La Revue du Vin de France, special vintage 2014 (June 2015), rated our Pouilly fume « Villa Paulus » 2014 between 15,5 – 16,5/20.
Villa Paulus. Precocity, frankness of aromas and volume in this precise and neat white wine which expresses itself on yellow fruits. 16€”
On 13.05.15,
Mr Eric Bernardin spent his weekend in Montbazillac with some friends. One of his activities was cooking. Eric Bernardin made four recipes, above one was associated with the wine of our estate. He made a dish with asparagus and a crumble of parmesan cheese and nuts accompanied by a reduction of pomelo juice. He paired this dish with our Pouilly Fume « Villa Paulus » of vintage 1998 !
Many thanks to him for this wonderful idea !
Read more: http://www.paperblog.fr/7628794/la-matinee-ou-j-ai-joue-a-top-chef-en-quatre-recettes/
Pouilly Fume “Villa Paulus” mentioned in the Tribune Review on 12.05.15 for Loire Valley White Wines
“For the 2013 Domaine Masson-Blondelet Pouilly Fume “Villa Palus”, France (Luxury 45060 ; $22.99), growers Michelle and Jean-Michel Masson like to say they cultivate their vines like their kitchen garden — without weed killers, insecticides and fertilizers. This sustainable approach delivers flavorful grapes well-reflected in the wines.
The “Villa Palus” blend comes from Kimmeridgian soils on east-facing slopes. The nose’s delicate citrus aromas mingle with subtle smoky hints. Rich, pure grapefruit and melon flavors balance with zesty acidity through the dry finish. The wine embodies confident, restrained winemaking. Highly recommended.”
Written by Dave DeSimone
A silver medal obtained again, at the IWC this time, by the cuvée 2014 Sancerre Blanc « Thauvenay »: Ripe grapefruit with chalky mineral and fresh vibrant finish. modern style, fig leaf with preserved lemon richness.
The cuvée 2014 Pouilly-Fumé « Villa Paulus » has been commended by the IWC as well.
Our 2014 Sancerre Blanc « Thauvenay » obtained a silver medal at the Concours des Grands Vins de France of Macôn !
Moreover, 2014 Pouilly-Fumé “Villa Paulus” and 2014 Sancerre Blanc « Thauvenay » obtained an award at the Deacanter World Wines Awards.
The 3rd International Fair of Actual Art in the cellars in Pouilly-Fumé was the first weekend of May in our little city of Pouilly-sur-Loire. The goal of this event was to bring together painters and winemakers. The Masson-Blondelet estate chose Muriel Napoli and her works of art, permitting to go perfectly with art and wine.
Amandine Chevalier, art historian, tells some words about it:
“Muriel Napoli exposed her minerals and organics works at Masson-Blondelet estate. Her delicates paintings with grey nuances, where we can find now some colour, parsimonious blue, evoke the permanent transformation of the nature, between sedimentation and concretion. Her technique is a sharing between fluid and transparent application and accumulation of paint, small cluster as meteors. The obtained abstract forms sometimes evoke flowers petals which perfectly married with the vault of the cellar. The owner of the cellar is attentive to the nature and applies integrated viticulture. Not very concerned by labels and other appellations, he grows his vines respecting the environment and talks with passion of his wines. The different terroirs of Pouilly-Fumé AOC – Kimmeridgian marl, limestone soil or flint – express themselves in his different cuvées.”
Many thanks to Dr. Bernard-Noël CHAGNY, the author of these wonderful aerial pictures of Pouilly-Fumé vineyard with autumn colours.
Here we can see the Loire River, Pouilly-sur-Loire Village and of course Pouilly-Fumé vines with actual colours…
Wonderful autumn colours for the slopes of Pouilly-Fumé… by Bernard-Noël CHAGNY…
You can admire more pictures of him in his website: http://kap-archeo.com
Below the vines of “table-land”, where is produced our Pouilly-Fumé “Villa Paulus” on kimmeridgian marl near to the roman way.
The full 10 permanent employees team of Masson-Blondelet in this first day of 2014 harvest under a blue sky for the harvest of our more beautiful grapes of Pouilly-Fumé…
We are preparing us in Pouilly. Final stretch before the harvest…
We have to taste the grapes because the physiological maturity is as important as the alcoholic maturity (which is already great). So we have to be patient…
The weather is favorable since the last five weeks and seems to stay with us… With its help, the conditions of a great 2014 vintage seem to be reached. We hope to succeed, this year again, in producing Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre worthy of the highest vintages! Because, to give you pleasure is our greatest pleasure…
Pictures made by Jean-Michel Masson, Blanc Fumé of Pouilly of the 25/09/2014
Domaine Masson-Blondelet Pouilly-Fumé Les Angelots 2012
Some wines bring a moment of intellectual interest, a chance to reflect on their origins, to analyse how on particular wine differs from another, a wine perhaps made from different varieties, or from vines grown on a different terroir. Some wines impress with their energy and vivacity, wines which within a moment of hitting the palate immediately instruct you to sit up and pay attention, because this is not a wine to be casually sipped, but is instead a wine to revel in, a vinous roll in the hay perhaps? Other wines, however, prefer to gently seduce you with their complexity, their exquisite balance, their texture and structure intertwined in perfect symmetry, neither so uncouth as to speak above the other.
It isn’t often, however, that you come across a wine that achieves all of these in a single mouthful.
Domaine Masson-Blondelet is one of the leading names in Pouilly-Fumé, an appellation which doesn’t seem to get so much attention as Sancerre, despite that fact that there are some hugely dedicated and thoughtful growers living and working here. And that statement isn’t simply a veiled reference to Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau; I’m not denying the quality of his (or his father’s) wines, as I have found great appeal in recent vintages, it is just that there is more to Pouilly-Fumé than this one domaine, just as there is more to Margaux than Château Margaux, and more to Pomerol than Petrus. There isn’t enough love for the other growers of Pouilly-Fumé beyond the Dagueneau family in my opinion, so I’m doing my bit here.
Shining the light on one or two other domaines in the appellation isn’t an arduous undertaking when we have the likes of Domaine Masson-Blondelet (profile coming tomorrow, by the way) giving us wines such as the one up for discussion here. Jean-Michel Masson and his family tend about 21 hectares of vines across several different terroirs in the appellation, and they vinify according to these terroirs. This particular wine comes from vines planted on limestone, near Le Bouchot (on the outskirts of Pouilly-sur-Loire) and near Saint-Quentin-sur-Nohain, near the edge of the appellation. Jean-Michel describes the limestone as Portlandian, which surprised me, as I didn’t expect such a spine-tingling and exciting wine from this terroir. On review of modern geological maps from the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières and the Pouilly-Fumé syndicat (the second is, admittedly, probably derived from the first), however, I see that the limestone is in fact calcaire de Villiers, which seems to straddle the Upper Oxfordian and Lower Kimmeridgian. Kimmeridgian limestone, as any advocate of Chavignol in Sancerre and the grand cru vineyards in Chablis knows, has long been associated with top quality wines.
The 2012 Pouilly-Fumé Les Angelots feels tightly coiled when it hits the glass, the nose introverted and reticent, and it takes an hour or so to really open up to release its full aromatic complexity. It also feels a little soft on the palate on first taste, and over the course of this first hour as the nose unfurls the palate corresponds by firming up, showing more frame and structure. In truth the first taste is a little underwhelming, but it proves the point that it is not just aged Bordeaux that needs a little time in a decanter to show its best, and the most informative way is to assess a wine over the course of an evening as here, as opposed to the fleeting encounters many tasting notes are based on. The nose, once it opens up, shows a firm, limestone substance, before it reveals streaks of gooseberry fruit, nuanced with a delightfully and unceasingly smoky, flinty-slatey edge. In the mouth it shows off, the cool tension of the midpalate the base from which it reveals layers of ripe and very correct fruit with a green pear-skin bite, underpinned by tingling yet polished acidity. Energetic, beautifully balanced, cerebral and speaking of its origins, this is a wine of great harmony, supple and perfectly poised. A stunning success and a wine that left me feeling invigorated the entire weekend. 18/20 (1/9/14)
From : http://www.thewinedoctor.com/weekend/massonblondelet_pouillyfumeangelots_2012.shtml
