Pouilly-Fumé
Cool continental
Sancerre's neighbour across the Loire: Sauvignon Blanc with a smokier, more savoury edge from flint and limestone.
Overview
About Pouilly-Fumé
Pouilly-Fumé is on the right bank of the Loire around the town of Pouilly-sur-Loire, in Nièvre, facing Sancerre across the river. The wine is made only from Sauvignon Blanc, and the 'fumé' in the name refers to its smoky, flinty character, and possibly to the grey bloom on the grapes.
On average it is a little fuller and more savoury than Sancerre. The appellation is not to be confused with the separate, minor Pouilly-sur-Loire, made from Chasselas.
Pouilly-Fumé is marked on the map.
France
Shaded: Nièvre. Map units are states, provinces or départements, so a smaller place appears as the larger area that contains it.
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Cool continental
Continental, close to Sancerre's, with cold winters and warm summers. The river helps moderate conditions, and frost and hail remain risks.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Kimmeridgian limestone marl and flint (silex), on rolling slopes. The flint is credited for the smoky note.
Go deeper
Rules, years & producers
Pouilly-Fumé is a single appellation, established in 1937, for one grape, with no vineyard-level ranking.
AOC Pouilly-Fumé
Sauvignon Blanc only, from vineyards around Pouilly-sur-Loire.
Named cuvées
Top producers bottle single-plot wines from flint or limestone soils. These are house wines, not official tiers.
What's grown here
Grapes
Each grape's page links back here.