The wine shows ripe aromas of pear, fig, almond, lemon confit, fines herbes and stone. The palate is ripe and round but balanced by firm acidity and mineral flavors framing the ripe white fruits. The finish is long and juicy with bright acidity and chalky minerals.
100% Sauvignon Blanc (prior to 2018, it was a Sauv Blanc/Chard blend labelled as P'tit Blanc). The "Vin Blanc" is the starting point for Tue-Boeuf's whites. As for the entry-level "Vin Rouge", the fruit comes from Touraine vines which the Puzelat family works organically but does not own; the soils are a mix of clay, flint, gravel, quartz and sand. As for all Tue Boeuf wines, the Vin Blanc fruit is hand-harvested, whole-cluster-pressed, fermented spontaneously with natural yeasts in tank and not racked; unlike the rest of the line-up, it is fined and very lightly sulfured (just 2 mg) at bottling.
CLOS DU TUE-BOEUF, Thierry Puzelat, Les Montils
Thierry Puzelat joined his brother Jean-Marie in their family estate, Le Clos du Tue Boeuf in 1994. Four years later, Thierry started a small negociant business, buying organically growned grapes from trusted local winegrowers. Having met and worked with Francois Dutheil (Bandol) and Marcel Lapierre (Morgon), two pioneers of the ‘natural’ wine movement, Thierry decided he too, wanted to make his wines as naturally as possible.
Puzelat’s wines are quite unique, they are highly expressive of their terroir, authentic, filled with life and have very strong personality.
‘Thierry and Jean-Marie Puzelat—brothers—are natural wine royalty. They are making some of the Loire’s most interesting wines and are at the heart of the natural wine movement.’ Jamie Goode