History
Five generations of Sèves have farmed here. Pierre-Marie Sève, born in 1875, started as a hired hand in Pouilly and bought and planted his first vines in 1920. His son Francis, born in 1905, grew the domaine from 1927, marrying Marie-Antonine Ramage, whose family owned Pouilly-Fuissé vines. The couple moved into her parents' house in Solutré, which is still the domaine today.
Their son Roger, born in 1928, ran both family estates with his wife Simone. He replanted many plots and began selling the wine in bottle. His son Jean-Pierre, born in 1959, took over in 1981 with his wife Sylvie, mechanised the vineyard work and built up exports. Their children Antoine and Mathilde, born in 1987 and 1990, came back to the domaine in 2018 after careers outside wine and have run it since January 2020. The Anthilde cuvée is named after the two of them.
The domaine says it's been sold in the UK for 30 years, always through the same importer.
The area
The Roche de Solutré is a limestone outcrop that towers over the vineyards. It's a famous prehistoric site and a protected Grand Site de France. Pouilly-Fuissé covers about 800 hectares across four villages: Solutré-Pouilly, Fuissé, Vergisson and Chaintré. It became one of France's first AOCs in 1936. Sève's soils are marls rich in silica, limestone with flint-like "chailles" and fossil-rich limestone, with sandstone near the surface in places.
After more than 12 years of work by the growers, 22 Pouilly-Fuissé climats were recognised as Premier Cru from the 2020 vintage. Sève owns four of them: Aux Chailloux and Aux Bouthières in the hamlet of Pouilly, Au Vignerais in Solutré, and Les Reisses in Fuissé.
Farming and winemaking
The domaine farms its vines "de façon raisonnée", adapting what it does to each season, and is certified HVE level 3. Its vines range from 3 to 68 years old. Grapes are picked by hand or by machine at full ripeness. The juice settles for 24 hours, then ferments and ages in French oak barrels or tanks until bottling. The top cuvées spend 10 months in 228 or 500-litre French barrels. Sève suggests serving its Pouilly-Fuissé at 11 to 13°C.
Wines we stock
Pouilly-Fuissé "Terroir" 2022/23 is the domaine's core Pouilly-Fuissé.
Pouilly-Fuissé 1er Cru "Aux Chailloux" 2022 comes from a single plot facing south, on brown clay soils with chailles. The domaine describes it as slightly peppery and spicy at first, then round and rich.
Mâcon Solutré-Pouilly 2025 is the domaine's Mâcon, which it describes as a pure, fresh expression of Chardonnay.
