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France
Child Company of DEV'UP CENTRE - VAL DE LOIRE
Michelle & Jean-Michel Masson created Domaine Masson-Blondelet in 1975.
In 1980, they built a cellar digged underground with 3 levels to work by gravity in the heart of the village of Pouilly.
In 2000, they were joined by their two children, Mélanie and Pierre-François Masson, the seventh generation of winemakers at the Domaine.
Our estate is now 22 A.O.C hectares in size of Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Noir, planted on the best sites in the heart of the Appellation. The vineyards which are on South /East facing slopes enjoy a micro-climate caused by the Loire river which protects them from the extreme variations in temperature.
We have not been using any chemical fertiliserfor more than 40 years, nor insecticide, nor herbicide since 2002 !
Working our soils is crucial because by hoeing them regularly, we encourage for more than 3 decades the expression of each of our three ‘Terroirs’ of Pouilly-Fumé.
Masson-Blondelet is now famous for our constant effort to improve quality, health, and the purest Sauvignon’s expression in this unique and preserved soil.
A winemaking process according to the Soils…
There are 3 different soils on the A.O.C Pouilly-Fumé area, Kimmeridgean marls, Limestone and Flint (silex). Since we planted our vines on these 3 different soils, we have chosen (for more than 40 years now) to vinify them separately to get the best expression of each soil & ‘terroir’.
Our Pouilly-Fumé "Les Angelots" is made on Portlandian limestone soils.
Pouilly-Fumé "Villa Paulus" is made on Kimmeridgean marls and
Pouilly-Fumé "Les Pierres de Pierre" comes from our flinty soils.
Pouilly-Fumé "Tradition Cullus" is made from our eldest vines aged between 50 and 70 years on Kimmeridgean marls and vinified in new oak 600 litres barrels. The wine is bottled 18 months later after a maturation in a blending stainless tank.
The cuvée Pouilly-Fumé "D'or et Diamant" only represents 2000 bottles of Pouilly-Fumé. As a tribute to the Loire river (with its golden reflects at sunset) and to our ‘terroir’, as pure and precious as a diamond, Pouilly-Fumé "D'or et Diamant" is a selection of the ripest grapes by ou winemaker Pierre-François Masson. It is now represented in the most famous and awarded restaurants in France and in Europe.
For the first time, in 2014, we decided to isolate the juice of an enclosed plot located on clay & limestone soil to create the cuvée Pouilly-Fumé "Clos du Château Paladi" in which Sauvignon Blanc reveals all the elegance of this terroir. On this plot of hardly one hectare of old vines located in the heart of the village of Pouilly and 400 meters away from the Loire river, raises a building, locally called « Château Paladi » in memory of the one who built after the war, four towers to this bourgeois house. This wine received a Coup de Coeur in the Hachette Guide for the first vintage produced.
Our vines in Sancerre, located in the village of Thauvenay, are planted on limestone and flinty soils.
They exist in Sancerre White, & Sancerre Rosé.
At the cellar, our philosophy in terms of wine making process is to prefer physical treatments in order to banish the chemical ones (even the softest) and to use the less SO2 as possible.
The wine-masters of the most famous and quoted restaurants around the globe (among others l’Hôtel de Crillon -5 stars palace in Paris- 8½ Otto e Mezzo *** Hong Kong, Le Champignon Sauvage ** Gloucester GB, Zaranda** Baleares, l’Arpège***, Guy Savoy***, Pierre Gagnaire***, Le Grand Véfour **, Michel Rostang**, L’Axel*75, Helen*75, Auberge du Cheval Blanc*67, Auberge du Père Bise*74, Casadelmar*20, Le Chabichou*73, Yoann Conte*74, Apicius*63, Auberge au Bœuf *67, Auberge de la Charme*21, Auberge Saint-Laurent*68, Auberge Saint-Walfrid*57, and so many others) have given us the honour to select our wines, also the luxurious Harrod’s in London or Thai & Emirates Airlines for Business Class.
We export 70% of our production to prestigious importers such as : Martel AG in St-Gallen in Eastern Switzerland, LECave SA in French Switzerland ; Wine Connection in Singapore or Grape Expectations in California.
