Notify me
2022 Pouilly-Fumé “Vieilles Vignes”
Régis Minet

Régis Minet with successor Lucia Mineur-Billet

The team at Domaine Régis Minet

Régis Minet
For Americans, Pouilly-Fumé is probably most famous for inspiring Robert Mondavi to call his Sauvignon blanc Fumé Blanc. It is a lovely name. But as usual here at KLWM, we invite you to look back to what launched such a masterly marketing idea. Fumé means smoky, and Pouilly-sur-Loire is the neat little town on the banks of the Loire where the stony vineyard soil bestows upon the Sauvignon a smoky or gunflint aspect.
The Loire there is broad and quite shallow, full of islands and constantly shifting sandbars and channels. Motorboats were useless in that stretch of the river until our winemaker, motorcyclist Régis Minet, built himself a flat-bottomed craft with a barely submerged propeller. Only it and pole-propelled skiffs can navigate the Loire there. When I visit to taste each year, he insists on taking me for a ride, so to speak. We zoom along, scraping over the sandbars, veering sharply to avoid sunken tree trunks and wine buyers, ducking to avoid hanging vines and branches, while I act cool, smiling blissfully, hanging on with whitened knuckles and pounding heart, thinking that if I told you, my clients, that I was risking life and limb to get a decent Pouilly-Fumé into your glasses, you would not take me seriously.
What I find unusual and remarkable about Minet’s old-vines cuvée is its class. I know what today’s Sancerres and Pouilly-Fumés taste like. One will perhaps be more or less aromatic, another grassier, another lighter or heavier, higher or lower in acidity . . . But how many have the class and exquisite harmony of Minet’s? Everything is in balance, there are no rough or sharp edges, nothing to set your teeth gnashing in frustration. Don’t you just love class? This is just pure, delicious, classic, definitive Pouilly-Fumé.
** In 2021, Régis handed the reigns of the domaine to his stepdaughter, Lucia Mineur-Billet. Régis and Lucia are both ready and excited for this new chapter in the estate’s history! **
—Kermit Lynch
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2022 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Sauvignon Blanc |
Appellation: | Pouilly Fumé |
Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Producer: | Régis Minet |
Winemaker: | Régis Minet |
Vineyard: | 25 - 30 years, 10 ha |
Soil: | Clay, Marl, Kimmeridgian Limestone |
Aging: | Wine ages for 6 months on fine lees in stainless steel. Depending on the vintage, the lees are stirred two to three times during this time |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 12.5% |
More from this Producer or Region

2023 Pouilly-Fumé “Vieilles Vignes”
France | Loire
Sauvignon Blanc has many incarnations throughout the world, but even in the Loire Valley—the grape’s spiritual home—Pouilly Fumé represents a very distinctive example.

2021 Vin de France Blanc “Chenin Centenaire”
France | Loire
Fermented and aged in barrel and bottled unfiltered, it features a delightful kiss of oak on the long, bracing, mouth-watering finish.

2020 Sancerre Rouge "Champs d’Alligny"
France | Loire
Previously blended into the domaine’s Sancerre rouge, the Champs d’Alligny is now its own bottling, a successful experiment if there ever was one.

2021 Chinon “Le Clos Guillot”
France | Loire
Even though all of the wines hail from Chinon, the soil, elevation, and exposition all combine to make Le Clos Guillot their cuvée with the most finesse.

2022 Sancerre “Les Cris”
France | Loire
Simply gorgeous, the Cris is sublimely perfumed, generous on the palate, and long and saline on the elegant finish.

2020 Saumur Champigny “Outre Terre”
France | Loire
Outre Terre is a tiny production of Cabernet Franc fermented in amphora and aged in barrel.

2019 Bourgueil “Les Perrières”
France | Loire
The family’s grandest wine, a brooding elixir of satiny fruit, cedar, and graphite.

2023 Saumur Blanc “L’Insolite”
France | Loire
Made from nearly hundred-year-old vines, this a great initiation into the world of Thierry’s white wines.

2022 Jasnières “Cuvée Sainte Narcisse”
France | Loire
It might be the most unusual and most delicious top-quality sweet wine you have ever tried: a pure Chenin Blanc from a special selection of late-harvest grapes in the appellation of Jasnière.
About The Producer
Régis Minet
About The Region
Loire
The defining feature of the Loire Valley, not surprisingly, is the Loire River. As the longest river in France, spanning more than 600 miles, this river connects seemingly disparate wine regions. Why else would Sancerre, with its Kimmeridgian limestone terroir be connected to Muscadet, an appellation that is 250 miles away?
Secondary in relevance to the historical, climatic, environmental, and cultural importance of the river are the wines and châteaux of the Jardin de la France. The kings and nobility of France built many hundreds of châteaux in the Loire but wine preceded the arrival of the noblesse and has since out-lived them as well.
Diversity abounds in the Loire. The aforementioned Kimmderidgian limestone of Sancerre is also found in Chablis. Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur boast the presence of tuffeau, a type of limestone unique to the Loire that has a yellowish tinge and a chalky texture. Savennières has schist, while Muscadet has volcanic, granite, and serpentinite based soils. In addition to geologic diversity, many, grape varieties are grown there too: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Melon de Bourgogne are most prevalent, but (to name a few) Pinot Gris, Grolleau, Pinot Noir, Pineau d’Aunis, and Folle Blanche are also planted. These myriad of viticultural influences leads to the high quality production of every type of wine: red, white, rosé, sparkling, and dessert.
Like the Rhône and Provence, some of Kermit’s first imports came from the Loire, most notably the wines of Charles Joguet and Château d’Epiré—two producers who are featured in Kermit’s book Adventures on the Wine Route and with whom we still work today.
More from Loire or France
2023 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Chinon Blanc
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Coteaux du Loir Blanc
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “Clos de l’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2020 Saumur-Champigny “Les Mémoires”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Chinon Rosé
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “La Marginale”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2024 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2021 Chinon
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rouge
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
2023 Bourgueil “Trinch!”
Catherine & Pierre Breton France | Loire
2022 Chinon Blanc
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2023 Coteaux du Loir Blanc
Pascal Janvier France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “Clos de l’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2020 Saumur-Champigny “Les Mémoires”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2018 Saumur Blanc “L’Échelier”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2023 Chinon Rosé
Charles Joguet France | Loire
2020 Saumur Champigny “La Marginale”
Thierry Germain France | Loire
2024 Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc “Unique”
Domaine du Salvard France | Loire
2021 Chinon
Bernard Baudry France | Loire
2022 Jasnières “Dyane”
Christine de Mianville France | Loire
2023 Sancerre Rouge
Daniel Chotard France | Loire
Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
A good doctor prescribed the wine of Nuits-Saint-Georges to the Sun King, Louis XIV, when he suffered an unknown maladie. When the king’s health was restored the tasty remedy enjoyed a vogue at court. Lord, send me a doctor like that!
Inspiring Thirst, page 117