For several generations this domaine was the property of the Figeat family, most recently under the supervision of Paul Figeat, the long-time mayor of Pouilly Sur Loire. I made my first visit to the little hamlet of Les Loges, hard on the banks of the Loire, in early 1982, and immediately began working with Paul Figeat, our first vintage being the rather spare and lean 1980. Marc Deschamps worked in collaboration with Monsieur Figeat at that time and continued to do so for over a decade, tending the vineyards and crafting the wine. Upon Paul Figeat’s untimely death in 1991 in an auto accident, Marc Deschamps purchased the domaine from the estate. Since that time he has modernized the equipment and continued to add to the well-placed vineyard holdings. More importantly, our long-term relationship and mutual regard for the nuances of the terroir of Pouilly Fumé resulted in the delineation of numerous small cuvées based on the specific lieu-dits that are being exploited.
Harvest is manual; the fermentation takes place in a mix of stainless steel and cement cuves. Only natural yeasts are used. The wines are left on the lees a considerable time. The malolactic fermentation rarely occurs. The wines are generally racked for the first time in January following the harvest. A light fining and filtration takes place prior to bottling which occurs in June for all wines except the “Les Champs de Cri” and the “Cuvé Vinéalis”, both of which are bottled later (normally between July and September). These wines are classic examples of the appellation: rich, powerful, marked by an undercurrent of minerality and, above all, expressing the precision, elegance and exceptional length that makes the wines of the hamlet of Les Loges the envy of all the producers of Pouilly Fumé.
Farming
Practicing organic
Treatments
Copper sulfate only
Ploughing
Annual ploughing to promote soil health
Soils
Kimmeridgian limestone marls, locally known as Terres Blanches
Vines
All vines are trained in Guyot, and the majority are over 50 years old
Yields
Controlled through severe winter pruning and debudding, usually c. 50 hl/ha
Harvest
Machine harvesting, usually in late September
Sourcing
Entirely estate fruit
Fermentation
Wines ferment with selected yeasts in stainless-steel tanks, except for the Vinéalis cuvée, which ferments in barriques (15% new)
Extraction
Bâtonnage employed only to counter reduction
Chaptalization
Chaptalization when necessary
Pressing
Pneumatic pressing
Malolactic Fermentation
Almost always blocked by wines’ high acidities
Élevage
Wines spend c. 9 months in stainless-steel tanks; Champs de Cris and Vinéalis see c. 12 months of élevage, with the Champs de Cris in stainless-steel tanks and the Vinéalis in barriques (15% new)
lees
Chasselas spends 4 months on its lees; other wines spend 6-8 months on their lees before racking
Fining and Filtration
Wines are fined with bentonite and plate filtered
sulfur
Applied at harvest and at bottling; c. 30 mg/l free sulfur, c. 100 mg/l total sulfur
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