The great Californian wine marketer Robert Mondavi created the name Fumé Blanc in the 1960s to differentiate sauvignon blanc aged in oak barrels from the simpler unoaked style.
The term Fumé Blanc has been used for decades by wineries in California and Washington State to denote wines made in a similar style to many chardonnays with rich, toasty and sometimes smoky flavours.
There are several Fumé Blanc wines made in Australia and a Reserve Fumé Blanc is now the latest addition to the Crayères Vineyard range produced by Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser under their Terre à Terre label.
Terre à Terre was founded in 2008 as an amalgam of historic winemaking families in Champagne and the Adelaide Hills respectively.
Bizot and Croser say their new wine was inspired by the winemaking traditions of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé in the Loire Valley.
The wine is made from fruit grown on the western side of the Crayères Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc block in Wrattonbully that were 19 years old in 2023.
The wine was aged in the bottle for 18 months before release.
If you are looking for a traditional high acid, herbal and tropical SB then this is not for you.
There are a lot of textural elements here, mouthfeel and intensity to the fore, with oak supporting but not dominating.
“We believe this wine can age for 20 years or more, as can be seen in early releases of our Crayères Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc,” Bizot said.
“We draw on French winemaking traditions from the best producers in Sancerre and Bordeaux - in doing so, we aim to produce the definitive fruit expression of sauvignon blanc from the unique Crayères Vineyard terroir.”
The wine will be released on Monday with an RRP of $59. See https://terreaterre.com.au/ear on year.
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