The 2018 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Combes Vieilles Vignes was picked in three successive passes through the vineyard and vinified with the sort of attention to detail lavished on Guffens's domaine wines, so it's no surprise that this Maison Verget bottling wouldn't be too out of place in the Domaine Guffens-Heynen range. Wafting from the glass with scents of fresh peach, pear, white flowers and frangipane, it's full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, with a deep, multidimensional and complete palate that's intensely concentrated but avoids any excessive weight, concluding with a long, lip-smacking finish. Readers should make every effort to track down a few of the 7,500 bottles that were produced. Bravo to Jean-Marie Guffens and Julien Desplans!
Thanks to vines facing both south and north, this 2018 is very nicely balanced. The proportion of grapes exposed to the south is 85 % and 15 % north. The vines are over 70 years old on average. The yield was very small. The free run juice was vinified in barrels with 25% new oak. Fermentation continued until mid-December, followed by barrel aging for about 8 months. Bold and expressive on the nose, with ripe pear, hints of peach and even a hint of apricot on the nose, paired in tandem with sweet and spicy oak that is already integrated well into the fruit. The palate is rich and viscous, with great intensity and a full body coating the palate in ripe stone fruits. Waves of bright acidity at a juicy, vibrant tone and allow the savoury spices of the oak to come through. Still chalky and textural, this balances the riper elements of the vintage with the structure for ageing and a cool mineral edge. Long, powerful and spicy on the finish.
More discreet wood influence remains in the background on the lemon rind and matchstick-scented nose. There is once again fine mid-palate density to the almost painfully intense, mouth coating and beautifully delineated medium weight flavors that exhibit excellent length on the lemon and equally dry finale. Worth checking out.
