Pouilly Fuissé 1er Cru Les Reisses 2023 Domaine Pierre Vessigaud

The Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru Les Reisses 2023 from Domaine Pierre Vessigaud is the absolute jewel of the domaine, the most precious, most confidential and most ambitious cuvée from Françoise, Pierre and Simon Vessigaud. In the vigneronnage's own words, Les Reisses is "certainly the noble terroir of Fuissé" — a conviction shared by the most knowledgeable connoisseurs of the Mâconnais, who see in this Premier Cru a Chardonnay of tension, persistence and depth that rivals the finest premiers crus of the Côte de Beaune, for a fraction of their price. Cellaring potential of 8 to 20 years.

The terroir of Les Reisses

Les Reisses was classified as a Premier Cru during the major revision of the Pouilly-Fuissé appellation in 2020, an official recognition that consecrated this exceptional terroir that the Vessigaud family had been cultivating and enhancing long before the INAO granted it this status. The vineyard is planted due east, facing south to south-west, on the heights of Fuissé, on marl-limestone and pure marl soils. A hard limestone subsoil topped with marls rich in fossils represents one of the most noble and complex geologies of the Mâconnais. This pedological profile of exceptional mineral richness gives the wine a tension, persistence and depth that few terroirs in the appellation can claim with such consistency. The most striking characteristic of this parcel is the nature of its old vines: the Chardonnays produce very small, millerandé grapes — this natural phenomenon of incomplete flowering, which creates grains of uneven and reduced size, extraordinarily concentrates the sugars, aromas and dry matter of the grapes, giving the wine incomparable richness and aromatic complexity. The naturally very low yields that result are precisely at the origin of the wine's depth and character. Vinification is precise and respectful: manual harvesting, pressing of whole bunches, ageing for 12 months in five-year-old demi-muids of oak, barrels old enough to provide natural micro-oxygenation and subtle complexity without imparting woody notes, followed by 6 months in stainless steel before bottling.

Tasting profile

The robe is pale gold with luminous green reflections, bright and crystalline in clarity. The nose is captivating and complex with immediate presence and nobility: aromas of ripe white and yellow fruits — Williams pear, vineyard peach, apricot — blend with delicate floral notes, touches of light honey and fresh almond, with fine, precise and omnipresent marl-limestone minerality that signs the terroir of Les Reisses. On the palate, the texture is both silky and taut, a rare balance between the natural richness of millerandé grapes and the mineral verticality of Fuissé's marls. The acidity is lively and precise, structuring an ample and generous body with remarkable straightness and length. The finish is endless and persistent, very long in the mouth according to the vigneronnage's own words, stretching over mineral, citrus and subtly spicy notes of purity and precision that evoke great Burgundy. A Premier Cru of serious cellaring potential, best left untouched until 2027 to allow it to unfold fully.

The domaine

Françoise and Pierre Vessigaud, accompanied now by their son Simon, have perpetuated family viticulture for five generations from the Hameau de Pouilly at Solutré-Pouilly, at the foot of the Roche de Solutré. Pierre, at the helm since 1998, has progressively engaged the domaine in rigorous organic practice, respecting the soils, avoiding synthetic herbicides and pesticides, hand harvesting and controlled yields, raising the wines of Vessigaud among the most precious and most convincing references of southern Burgundy. With Simon's arrival, the domaine enters a new family chapter, with the same conviction that has guided Pierre since his beginnings: to reveal with sincerity and precision the richness and nobility of Fuissé's terroirs, from Mâcon-Fuissé Les Tâches to this Premier Cru Les Reisses which is their shared pride.

Food pairings

This Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru Les Reisses pairs beautifully with scallops with white truffle, grilled lobster with tarragon butter, wild turbot in champagne sauce, Bresse poultry in creamy morel sauce, braised sweetbreads with wild mushrooms or langoustine gratin with cheese. It will also find lovely harmony with soft-rind cheeses with white mould, such as Brie de Meaux or Chaource, or aged goat cheese. Decanting for 30 minutes is recommended for young vintages. Served between 12 and 13°C, it will progressively reveal all the depth, mineral tension and persistence of one of the Mâconnais's finest terroirs.