Domaine des Pothiers, 2020 Update
In the third of a trio of tasting reports from the Upper Loire I come now to Domaine des Pothiers. Like Domaine Sérol, on which I reported last week, here again we have a range of Gamays from the Côte Roannaise appellation, peppered with whites of varying varietal origin including Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Also like Domaine Sérol, and Domaine Verdier-Logel on which I also recently reported, the vines are tended using certified organic methods. Although having said that, Romain Paire (pictured) goes one step further at Domaine des Pothiers to also embrace biodynamics, something that is not true of his two peers.
I seem to have omitted to taste with Romain last year, I am not sure why, so this was my first encounter with both the 2018 and 2019 vintages here. To be frank I was pleasantly surprised, with some wines scoring at the same high level as those I reported on in my Domaine Sérol update. I started with the various brut de cuve samples from 2019, before then moving back to taste from the preceding vintage.
The Wines
From 2019 the wines were very much at the ‘business’ end of the domaine’s portfolio, a solitary rosé and three cuvées which can be considered as entry-level, or close to it. The 2019 Référence will provide plenty of unfussy drinking pleasure, although I suspect that the young 2019 Domaine will be very slightly superior once it is in the bottle. The 2019 No. 6 failed to impress, with a funky finish, nevertheless it might be worth revisiting in the future once it has hopefully received a dose of sulphites.
