Who makes it
Fournier Père & Fils began in 1926 when Hélène and Léon Fournier established the estate in Chaudoux, Verdigny, at the heart of the Sancerre appellation. Today, the domaine cultivates 39 hectares across 165 individual plots. Its wines cover Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and Pouilly-Fumé, bringing white, rosé and red bottles into one Loire range.
The estate's white wines include Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, while Menetou-Salon contributes Pinot Noir. Sauvignon Blanc is the sole grape variety described for the Pouilly-Fumé vineyards. The range covers Sancerre, Menetou-Salon and Pouilly-Fumé, with white, rosé and red wines.
Where it grows
Chaudoux is a wine-growing hamlet of Verdigny, positioned in the heart of the Sancerre appellation. The Sancerre vineyard extends over hills and slopes, with plots scattered across the appellation rather than gathered in one continuous block.
Menetou-Salon and Pouilly-Fumé extend the domaine beyond its home appellation. The first brings wines from Terres Blanches soils, while the second is described through a mosaic of closely intertwined soil types. Each appellation carries its own grape and ground into the bottle.
How it is made
The cellar
The Menetou-Salon Pinot Noir begins with cold maceration for one week, allowing gentle extraction of its fine aromas before temperature controlled fermentation. The wine then spends 3 to 4 months in wood. Cold maceration draws colour and perfume gradually, while time in wood gives the young red further contact with oxygen and oak.
Pouilly-Fumé Les Deux Cailloux follows a separate white wine method. Temperature controlled fermentation is followed by fine lees ageing and weekly batonnage. Fine lees are the yeast solids left after fermentation. Keeping the wine with them can add texture, while stirring returns those solids to contact with the wine.
What they make
The Sancerre range includes Les Belles Vignes Blanc and Les Belles Vignes Rosé. Les Deux Cailloux is the Pouilly-Fumé white, while Côtes de Morogues 2022 is the Menetou-Salon Pinot Noir. The bottles move across white, rosé and red styles without leaving the Loire appellations that define the domaine.
The white wines place Sauvignon Blanc at the centre of Pouilly-Fumé, while the Menetou-Salon bottle changes both grape and colour through Pinot Noir. The range therefore offers separate expressions of white Loire wine and a red made from a different variety.
Wines to try
First bottle
Choose Pouilly-Fumé Les Deux Cailloux. It is the range's Pouilly-Fumé white, made from Sauvignon Blanc and shaped by temperature controlled fermentation followed by fine lees ageing with weekly batonnage.