves over the years, but largely the wines display a focus and concentration which can be hard to find in the appellation. As a consequence I have followed Jonathan’s work closely; this is one of a small handful of Central Vineyard vignerons – another who springs to mind is Philippe Gilbert – who I have tasted with every year since we first met (a copybook admittedly blotted by a certain pandemic).
Keen to keep an unblemished record (pandemic years excepted) in early 2024 I met up with Jonathan once more, to taste his latest releases – all wines under their new names, of course.
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