2025 Domaine Font-Mars, Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France.
This crisp and pale light bodied Font-Mars opens up classic Picpoul freshness with lime, white flowers, tangerine and white peach and the pit, plus a cool steely stony essence, and this delicious little white goes well with all sunny occasions, poolside, the beach or picnics, great with fish, smoked meats, oysters and nutty cheeses. Drink this nice Languedoc white over the next year or so for the best of it’s charms and pleasures, what a nice wine for summertime, I’ll be enjoying it over the next few warm moths here. Picpoul de Pinet, and the grape, has as whole has seen a great rise in quality and distinction in the last few years and I have loved the wines from Gaujal, Mas Dumas Gassac who now bottle a Picpoul de Pinet, Felines Jourdan, which is one of my favorites, and Font-Mars, to name a few of the classics. In California, the grape has found a happy home, with Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon fame and Tablas Creek, who brought over quality Picpoul cuttings in the late 1990s, led the way, but now there’s dozens of producers making fine and pure examples. The new white label with dinosaurs, because they found ancient dinosaur eggs on the property, is much nicer than the old garish black and florescent one, so give this latest one a try, it is tasty stuff.
The Domaine Font-Mars has a long and storied history that dates back to 1864, as a continuous winery, though the estate may just be hundreds of years older, with Leon de Clock and his wife Camille establishing the domaine. According to the winery, from that original1864 date until today the property has been managed by the ancestors of Camille (Privat, Allié, Guibert, de Vulliod). Jean-Baptiste de Clock, their youngest son, is now the owner and continues both family’s traditions here in Picpoul de Pinet. The vineyards cover 55 hectares and the terroir contains three different types of soils, including pliocène marin in the south, river formation in the west, set along the river Negue-Vaques and bégudo Rognacien, which is a clay-chalk type, in the Northeast part of the property, all of which adds dimension and character here in this coastal area of the Languedoc. Interestingly, the chalky clay based soils are used almost exclusively in the production of the Picpoul de Pinet, giving that zesty energy, and Font-Mars uses the other parcels for Syrah, for Rosé and uniquely Malbec for their red, as seen in Cahors. The Font-Mars Picpoul, all sustainably grown sees cool all stainless fermentation and aging to deliver the signature clarity, salty note and zingy refreshment in the glass. Many Picpoul de Pinet’s are large co-op wines, but Font-Mars is all single estate made and bottled, and worth a few extra dollars, though still an exceptional value.
($20 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive