Wines

Olivier owns 1.6 hectares of 40-year-old Chardonnay in En Pres Forêt, situated at 240 meters altitude with sandy, stony soil atop schist mother-rock. Aged 90% in stainless steel and 10% in used 500-liter oak barrels, this cuvée is both generous and elegant, with a pronounced saline streak and the ability to evolve well for a decade or more in bottle.

Hailing from the nearby commune of Fuissé, this bottling comes from the En Vers Chânes vineyard in which Olivier owns a mere quarter of a hectare of 45-year-old vines. The high altitude (400 meters) and sandy limestone of this site produce a wine of striking poise and penetrating minerality, and Olivier’s measured aging regimen of 50% steel and 50% used barrels contributes a richness of texture without sacrificing zip.

A blend of several holdings planted in what Olivier calls “noble clay” peppered with alluvial gravel and averaging 40 years of age, “Les Quatre Saisons” is aged entirely in used 500-liter oak barrels (between two and eight years old) for 12 months. Simultaneously round and penetrating, it showcases the delicious lusciousness of Olivier’s immaculately healthy fruit, and drinks superbly even at a youthful stage of its development.

Olivier owns half a hectare of 50-year-old vines in Les Barres, situated at 250 meters altitude with soils of noble clay and abundant gravel. Aged 12 months in 500-liter barrels between two and eight years of age, this cuvée combines ample richness with finely rendered floral aromatics of intense expressiveness, tied together by an acidity both gentle and sturdy.

The limestone-rich red soils of Les Mûres, below which the mother rock lurks at a mere 20 centimeters distance, produce one of this appellation’s finest wines—destined for near-term premier cru status in Pouilly-Loché’s upcoming reconfiguration. Olivier owns a hectare’s worth of 70-year-old Chardonnay here, from which he produces a wine spellbinding in its saline mineral intensity. This cuvée spends 12 months in 500-liter barrels between two and eight years of age, and will develop gorgeously in bottle for well over a decade.

Oliver’s holdings in this esteemed cru exceed 95 years of age—the oldest vines in the entire Pouilly-Loché appellation. With its iron-rich soils that mix noble clay and an abundance of limestone pebbles, En Chantone produces a wine that marries the mineral intensity of “Les Mûres” with the fruit amplitude of “Les Barres,” all with a murmuring power that speaks of the vines’ extreme age. This spends 13 months in a blend of steel and well-used 500-liter oak barrels.

With its three hectares of 85-year-old Chardonnay, the Clos des Rocs produces a Pouilly-Loché like no other. Its due-easterly exposition allows for optimal ripeness, and its iron-streaked calcareous topsoil extends a mere 30 centimeters before reaching limestone mother-rock. Aged 13 months in used barrels, this wine—in true grand-cru-like fashion—synthesizes the positive attributes of all its cellarmates: gleaming acidity, fine but tunneling minerality, and stunning concentration. With their low levels of sulfur and their open-knit generosity, Olivier’s wines are never forbidding in their youth, but this deserves some time in bottle to properly unfurl its multilayered complexity.

The estate’s lone parcel outside of the commune of Loché is planted to old vines with a full-south exposition within the lieu-dit of “Vers Chanes” which produces a classic Pouilly-Fuissé, rich and dense.  Raised in neutral demi-muid (500L barrel), this typically ripe wine has a balancing tension that gives an elegance worthy of this noble appellation.

Olivier's sole red wine comes from a small parcel in the beloved Beaujolais cru of Morgon called "Chemin des Croix." The vines are owned by Olivier's wife's family, and Olivier employs the same viticultural methods as he does with his vines in Pouilly-Fuisse: biodynamic farming, hand-harvesting, and immaculate attention to detail throughout. In the cellar, Chemin des Croix ferments spontaneously and undergoes a classic semi-carbonic maceration with no sulfur added whatsoever, and Olivier ages it for one year in used 600-liter demi-muids.