PUFFENEY "Poulsard" -vs- "Poulsard M" ?

Does Puffeney bottle Poulsard under two different labels ["Poulsard" & "Poulsard M"]?

If so, does the "M" have any significance?

I tried digging around the Neal Rosenthal site, but it doesn't look like it's been updated recently:

http://www.madrose.com/producers/producers_01.html

PS: The 2005 "M" is a very, very nice drink.

First off - I don't know the answer but will endeavour to find out, though it might not be for a few weeks ... However, here is my conjecture and a chance to ride on a hobby horse of mine:

Puffeney, like nearly all Jura and Savoie growers I know and many, many other growers in more famous regions of France too, bottles each of his regular wines (i.e. each separate grape variety/appellation/wine style that is produced in any quantity) in more than one 'hit' i.e. there will be two or three bottlings of that wine, so arguably each bottling will be slightly different because the later bottlings will have had longer time stored in bulk and will have changed slightly even if stored in neutral tank. It may be (and I have not yet asked) that Neal Rosenthal made an agreement with Jacques Puffeney that if he did a 2nd shipment that was a 2nd bottling of Poulsard from the excellent 05 vintage it should be labelled differently - good for him, I say!

The very common practice of 'several bottlings' is one that as a writer I have always felt uncomfortable about. The producers do it for a combination of reasons, mostly financial, sometimes market demands and sometimes purely practical. The reasons may be one of lacking space to store so many bottles, having to bottle some of a cuvée earlier than they really want to because good customers demand the wine and the previous vintage has been sold, or for the financial reason - it costs money to invest in bottles and corks long before you are going to sell the wine. But, if I as a writer, recommend a wine in a guide or an article, I am recommending the last bottling that I tasted (personally I choose never to write specifically about tank/barrel samples) and subsequent bottlings may be slightly different - the reader doesn't know this. In the French wine competitions (e.g. Paris, Mâcon, local ones like Jura or groupings like the Vignerons Indépendent) and in tastings for major guides, notably Hachette, a specific 'bottling' is submitted and it is - theoretically - only this bottling which may then sport the sticker saying it's won a prize or a mention. It's a very questionable practice.

I have had to learn to live with the fact that good producers - like Puffeney - will only have 'different' bottlings not 'better' or 'worse' whereas not such good producers, well, there the situation is different.

Thoughts anyone?

I'm not sure, but I heard somewhere that the letter designations are named after the first initial of the town where the vineyard site is located. I'm not sure if this is consistent practice or not, but the importer ought to know (or can ask on your bnehalf). Try emailing Rosenthal directly.

Got this info from JonPaine, one of Neal's marketing guys. One of the best in the biz, he is.
Tom



Tom,

The "M" denotes that the wine is made entirely from parcels in the hamlet of Montigny (hence, the "M"), where Puffeney's cellar is. Here, the soil is stonier argile-calcaire, giving a more precise expression of minerality. The regular cuvee includes parcels just outside of Montigny proper where the vines see more clay. All are within the village appellation of Arbois. Puffeney only makes an "M" cuvee in exceptional vintages. So it is a vineyard selection, not a cellar selection, though the wine is stored a little longer than the regular cuvee.

John Paine

P.S.,

Jacques Puffeney has only done an "M" cuvee twice, in 2003 and 2005, so it depends on the quality of the vintage and the ability to have enough wine from the small vineyard site, but can be considered a product governed by his whim.

Got this info from JonPaine, one of Neal's marketing guys. One of the best in the biz, he is.
Tom



Tom,

The "M" denotes that the wine is made entirely from parcels in the hamlet of Montigny (hence, the "M"), where Puffeney's cellar is. Here, the soil is stonier argile-calcaire, giving a more precise expression of minerality. The regular cuvee includes parcels just outside of Montigny proper where the vines see more clay. All are within the village appellation of Arbois. Puffeney only makes an "M" cuvee in exceptional vintages. So it is a vineyard selection, not a cellar selection, though the wine is stored a little longer than the regular cuvee.

John Paine

P.S.,

Jacques Puffeney has only done an "M" cuvee twice, in 2003 and 2005, so it depends on the quality of the vintage and the ability to have enough wine from the small vineyard site, but can be considered a product governed by his whim.

Well I tell you what, s/p an afternoon of deer hunting with the good ol' boys, this evening a friend of mine just let me sample some of his tender grilled venison strips in sort of a spicy teriyake sauce, and it was just screaming for the 2005 Poulsard "M".

Will look forward to visiting that pairing in the very near future.