The Piuze 2008 Chablis Bougros Cote de Bouqueyreaux (employing the longest-available spelling of that site name!) is another of his bottles that’s mineral from stem to stern. Brine, oyster shell, and iodine as well as suggestions of kelp and beach detritus render this reminiscent of the corresponding “Terroir de Courgis” bottling except with more richness and vividness of flavor. And here, too, there is an impression of consuming the oyster’s liqueur, so vivid that I wonder if you would be able to tell where the oyster’s delectable bathwater leaves off and the sip of wine begins. A tactile, invigorating persistence of lemon oil and myriad mineral impingements persists implacably; yet, sheer saliva inducement keeps the wine from seeming hard. This ought to be utterly fascinating to follow over the next 6-8 years if not longer.
Quebecois Patrick Piuze has followed a repeatedly-traveled path, having struck out on his own after working as cellarmaster for Brocard (and before that he worked for Olivier Leflaive, followed by Verget). Tasting his 2008s offers striking reminders of just how much unrealized potential there is in Chablis, when one considers the number of very recent start-ups (granted, the bulk market for 2008s was a buyer’s); that the twelve wines I tasted here constitute only a bit over half of Piuze’s portfolio; and above all in view of the high quality he has achieved in his inaugural vintage. Piuze follows as well a by now familiar micro-negociant formula that is “micro” in matters of management even if not in terms of total production: he exercises whatever he feels are the necessary controls to insure that the fruit he purchases can fulfill his ideals of style and terroir character, which involve fermentation exclusively in steel or cement vessels and maturation in tank and previously-used, often large-format barrels. Class distinctions here are quite subtle, with a seamless transition from some startlingly fine village-level wines through the crus. (For the record, the 2008 bottlings I did not taste are: Petit Chablis and the crus Butteaux, Foret; Montmains, Montee de Tonnerre, Vaillons, Bougros, Grenouilles, Valmur, and Vaudesir!)
Various importers, including: Aliane Wines, La Jolla, CA; tel. (858) 361-4529 and David Bowler Wine, New York, NY; (212) 807-1680
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