The main part of my production comes from the flint hillside of Saint-Andelain.
This soil is rich in flint, which stores up the days heat and then reflect it at night. In this way we obtain maximum ripening for complex, typical "pierre a fusil" wines which display more concentration of aromas.
This land is on Kimmeridge clay (little oyster).
This land has been producing high quality grapes since 1947. The same vines are being tended to by a third generation of wine growers. The wine produced from this plot is particularly intense and long lived.
I keep 50 acres (5000 sq metres) of Chasselas in order to make Pouilly sur Loire and traditional method.
The Chasselas is important within the history of Pouilly sur Loire. For 30 years, at the end of the 19th century, it was an extremely popular style. At that time the bunches of Chasselas grapes (dore de Fontainebleau) were taken directly from the harvest to Les Halles de Paris by train. After the phylloxera crisis, wine production started up again and Chasselas became a popular "vin de comptoir" (bar wine).
Pouilly sur Loire is only able to curry the "appellation contrôlée" mention when using a Chasselas grape.
Even a century ago there were already a few Pouilly wines made according to the "méthode champenoise".
With no local maintaining the interest the method disappeared. However my father: Gerard Coulbois brought this method back to life in the 1960's. He used this method not only for his own wines but also with that of number of his winemaking colleagues from Pouilly, Sancerre, Menetou-Salon, Tannay etc.
L "Ohlat" wine owes him much, and is witness to his work, which is still current today, in making wine this way, which is now called "traditionnelle"
