We’re gonna miss the wines of Marc Deschamps, Neal Rosenthal’s source for righteous, real Pouilly-Fumé since the early 1980s. Marc retired after the ‘22 vintage, which makes this the last time we’ll offer these wines in this newsletter.

The wines, staples at Flatiron Wines from the beginning, have always flown under the radar, probably because Pouilly-Fumé (apart from the wines of Dagueneau) is not exactly hip. That’s the way it goes sometimes. At least this ‘unhipness’ has kept prices more than reasonable, something we can’t be mad about.

Maybe you’ve never tried Deschamps wines, and want to know what they taste like. They are certainly not piercing or thin, qualities which Sauvignon Blanc can sometimes be guilty of. Instead, they are nuanced, relaxed, and generous. Much of this is because of the great soils, mostly kimmerdigian marl, that can be found in the hamlet of Les Loges, one of the best parts of Pouilly-Fumé.

Try Champs de Cri, which comes from Les Loges and is Deschamps’ most prized vineyard. Subtly golden in hue, it offers a pleasingly round, creamy texture, with flavors reminiscent of orange peel, seashell, jasmine and peach. Delicious today for sure (a magic sushi pairing, too), but also worth tucking away for 3-10 years in the cellar.

We can't lie; it’s going to be a challenge to find new Pouilly-Fumés with this kind of complexity and substance for the price. The value has always been almost too good to be true. So we’re gonna put a few cases away in the Flatiron Wines library, and think you might want to stock up, too.

Marc Deschamps, Pouilly-Fumé Les Champs de Cri, 2022 $29.99