Wines

Slightly more than one-half hectare is planted to an old vines parcel (60+ years) of the Chasselas grape from which Deschamps produces his appellation “Pouilly-sur-Loire”. This parcel is a mix of clay on a deep base of limestone. Deschamps vinifies his Chasselas in a manner exactly similar to the way he handles the Sauvignon Blanc with the Chasselas being the first of his wines to be bottled in the spring following harvest.

This cuvée is a blend of wine from several sites scattered on the hilltop of Les Loges, specifically “La Côte”, and “Les Griottes”. These are some of the middle-aged vines of the estate averaging 35 years of age. Combined, this is a two hectare site on clay-limestone soil. This is the most elegant and sprightly of the quartet of Pouilly-Fumés produced by Deschamps.

The “Vignes de Berge” is a 3.5 hectare parcel on kimmeridgian marne soils with a high proportion of stones known in the appellation as “terres blanches”. The vines here are in excess of 45 years of age. This wine is the most generous and earthy of the Fumés produced at the estate.

The “Champs de Cri” is an important parcel of 2.3 hectares known in Les Loges as the site that produces the most elegant and long-lived of the wines of this appellation. Deschamps’ holdings are exclusively old vines with an average age of 70 years. Out of respect for the complexity and depth of this wine, Deschamps leaves this wine in contact with the lees for several months more than his other cuvées and it is released for sale later than the other wines of the estate. It is frequently marked by notes of bitter orange, jasmine and beeswax.

In the best of vintages, Marc Deschamps isolates the grapes from the oldest vines in the Champs de Cri vineyard (70 plus years of age) which sits on the classic kimmeridgian marne of this region and vinifies a small amount of wine in barrel (4 to 8 barrels or 1200 to 2400 bottles in the vintages when it is produced). Both fermentation and élevage occur in small oak barrels between one and five years of age with extensive lees contact. This produces a broad, rich wine which maintains a lively acidity in the finish; it is round and fleshy with a hint of menthol and citrus on the palate.