Thierry Puzelat’s Gamay "Pouillé"

Intent on getting a better understanding of the wines of Thierry Puzelat, I bought a slew of them a few months back. Well laid plans of drinking them each in consecutive fashion (not on one night, mind you) didn’t quite work out, so I’ve instead been checking in with them rather randomly, whenever time, spirit and menu have aligned. The most recent subject was very much to my liking.


Touraine Gamay "Pouillé," Thierry Puzelat 2006
$18. 13% alcohol. Cork. Louis/Dressner, New York, NY.
Relative to “Le Tel Quel,” which I’ve written about here before, “Pouillé” is arguably Thierry Puzelat’s more serious – perhaps substantial would be a better word – expression of Gamay. In this case, the fruit comes from Puzelat’s own vineyards, which he purchased from Michel Oger. Situated near Clos Roche Blanche in the commune of Pouillé, the 65 year-old selection massale Gamay vines are planted in argilo-silex (clay and flint) soil that’s been farmed biodynamically for the past fifteen years. Following fermentation, the wine is aged in old oak casks until bottling, without filtration, in the summer following the harvest.

I dug its initial aromas – classic to many of Puzelat’s reds in my experience – of fresh, sweet barnyard, root beer and spice, and sweet, dark red fruits. Very ample in the mouth, where the sweet fruit followed through. And very unlike fruity-style Beaujolais (whereas “Telquel” bears a strong family resemblance). Its richness was buoyed by snappy acidity and a little prickle on the tongue. On day two, that kernel of bright, sweet red fruit persisted, bearing Gamay’s signature along the way. That said, if I’d tasted this blind, between the wine’s rich texture and dark aroma I’d have guessed there was some Côt at play. Though subtler and not as energetic in its second day, its details – perhaps because of that calmer state – were a bit easier to assess. Soft tannins, medium acidity, plenty of spicy red fruit and those trademark sweet-earth aromas, which this time reminded me of moist licorice root mulch.

Though perhaps an unusual expression of Gamay, this bottle of “Pouillé” was unmistakably alive – and very definitely a pure expression of its origins.