The Pouilly-Fumé vineyard dates back to the Gallo-Roman times as there are remains of the Roman road passing through the village of Pouilly-sur-Loire. From the 12th century, the Augustinian and Benedictine monks were at the origin of the development of this vineyard. White wine used to be their Mass so they developed the cultivation of vines. Then, in 1642, the opening of the Briare canal will give a new momentum to Pouilly-Fumé wines as these waterways will enable to transport them to Fontainebleau, Versailles, Paris, and even as far as England where the nobility and bourgeoisie enjoyed them very much.
The Pouilly-Fumé Appellation with its 1,500 hectares of vineyards, spreads over 8 villages in the Nièvre department: Garchy, Mesves-sur-Loire, Pouilly-sur-Loire, Saint-Andelain, Saint-Laurent, Saint-Martin, Saint-Martin-sur-Nohain and Tracy-sur-Loire.
The vineyard has three main types of soils.
Kimmeridgian marl soils with small oysters are clay-limestone soils containing the fossils of small comma-shaped oysters and represent most of the appellation surface.
Villiers or Barrois clay-limestone soils are sedimentary deposits covered with limestone pebbles of various size and are located in the Eastern and Western areas.
Flinty clays, found on the highest points of the appellation, are synonymous to consistent wine quality.
Pouilly-Fumé wines are white and only made from Sauvignon blanc. On limestone soils, grapes ripening earlier, the wines are fresh and lively with broom and grapefruit aromas. While on the Kimmeridgian marl soils, the vine being less sensitive to climate variations, Sauvignon gives wines able to age longer with subtle floral and fruit aromas. As for the soils made of flint and clay, they produce soft and supple white wines with an appealing gun-flint nose, typical of this terroir.
