Chateau des Quarts Lafon 2020 Pouilly-Fuisse Clos Des Quarts Premier Cru, Burgundy

For over a decade, Olivier Merlin had tasked himself with sourcing and making wine from the best sites within Pouilly-Fuissé and bottling them under his own label. After buying grapes from Clos des Quarts for several vintages, he was one of the first approached with the news that it was for sale. Having been already convinced of the terroir's integrity he jumped on the opportunity.

The vineyard is located in Chaintré, the southernmost village of Pouilly-Fuissé. At just over 2 hectares, the oldest vines are almost a century old and are planted on clay-limestone soils.

The Clos des Quarts is currently planted to 2.23 hectares of old vines. A further 40 acres can and will be planted. The Clos is located inside the Quarts vineyard where it occupies the upper part of the slope. The ferruginous topsoil is shallow there and the bedrock below it is Bajocian crinoidal limestone, forming a similar terroir to that of Chambertin, Clos de Bèze, as well as parts of Romanée-Saint-Vivant and the Clos de Vougeot. The Clos is a true clos with all but a few meters of its great wall not standing. This is of more than symbolic importance. Topsoil washed downslope by erosion remains trapped at the bottom of the vineyard by the walls. If soil was ever replaced at the top of the Clos, it is more than likely that it has always come from the Clos itself. The Clos faces due east and is planted at a higher density than is habitual in the Mâconnais, 10,000 vines per hectare rather than 6,500 to 8,000.

The vines are very old. The oldest were planted in 1917, and Olivier estimates they make up a third of the vineyard. The balance is 55 to 60 years old. The wine is made in Olivier’s cellar, but winemaking and élevage decisions are collaborative. Vineyard management is now organic. Bunches are pressed whole without foulage. Fermentations are allowed to proceed naturally in barrel, 6 to 7% of which are new, and the rest 1 to 3 years old. After malo, the wine is racked into neutral barrels to finish the elevage. Total elevage is a little short of 18 months. Olivier occasionally filters but does not like to fine.