Michel Redde, 2020 Update
Quite a few years had passed after I first entered the town of Sancerre before I ventured to the opposite bank of the Loire to set foot in the appellation of Pouilly-Fumé. When I did eventually cross the threshold, though, one of the very first domaines I visited was Michel Redde, a stalwart of the appellation. Although the domaine had been established by Michel back in the 1950s, by the time I knocked on their door it was Thierry Redde who was at the helm. Time has since moved on, of course, and these days it is Thierry’s sons Sébastien and Romain who hold the reins. I seem to bump into Sébastien more often than I do Romain, and indeed it was with Sébastien that I sat down with earlier this year to check out some of the latest releases from the domaine.
Together we started with the 2018 vintage, a very warm and benevolent year, before then skipping back a year to revisit some of the wines of the more classically styled 2017 vintage.
The Wines
Beginning with the entry-level wines first, the 2018 Gustave Daudin showed well, on at least two levels. First, in the world of Pouilly-sur-Loire this has always been one of the stronger examples, and this encounter did not dissuade me regarding this cuvée’s status. Secondly, the 2018 vintage is one in which some entry-level or domaine cuvées are starting to unravel, a consequence of softer acidities perhaps, but there was no sign of this here. I thought it a little more convincing than the young-vines Pouilly-Fumé, the 2018 Petit Fumé, which was also outclassed by the 2018 La Moynerie. Bearing in mind this is the largest volume cuvée made here, it does a good job of providing drinkers with both consistency and accessibility.
