Domaine de Maltaverne

By David Keck

We are very excited to welcome another Loire Valley producer to the portfolio! Also our first producer from the famous Pouilly-Fumé appellation.

Pouilly-Fumé is an extremely famous appellation for Sauvignon Blanc, situated on the right bank of the Loire River essentially right across from Sancerre, the other region in the Loire Valley famous for its Sauvignon. The soil here is a combination of caillottes (a Kimmeridgian era limestone with small limestone pebbles and clay) as well as silex or flint-rich soils made famous by charismatic winemaker Didier Dagueneau in his bottling of the same name. 

Vineyards in this area are recorded as early as the 5th century, with further cultivation and expansion noted in the 12th century by the monastic orders. The opening of the Briare canal in the 17th century opened up Parisian trade for the wines, and the introduction of the rail in the 19th century only increased that business. 

Domaine de Maltaverne has been active since the 19th century with Gilles Maudry taking over operations and winemaking in 1984. His sons Gilles and Matthieu have recently joined the family operation, ensuring that it will stay in the family (it has been in the Maudry family for three generations).

The Pouilly-Fumé of Maltaverne is a rich and tropical wine. They are one of the few producers to allow the wine to go through full malolactic fermentation or conversion (allowing malic acid to be converted to lactic acid, removing some of the more aggressive, green-apply type acid and replacing it with a richer, more ‘buttery’ texture and character). In contrast with a lot of the Sancerre (and Pouilly-Fumé, for that matter!) in the market, this wine is not just a bright, primary, Sauvignon Blanc for weekday drinking, but rather a rich and complex wine that will benefit from time in the bottle.

As the late Kit Stevens, MW once said: “Sancerre is like spring, Pouilly-Fumé like summer” essentially meaning that Sancerre is for light early drinking, while Pouilly-Fumé requires more patience for its flinty, mineral character. It is a wine for connoisseurs and we are excited to have this excellent wine in the 802 as of last Friday!

Cheers!