Marc Deschamps, Pouilly-Fumé “Les Champs de Cri” Hot on Sale

Marc Deschamps, Pouilly-Fumé “Les Champs de Cri”

For years, Marc Deschamps’ bottlings struck me as some of the clear top wines in the interior Loire Valley, and while Sauvignon Blanc from nearby cult neighbors Dagueneau and Vatan soared in price and reputation, Deschamps remained a ridiculously underpriced gem cloaked in unsung mystery. That all changed around 2015: Following an outburst of sommelier/industry buzz, his top bottlings transformed into unexpectedly sought-after wines, and despite still riding that wave of popularity today, Deschamps’ prices have largely remained unchanged. We’re extremely thrilled about it too because this supercharged 2017 “Les Champs de Cri” is among the most classic and delicious efforts we’ve tasted.

It miraculously combines the chiseled and piercing minerality of top-tier Sancerre, the unbelievably deep stone and citrus fruit of Vouvray, and the bottomless depth of Grand Cru Chablis. Each sip reveals a riveting sense of grandeur and remarkable energy that qualifies it as one of the region’s most compelling and age-worthy Sauvignon Blancs, and it makes sense. “Les Champs de Cri” is a prestigious lieu-dit that’s said to produce the most elegant and long-lived wines of Pouilly-Fumé—I could easily see it racing past its 10th birthday with incredible poise and complexity, but why would you wait? One taste of this will have you in a foot race to your remaining bottles with anyone else in the vicinity. Seriously, it’s that good, and that classic, too: There are few wines in the world I can identify correctly in a blind tasting 10/10 times. This is one of them. 

It’s fair to say that Pouilly-Fumé hasn’t been the hippest or of-the-moment wine (other than Didier Dagueneau of course) for a few decades. So, until recently, when The Wine Advocate consecrated Marc Deschamps’ property with an extremely flattering series of reviews, many wine professionals had never heard of him. Marc is a low-key, bespectacled fellow who has spent the last three decades quietly working the same small cluster of vineyards in the sleepy Loire Valley hamlet of Les Loges. Marc farms a modest 8.5-hectare collection of vineyards rooted in Kimmeridgian marl (a.k.a. terre blanche) planted predominantly to Sauvignon Blanc and a small amount of Chasselas. Four of his parcels in the village of Les Loges are labeled under the Pouilly-Fumé appellation: “La Côte,” “Les Griottes,” “Les Vignes de Berge,” and finally, the most prized single vineyard, “Champs de Cri,” which holds vines averaging 60 years of age. 

Fermentation (malolactic is naturally blocked) and the subsequent aging of today’s wine occurs in stainless steel vats, and while the majority of this region’s wine is rushed to bottle in order to be a “first-mover,” Marc waits many months longer before even racking his wine off its lees. He then allows them to hibernate until autumn. I cannot stress enough how much depth and character this slow, thoughtful process adds to the wine, and how important it is in terms of distinguishing Marc’s classic and extraordinarily complex style. This is a product of unwavering integrity and terroir expression, and we are grateful for it! 

In the glass, Deschamps’ 2017 “Les Champs de Cri” reveals a vibrant yellow core, transitioning to steely green and silver tones at the rim. After a 15-minute decant, a steely, flinty, and exotic nose explodes out the glass, led by white peach, green mango, citrus blossoms, gooseberry, bitter orange peel, grapefruit, crushed white stone, and herbal undertones. The palate is a mineral tour de force tightly layered with citrus and tropical fruits that are magnified by the wine’s rip-roaring acidity. This is undoubtedly top-level Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley and, as mentioned above, a Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé call would be the only place myself or any Master Sommelier could land in a blind tasting. If you have yet to experience the deep stimulation and gustatory thrills of a delicious and classically built Sauvignon Blanc, here’s your $36 chance! Load up!