Location of the Les Mûres Premier Cru within the P-L AOC (base map via the website of Vins de Bourgogne)
As revealed on November 21, 2024—via publication on the website of the INAO and in the Official Journal of the French Republic—a Premier Cru site has been approved for the Pouilly-Loché AOC (originally approved in 1940). The new premier cru is to be known as Les Mûres (Pouilly-Loché Premier Cru Les Mûres).
Located in the Mâconnais sub-region of Burgundy, the Pouilly-Loché AOC is a small appellation (totaling 33 hectares/79 acres) focusing on high-quality Chardonnay. The appellation is centered around the small town of Loché and located a short distance (5 km/3.2 miles) southwest of the city of Mâcon. The vineyards of the Pouilly-Loché AOC overlap those of the Pouilly-Vinzelles AOC so (at least in theory), the wines of Pouilly-Loché may be labeled as Pouilly-Vinzelles. (This, however, would not be true for the Les Mûres Premier Cru.)
As is true of the larger Pouilly-Loché AOC, Pouilly-Loché Premier Cru Les Mûres is required to be a dry white wine produced with 100% Chardonnay grapes.
- However, in addition to geographic specificity, the premier cru wine must abide by some regulations that are a bit more stringent than the larger, more general Pouilly-Loché appellation. These include the following:
- Premier Cru wines must contain a minimum of 12% abv (as opposed to 11% for Pouilly- Loché AOC).
- Premier Cru wines have a maximum yield of 58 hl/ha (as opposed to 60 hl/ha for Pouilly- Loché AOC).
- Premier Cru wines are required to have a minimum must weight of 195 g/l (as opposed to 178 g/l for Pouilly- Loché AOC).
- Grapes for Premier Cru wines must be manually harvested.
- Premier Cru wines may not be released before July 1 of the year following the harvest (wines of the Pouilly- Loché AOC may be released as early as February 1 of the year following the harvest).
Eagle-eyed wine lovers may note that this announcement is closely aligned with the approval of three premiers crus vineyards for the Pouilly-Vinzelles AOC (announced the prior day).
Map of the Pouilly-Loché AOC via the INAO
Note: as with all such updates, the paperwork is still winding its way through the bureaucratic back offices of the EU. As such, while this update has been approved and announced by the Republic of France (via publication on the website of the INAO as well as the Official Journal of the Republic of France), the updated Cahier des Charges has yet to be approved by the EU. In the meantime, the new Premier Cru designations are allowed to be used on the labels of qualified wines. In the unlikely event that the change is not approved by the EU, the decree will be rescinded.
References/for more information:
- Cahier des Charges Pouilly Loche updated 2024
- Brochure re Pouilly-Loche via Vins de Bourgogne
- Base map of the Pouilly-Loché AOC via the website of Vins de Bourgogne
Post authored by Jane A. Nickles…your blog administrator: jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org