Maison Pierre Overnoy
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We came to know the wines of Pierre Overnoy in some of the finest French restaurants - they were the bottles in the corner, gathering dust, but were yet somehow "off limits" per the head Sommelier. Even without researching them, they had already attained mythical status. Do a little bit of reading and you'll discover that Overnoy himself was one of the first to readily make what we call "natural wine" - he eschewed the use of sulfur most of all, and created wines that were bursting at the seams with character.
Emmanuel & Anne Houillon run the Maison Pierre Overnoy estate after several years under Pierre's tutelage, and have only served to further improve on his legacy. We have long loved these wines, so elegant and yet simply presented - historically, all the labels are the same; you just identify the cuvée by the color of the wax! The winery routinely holds back releases until they are perfectly ready to drink.
Chardonnay is sourced from the lieu-dit Viandris, a 1.7 hectare parcel of 50+ year old vines. The white-waxed Chardonnay will be topped up throughout its long aging on the lees in foudre, generally about 4 years.
Yellow-waxed Savagnin Ouillé is direct-pressed and aged in foudre for about 10 years; time, with regular top-ups. The source is a tiny, 50-are marl-soiled plot called Parc. When you see the wine you'll know it, as it is bottled in the 500 mL size, its only indication that it is the true rare pearl of the Overnoy cellars, the most powerful and profound bottling. There will be another Savagnin in 750 mL bottles that will have been in foudre for 4 years' time, also with the yellow wax.
Ploussard receives red wax; the grapes are hand-harvested and carefully de-stemmed prior to undergoing a semi-carbonic maceration - traditionally in foudre, though there have been experimentations with concrete eggs in recent years. Often part of the vintage will be held back for further aging, releasing part of the wine after 3-4 years of aging.
There will be other rare bottlings including a "Cuvée Rosé" which is a fortified wine (with Marc) of equal parts Chardonnay and Savagnin; occasionally a Vin Jaune will occasionally be released.
