The internets are alive with the sound of people clicking onto Bernard's great post on how Jackie Preys essentially resurrected the fié gris grape from oblivion. Click over to it now if you haven't already.
I drank the very nice 2005 vintage a few years back and was fortunate to find the 2007 over the weekend.
Fié gris is a cousin of sauvignon blanc and while the grape skins are rose-colored, the must runs clear: this is a white wine. And as it happens, Preys's grapes are grown in flinty silex soils, and so yes, there is some resemblance to a Pouilly Fumé. But fié gris is a weighter grape and sheds all hint of gooseberry aromas as it warms.
In fact, beyond the flint, the aromas of fresh corn, lemon oil, and herb butter (lots of yellow here) aren't terribly sauvignon-like, and they make me think I should drink this with grilled corn! Lacking that, I dredged and pan-fried a cod filet last night, squeezed some lemon on top, and served it with both a green salad and an avocado-potato salad which was also seasoned with lemon juice. The medium-bodied and nicely layered fié gris paired well with everything, particularly the coriander-dusted fish, but it even coexisted with, rather than fought, the tomato in my green salad. The aromas translated nicely to the palate, and it finishes with a long, lemony tingle, a savory root vegetable note (celeriac? jicama?), and clean yet buttery minerals. Nice stuff. Hats off to Jacky Preys! And hats off to Bernard for all the great stories and pictures.
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5 comments:
Who imports Preys's wines in your neck of the woods, Mike?
I didn't make a note of that -- and I tossed the bottle!
I guess you'll have to buy another bottle so you can let me know.
My company H2Vino imports Preys for Illinois.
cheers,
Mark@h2vino.com
You could always visit the Preys vineyard if driving through the Valençay area, 536 rue Claude Debussy, Le Bois Pontois, 41130 Meusnes. Just made our third visit there at quite different months of the year. Always managed to rouse someone, usually Mrs Preys in the house next door. Never made a rendez-vous but each time a very good reception in the cellar. Besides the excellent Fié Gris, they have many other Touraine and Valençay wines of very good value. We like the other flinty, Sauvignan Silex and the Chenin Blanc 'La Goutte d'Or'.
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