The fruit for Pierre Précieuse is grown on Kimmeridgien soils. It is pressed whole cluster then fermented and aged in concrete vat, natural yeast only, unfined and unfiltered. This cuvée starts and ends with minerality but the mid-palate is weighty and full of peach, meyer lemon and grapefruit. Pair with a warm goat cheese salad, light meat dishes or sashimi.
ALEXANDRE BAIN, Tracy sur Loire, Biodynamic
“The best Pouilly I’ve ever tasted!” – Isabelle Legeron MW
Alexandre Bain is a wonderful but rare specimen. He wasn't born into wine, his father wasn't a vigneron and he wasn't born in Pouilly Fumé. However, his grandfather owned a few plots in the area which he had bought as a rental investment. In 2007, after working in different estates in the Loire, California and Ventoux Alexandre persuaded his grandfather to let him work on the vines. Gradually, he started buying
more parcels from growers who were scaling down and today owns 11 ha. Like his good friend Sebastien Riffault in Sancerre, Alexandre harvests later than most in his region (on average two weeks) which gives the wines their darker hue. In order to retain the maximum acidity in his grapes, Alexandre trains his vines low and like his peers Olivier Cousin and also chooses to plough with a horse. Harvest is done by hand, a rarity in Pouilly-Fume/Sancerre and yields are amazingly small. His vineyards are a picture of health, a credit to his commitment to biodynamic.
Astonishingly, Alexandre was rejected from the Pouilly Fumé appelation in 2015, once again meaning that some of the finest and most lovingly crafted wines will now labelled Vin De France. In May 2017, Alexandre won his case against the INAO and the decision to give his wonderful wines the Pouilly-Fume appellation was granted to him by the court of Dijon.