Fermentation and Carbonic Maceration

ISN’T FERMENTATION AMAZING?

Edouard Bourgeois
January 19, 2024

And I mean fermentation in general, not only alcoholic fermentation. Because yes of course, we may immediately think of wine and other alcoholic beverages when fermentation is mentioned but think about kimchi, coffee, cigars, soy sauce or your morning yogurt. All of these products wouldn’t exist without the magic process of fermentation. Anselme Selosse never fails to remind his audience about these other fermented products and how fermentation allows us to reveal the origin of the product, the terroir. There is something almost mysterious about the process and one can go deep into the scientifically complex aspect of it. In this article, I wanted to focus on a certain kind of fermentation we hear about often. And that is the carbonic maceration, famously used in my beloved Beaujolais region but in many other places as well. Also, this where it gets tricky. Is carbonic maceration a certain type of fermentation? To answer this question and dive deep into the matter, nothing’s better than the post from Mathieu Lapierre (of Domaine Lapierre in Beaujolais) that he recently posted on Facebook. This step by step process is perfectly illustrated and thoroughly explains what is going on. I wanted to share this with my English translation. Enjoy!

1.       HARVEST

The grape harvest and sorting of the grapes are handled by hand very meticulously in small crates so grapes stay intact and not crushed

Below, a cluster of Gamay Noir a jus blanc

Zoomed in: a peeled berry of Gamay Noir a jus blanc

2.       VATTING

The harvest is put into tanks quickly and at a cool temperature. A naturally occurring juice forms at the bottom of the vat. The quantity of juice depends on the firmness of the fruit and the method of vatting (by hand of mechanically) this juice is called “la tire”

La Tire: in the vat, only the “tire” starts fermenting thanks to indigenous yeasts (naturally present in the environment) this fermentation is immediate and spontaneous and create carbon dioxide (CO2). The quantity of “tire” will define carbonic (small quantity of juice) or semi- carbonic (high quantity of juice)

Whole Clusters: Grape clusters are whole. They do not ferment, they go under an enzymatic degradation

3.       ENZYMATIC DEGRADATION

The environment in the vat, saturated in CO2 stimulates the enzymes naturally present in the berries which extracts the color from the skin towards the core of the berry. The inside of the berry will go from light yellow, to pink, to red before turning a deep purple. The taste of the fruit will also evolve. There is no fermentation inside the berry

4.       END OF THE MACERATION

After 2 to 4 weeks on the vat, the harvest is de-vatted delicately and by hand in order to keep the grapes whole before pressing

Pictured: whole cluster of Gamay Noir a jus blanc. The berries are still intact on the stem, untouched and not fermented (na tannin extraction)

Pictured: close up of a peeled berry of Gamay Noir a jus blanc after maceration

The color, taste and chemical balance of the grapes has changed (decrease of the malic acid, color and aromatic extraction)

5.       THE PRESS 

Pressing is performed slowly and at low pressure to avoid the release of vegetal (green) tannins found in the stem

Pictured: one of the modernized presses at the domaine

Pictured: a “Gerle”, basket traditionally used to collect the press

The juice (must) that drips from the press is called “paradis”. It is already red and very aromatic even though it is not fermented

Le paradis - unfermented juice with high concentration of natural sugar

6.       GRAPES AFTER PRESSING

Grapes are still whole and the seeds remain intact with no tannic extraction thanks to the delicate handling.

Pictured: close up on a whole cluster after pressing

Pictured: berry after pressing

The malic acid has almost entirely disappeared after maceration so no malolactic fermentation may occur This also creates the risk of “piqure lactique”, inherent in carbonic maceration: without lactic acid, lactic bacteria may turn sugar into vinegar

7.       ENTONNAGE: FILLING THE BARRELS

La tire and the paradis are blended and put into barrels. At this stage, the tire contains an important concentration of fermentable yeasts (saccharomyces cerevisiae) and acts as its own fermentation starter

Pictured: our wines are unfiltered, only clarified during the elevage (aging)

Pictured: saccharomyces cerevisiae

Fermentation (alcoholic) starts as soon as Entonnage starts. During this step, a large quantity of oxygen blends into the must, stimulating the yeasts while making it difficult for the malic bacteria that perform best in anaerobic environment (in the absence of oxygen)

The shape, volume and composition of the wood barrel offers the ideal recipient for a slow fermentation and natural fining.

The elevage comes to an end the following spring

From the harvest to the bottling, no oenological additive is used (SO2, foreign yeasts, enzymes, tannins, acids) and no filtration.

A picture I took at Domaine Lapierre in 2017

Irrigation allowed on Hermitage?

June 15, 2023
Edouard Bourgeois

Hermitage: there is a bit of a mystical feel around “The Hill”. Hermitage distinguishes itself by many factors, starting with its location, along with Crozes-Hermitage, the only two appellations of the Northern Rhône on the left bank of the Rhône. All the other vineyards are on the other side of the river. Because the river turns a sharp ninety degrees there, the steep hill is perfectly nestled in the river’s elbow with ideal southern exposure providing plenty of sunlight.

It’s a small appellation, with just 137 hectares of vines, mostly planted with red grapes (exclusively Syrah), but there are some 30 hectares of white varieties (Marsanne, with a bit of Roussanne) that give ethereal and singular white wines. Although very discreet on wine lists and even among collectors due to its rarity, the white Hermitage is a wine of wonders. Once the most expensive white wine of France when Thomas Jefferson described it as the best white wine in the world in 1787, this blend of golden Roussanne and Marsanne is like nothing else and can age for decades.

There is a small group, about a dozen landowners, on the hill of Hermitage. Chapoutier owns the most with 34ha, followed by Jaboulet Ainé, with 25ha, including the vineyards of “Hermitage La Chapelle”, a wine on the list of “legends” with the 1961 vintage. The third place goes to one of the longest father-to-son-run wineries in the country, Domaine Chave, with its 25ha. A few others who grow grapes on Hermitage are Delas, Ferraton, Faurie and the Sorrels. 

On a recent visit to the Rhône, it was brought to my attention from some of these producers that after the punishing drought in the regions they have experienced for the past few years, the question of irrigation surfaced. Allowing this practice on the Hill of Hermitage, dry-farmed for many centuries, would be groundbreaking news in the world of wine. It also raises another question. If Hermitage allows it, what about Côte-Rôtie, or even further north, dare I say Burgundy?   

In Hermitage, the extreme 2020 vintage first raised the question of irrigation. Fortunately, rain eventually came that year. In 2022, a similar weather pattern brought a long period of drought and today, the conversation is no longer just gossip. Locals talk about using water pumped from the nearby Rhône River that would be stored in tanks at the top of the hill of Hermitage. It is also said that the vines would have to be watered manually (as if labor was not difficult enough on Hermitage!) so no drip system would be used.

And one important factor in the decision making of this proposition is that each landowner’s vote would weigh proportionally to the size of their land on the hill.

Although Michel Chapoutier was mentioned in a 2013 Decanter article as pretty confident in the future of winegrowing in the Rhône, I heard that he could accept the decision to irrigate on Hermitage and as the main owner of the appellation, that would make a substantial difference. Producer Guillaume Sorrel from Domaine Marc Sorrel is among those against irrigation. I haven’t heard about the others.

But after all, is irrigation even beneficial when rain fails? Grapevines originate from the Mediterranean basin where summers can make the thermometer rise over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And these grapes have been producing wine for over two thousand years. So is the plant really suffering that much from the drought? Or is it adapting to the new environment as some of the most established vignerons suggest? In fact, many think that irrigation may be detrimental to making high quality wine since it may promote superficial growth of the root system, since water becomes available on the surface, roots don’t need to dig deep to find it, resulting in wines with less character. Irrigation may also give wines with higher alcohol, making them unbalanced and heady.

News from the vineyards

Daniel Johnnes
April 14, 2023

The Canary Islands - Lanzarote

In need of a small vacation after La Paulée 2023, my wife and I decided on an expedition to the Canary Island of Lanzarote, prompted by our son who was doing some remote work there. Remote in every sense of the word! I knew of the wines of the Canary Islands and heard of the wild landscape but had never been there.

So after a day in Madrid, we hopped off to Lanzarote for 3 days. My first thought in getting off the plane was, “All I see is black volcanic soil as far as the eye can see. What in the world are we going to do here for three days”.

Lanzarote is about 125 kilometers of the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean and was the first of the eight Islands to be inhabited in the Roman era. It has a volcanic origin and the dramatic eruptions of 1730 and 1736 had a profound impact on its way of life. Prior to the eruptions, cereal was the most important agricultural activity. Post eruptions, about a quarter of the island was covered by lava and forced much of the population to flee to Cuba and the Americas.

It wasn’t until 1775 when the first winery, Il Grifo, was founded. Although we saw wines from this winery on lists, we visited only one, Bermejos, while on the island.

The principal grape varieties are Listan Blanco (Palomino) and Listan Negro, although there are 4 or 5 other indigenous varieties all on their own root stock as phylloxera never made it to the island.

I can say the wines I tried were truly volcanic and had a distinctive minerality to them, almost salty and a bit rustic in character. They are fantastic for grilled fish and meat and wonderful alternatives at very fair prices.

My first thought of worrying what to do for 3 days quickly became, “why are we leaving so soon”?

HENRI JAYER

February 14, 2023

by Daniel Johnnes

Born in 1922, Henri Jayer’s intention was not to be a winemaker but as the youngest of three children, rather than going to war, he stayed behind to look after the family holdings in Vosne-Romanée and worked alongside his father at the age of 17. He later went to the University of Dijon to study oenology and allegedly had another resident of Vosne-Romanée, René Engel, as his professor.

Little by little he expanded his production to around 6 hectares from his own holdings and later from a sharecropping arrangement with Madame Noirot-Camuzet where he took care of the vineyards, made the wine and shared the production, with his portion bottled under his own name and label. This arrangement lasted until 1987 though he remained as a consultant until Jean-Nicolas Méo took full control in 1989.

Those vineyards mostly around Vosne-Romanée were Richebourg, Echezeaux (Les Cruots and Les Treux lieux dits), Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Brulées, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts, Vosne-Romanée Village from 3 plots (Les Barreaux, Les Saules et Les Vigneux), Nuits Saints Georges 1er Cru Les Meurgers and the famous Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux.

Cros Parantoux (1.1 hectares) has mythic status. It is a vineyard high on the slope just above Richebourg and wedged between Richebourg and Petits Monts. The soil is poor and was abandoned after World War II. A previous owner turned it into a field of jerusalem artichokes but Henri purchased 0.72 hectares (with Meo-Camuzet owning .30ha) and with the aid of dynamite blasted through the rocks - and artichoke - and planted Pinot Noir).

Henri nurtured his plot and bottled it along with his Vosne-Romanée village until 1978, after which he decided to label the wine as Cros Parantoux until his last vintage in 2001. Today it is owned by his nephew Emanuel Rouget and the remainder stays with Meo-Camuzet.

Even though Jayer retired officially in 1995, he continued to produce one or two barrels of his legendary Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux wine until 2001. As one can imagine, this wine is extremely rare and can sell for around $10,000 for one bottle.

One wonders what caused Jayer to achieve the status he had up until his retirement and retains today. No question the wines were delicious but his personality was one of an artisan who had an instinctive, intuitive approach to making the wine. Once when I was speaking with him in his office, I asked what his philosophy was about making wine. His answer shocked me but also informed me that he was not following any formulas or recipes whatsoever. He told me he looks at his grapes in the vineyard close to harvest and has a vision of what kind of wine they could become. His imagination of this wine would guide him through the work in the winery and cellar.

He was ahead of his times with a visionary approach to viticulture and winemaking. Where chemical treatments, fertilizer and high yields were the norm after World War II and Burgundy wines were not in high demand until the late 90s and early 2000s, he did not succumb to the chemical sales pitch. He was not concerned with the market for his wines. Instead, he was driven by minimal intervention and quality first.

He was an early practitioner of low yields in the vineyard, sorting out any unripe or disease infected grapes, fully destemming the grapes before vatting and a cold presoak for 3-5 days prior to fermentation with natural yeast. This seems natural and almost trendy today but at the time he had more of a look of a heretic. After pressing, the baby wine would always go into expensive 100% new oak barrels. If a taster asked him if his wine was over-oaked with such an abundance of new oak, his answer was, “if a wine tastes of oak, the wine is not over-oaked, it is under-wined”. Meaning the wine was not concentrated enough and could not handle the oak.

He was always practical. I remember talking to him about the wines produced after the hot 2003 summer. It was the first time Burgundy had experienced such extreme heat and started its harvest in August. 

The theory is a grape vine requires 100 days of ripening between when the vine flowers to when the grapes are ready to pick. Pick too early and the wine is underripe, the stems green and can produce a green tasting astringent wine. The sugar levels may have looked good in a laboratory but in reality, the vine was not ready to deliver its fruit.

When I asked Henri about those who picked around August 16-17, because they were afraid of the grapes shriveling on the vines and producing raisiny, pruney flavors, he said, “You can’t pick after 87 days. The vine isn’t ready. It needs 100 days!

There are quite a few examples of 2003s that show under ripe flavors. A winemaker needs to take chances, as they are at the mercy of mother nature. But time and time again, I hear the great winemakers are willing to push the limits and wait through risky conditions because they know or maybe sense that the grapes are not at perfect ripeness. This is how Henri lived.

He also lived with a big heart. Until fairly recently it was uncommon for winemakers to share their knowledge with anyone outside the family and the domaine. I remember once at La Paulée de San Francisco I had a panel discussion and tasting with several winemakers. One of them was from Meursault and the question came from the audience how he would describe the wines of Meursault compared to those of Puligny-Montrachet. His answer was shocking and funny at the same time. He hesitated a moment and then said, “I’m not really sure although I did at one time go to Puligny”. Puligny is only about 4.5 kilometers from Meursault! I have also observed numerous times at La Paulée de New York or San Francisco or Los Angeles how, among the 35 or 40 different domaines representing the Cote de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, many of them had never met before. It is common to hear, “I had to cross the ocean to meet my neighbors”.

This was not the case with Henri. He was an open book and had nothing to hide. In the mid 80s, when a new generation was succeeding their parents, he would either visit or receive in his cellar rising superstars such as Dominique Lafon, Christophe Roumier or Veronique Drouhin. He would share his knowledge and offer his wisdom in a nearly mystical yet unpretentious way. And always with encouragement, joy, confidence, a splash of humor and a twinkle in his eye.

His wines clearly reflected his personality. They were/are lively, joyous, clear, textural, nuanced, balanced complex and always delicious. Delicious was his key descriptor. I remember asking him about when would be the best time to drink his wine. His answer was, '“a good wine should always be delicious. It should not need to age to come into balance and give pleasure. It should give pleasure from the moment it is released from the cellar. Of course, it develops different traits with age but it is always DELICIOUS!”

Of the many times I would meet, speak and taste with him, there are two moments that stand out for me. The first was during a tasting in his cellar. He went into another room and came back with a bottle. There is nothing more troublesome than to be blind tasted by a legendary winemaker in his or her own cellar. First, the wine has never traveled. So, even if I had tasted the wine before, it would not taste as youthful as one that just traveled a few feet and had been stored at the perfect temperature. So, there is the fear of saying it is older than it is. There is also the fear of saying the wine is from a lower appellation than what he is tasting me on. How could I say an Echezeaux 2000 tastes like a Vosne-Romanée village ten or fifteen years older? I would lose credibility. This one had brilliant ruby reflections. It had an aroma of crushed black and red berries, cherries, violets and a hint of spice. It had a texture of velvet and a persistent long finish. “Cros Parantoux 1990!”, I declared. Wrong. Vosne-Romanée Village 1992. I was glad it wasn’t the other way around. Simply delicious but it clearly over delivered on its appellation and vintage. Typical Jayer

The other memorable experience was the last time I saw him.

We had become fairly close ever since I threw a retirement party for him in New York in 1997. I would pay him visits in his office. There was no longer any wine to taste yet he enjoyed sitting and sharing stories and his experiences, answering any questions I might have. How I felt privileged! I never felt intimidated or embarrassed speaking with such a legend. He became my Burgundy Yoda.

Henri suffered for several years with cancer and when I would ask to visit he would politely and quietly say, “not now, I’m tired. Call me another time”. After a couple of years of trying to see him again, he answered by asking me to come to the office.

This time was different. We talked and after about 20 minutes about his life as a vigneron, he said, “Daniel, I wanted you to come so I could say goodbye”.

News from the Vineyard

by Daniel Johnnes

February 10, 2023

Domaine de la Grange des Pères

My quick trip to France this week was inspired by an invitation from the Vaillé family to come visit.

Vaillé owns Domaine de la Grange des Pères in the commune of Aniane in the Languedoc about 45 minutes north west of Montpellier.

My first stop was the fast train train to Lyon and a quick drive to Côte Rôtie to visit my friends, Guillaume, Brigitte and Gilbert Clusel-Roch. Brigitte and Gilbert are semi-retired although Gilbert’s preferred form of retirement is rebuilding the stone wall terraces around his vineyards. A quick click on their website will direct you to a Rolling Stones song “Don’t Stop” with Gilbert performing a Herculean task of reinforcing his century old walls.

Of course I can’t visit Clusel-Roch without timing it for lunch. This time, it was Brigitte’s classic blanquette de veau, accompanied by Côte Rôtie La Viaillère 2010 (2nd vintage).

Next stops were Julien Cecillon, Maxime Graillot and Jean Gonon. All three taking me further south on my journey to the Languedoc and the Vaillé residence, providing snapshots of both the 2022 and 2021 about to be bottled. Both good to excellent vintages with more depth and concentration in the 2022s, which does not necessarily mean better. 2021 is delicious and more approachable early.

I was full of emotion arriving in Aniane chez Vaillé. This is a property I visited in 1993 when his first vintage 1992 was still in barrel. I remember that visit like it was yesterday. We took a quick tour of the cellar and then spent a very long afternoon by the canal with my wife, Sally and our young 4 year old Lionel and one year old Barnaby.

Laurent, the genius behind the wines, had spent several years learning from the masterful Eloi Durrbach of Domaine de Trevallon (Baux de Provence) and Coche-Dury in Meursault. Laurent had to dynamite a hillside to plant his Syrah, Mourvèdre, Roussanne, Marsanne and a splash of Counoise, Chardonnay and Cabernet.

Over time, these wines achieved cult status and found their way onto the top tables of France and abroad.

Sadly, Laurent tragically died in the spring of 2021 and I had not been back until today. The wines are still magical, with deep rich flavors, yet light on their feet with fresh acidity, silky tannins and a hint of game.

These deep soulful wines never had a Languedoc appellation other than IGP Hérault or Vin de Pays de l’Hérault. Laurent did not want them to be associated with a place. They were and still are simply La Grange des Pères. May Laurent rest in peace.

Burgundy 2021, A First Look

Raj Vaidya

2/1/2023

I’m just back from a week of tasting the spoils of the minuscule 2021 harvest in Burgundy and wanted to share some of my (broad) observations about the vintage. At first glance, the season was such a difficult one that many producers saw production levels drop to levels as low as 20% of a normal crop, which can be truly disastrous for domaines which are small family owned businesses.

Veronique Drouhin’s Instagram post showing the candles burning in April 2021

The vintage was precursed by a mild winter which led into an unseasonably warm spring, allowing the beginnings of bud break as early as March 25th in some areas of the Côte de Beaune with Pinot Noir, and by early April both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir across both Côtes were full of sap and beginning to bud. Then, as happens often in April, the weather changed dramatically and temperatures plunged on the 4th of April to near freezing. Two nights of cold and dry weather wasn’t too worrisome, but on the morning of the 7th of April a frost warning was sounded, and much of the Côte prepared candles to burn in the vineyards overnight to combat the deep freeze.

There are several ways in which frost can damage the buds of the vine. If temperatures are cold enough, the buds simply freeze solid, and the sap inside the plant retreats towards the roots, leaving the buds lifeless. Other times, on mornings after very cold temperatures the rising sun can cause a sort of burning within the frost settled around the buds, effectively the magnified and refracted light of the sun burns the buds. On this occasion the frost damage was a combination of the freezing of the buds completely, along with a heavy snow which began to fall unexpectedly (mostly in the southern Côte de Beaune.)

The damage was truly epic, with vineyards on all parts of the slope severely damaged and in some cases, wiping out some mid-slope vineyards completely. Usually frosts tend to affect the highest parts of the slope (Village or Premier Cru) or the low lying flat areas (typically village or generic vineyards) but this time, the damage was truly universal, affecting all parts of the Côte.

Some buds survived the frost, and as the season warmed up and vegetative growth of the vine exploded, most vignerons were left to survey the damage and realize that their crop would be very small. This is always a tough pill to swallow, as the tiny amount of grapes does not mean any less work in the vineyards through the season, so they had to look forward to a big workload with very little reward. Sadly, the tiny yield was only the beginning of their worries. The uneven bud structure amongst what remained caused vineyards to overcompensate with vegetative growth, so the canopies of the plants grew quickly and wildly. This wouldn’t have been problematic by itself were it not for the weather of June and July, which saw a tremendous amount of rain spread throughout the months. Mildew and oidium pressure arrived by late June and with no end to the rain in sight, producers were scrambling with how to deal with the fungi. Quickly the powdery mildew took hold, forcing growers to spray copper and sulphur repeatedly throughout the growing season. The effect of the mildew further decreased the yields, leaving growers wondering what condition the few harvestable grapes would be in at the end of the season.

Finally, when August arrived, the region dried out a bit. As the harvest approached, many worried that because the yield was so small the level of concentration in the grapes would be heightened but this did not appear to be an issue after all, as the difficulties of the season caused the grapes to be light in color and alcohol, and a little bit diluted. The dilution actually helped fight that concern of over concentration and yielded wines that seem very pretty, light and a little ‘old fashioned’. The wines are in their infancy now, but still there are a few takeaways I gleaned from tasting quite a few…

Guillaume d’Angerville welcoming us to taste the 2021 range, perhaps for the first and last time!

Whites seem to show beautiful energy, but not in the way vintages like 2007 or 2014 would, rather a somewhat subtle and light bodied freshness and length. The wines are very salty, saline from the mineral expression. The lower yields caused some of the whites to have a slightly angular structure, but I believe these will resolve themselves in time. The reds are extremely fine, reminding me of vintages like 2001, 2002 and 2008 in some weird combination. They have sneakily good structure, but the velvety tannins and light body are the primary impression one walks away with after tasting them. At this stage, just prior to the bottling of the 2021 vintage, the Pinots are almost tasting like more mature wines, showing fragrances and openness suggestive of wines with a little bottle age. They will surely revert to being a bit closed after the shock of bottling, but I forsee them aging extremely well down the road.

That is, if there are any bottles to put away in one’s cellar to begin with. Guillaume d’Angerville welcomed us at his domaine stating, “we will be tasting the 2021 vintage, so pay attention, and remember this experience, because there are so few bottles that you may never taste them again…”. This was a sentiment shared by many, which must be all the more frustrating for the producers; a difficult vintage which produced beautiful wines which almost nobody will get to enjoy because of the rarity of the bottles.

Frédéric Mugnier

Daniel Johnnes
February 3, 2023

For me, the red wines of Domaine Jacques Fédéric Mugnier are among the most compelling in all Burgundy. Not only are they aromatically seductive; they often display the silky texture and vibrant intensity found in the best expressions of Pinot Noir.

Yet there is so much more to appreciating a wine than just its aroma and taste. I am lucky to have the advantage of knowing many winemakers and somehow this knowledge has an impossible to explain influence on my palate. If I don’t sympathize with a winemaker for whatever reason, I am less inclined to be moved by his or her wines.

If you know Dominique Lafon and his gregarious character, you understand (and perhaps like) a little better the exuberant style of his wines.

With Fred Mugnier or Freddy as his friends call him, a tasting is always more than a simple exhibition of the current vintage. There can be a deep reflective conversation about the world we live in and somehow the discourse makes a full circle back to the topic at hand, his wine.

On my most recent Sommelier Scholarship trip, I asked him if he had done experiments with biodynamic treatments in his vineyard and did he see any improvements. A simple question very commonly asked to winemakers. His answer was a simple, “no”

Biodynamics and organic viticulture have become more and more common in Burgundy, France and throughout the wine producing regions of the world. This movement also coincides with a growing awareness of our carbon footprint and also the commonly heard phrase, that ‘the quality of the wine starts in the vineyard’.

Fred answered my question simply by saying “no”. It was only later in the day that I realized he had unleashed a proverbial bomb recently in publishing an article on his website questioning biodynamic practices.

In the middle of harvest 2022, an article appeared in a wine publication saying how, ever since Mugnier started with biodynamics in his Clos de la Maréchal vineyard, his wines have improved dramatically. This article set him off and even with the harvest in full swing he published this article to set the record straight and express his thoughts on the subject, which he says have been percolating in his mind for 30 years.

It is a fairly long, thoughtful and factual article dissecting and questioning the adherence to this type of viticulture. So polarizing was the article that it provoked a response from several of his friends who have long embraced biodynamics and a call from Aubert de Villaine from Domaine de la Romanée Conti for a meeting.

Fred is not afraid of stirring the pot but he doesn’t do it for the sport of it. He does it in a most logical way to question practices that people apply. He thoughtfully weighs the risk benefit of it - something that many people do not do because they simply do it with a herd mentality. This is the same behavior people apply when they say “natural” wine is better or “organic” is better. No sulphur is better. Filtration is bad. These are just some examples that may or may not be true but so often are used and applied for the wrong reasons. Often, they are just marketing slogans.

Well, Fred pulled back the curtain and there is a dialogue that is now circling the planet on this topic. It may make some people uncomfortable but from discomfort comes change and intelligent conversation.

Because of his thougtful critique I think I like Fred’s wines even more today than before my visit!

News from the Vineyard: A jogging tour of the Premier Cru Vineyards of Beaune

October 13, 2022

Raj Vaidya

Last Sunday in Beaune, I awoke to a brilliant, sunny and crisp morning and decided I’d go for a bit of a jog. While I often like to run in the vineyards there I have never before really traversed the better part of the appellation, so I decided to take a few videos en route to chronicle the lay of the land amongst the Premier Crus of those hillsides. I often find that seeing the places and understanding the topography really helps to understand the vineyards.

Beaune, I’ve always said, is perpetually underrated, and these vines really do produce some tremendous examples of Burgundy at very low prices at the Premier Cru level. I think a big part of the reason for this is that historically, larger landholders and negociants alike would blend several vineyards in the appellation so many great sites have struggled to gain fame on their own. I’ll point out some of the vineyards I really love and will highlight some wines made from them below. Please forgive the sound quality of these clips, but enjoy the traipse through Beaune…

I began by running from the bottom of Grèves to the hamlet of Sur le Grèves and north towards the Marconnets and Clos du Roi.

Domaine Albert Morot has made some great Marconnets over the years, worth seeking out.

Next I headed downhill between Bressandes and Cent-Vignes (excellent examples of each to be found from the cellars of David Croix…) towards the Toussaints.

Grèves is a tremendous vineyard, arguably the best in Beaune, and great examples are to be found from Lafarge, Lafon, Drouhin and the iconic l’Enfant Jesus bottling from Bouchard. Jean-Claude Rateau also makes a unique expression which is superb (I misspeak his name as Jean-Jacques on the video, my error.)

I went back uphill through Grèves towards the Teurons and then Cras next. I love Bouchard’s Teurons, always super, mineral and precise…

Cras is a fantastic offering from David Croix as well.

The road which marks the southern boundary of Cras leads back towards the Hautes Côtes and a combe, or side valley. South of here I headed uphill again towards Aigrots.

Champs Pimont is quite expertly made at Domaine Clos de La Chapelle. Avaux (specifically the Clos des Avaux) is a long standing favorite of mine from Jadot, and Aigrots (white and red) is fantastic from Lafarge. Below, a pic of the menacing Frenchman doing his best Elmer Fudd impression :).

Past the Aigrots at the top of the hill we get to the Clos des Mouches as we close in on the next combe, and the border with Pommard.

Drouhin makes the best Clos des Mouches, in my opinion.

Heading along the southern boundary towards the Route Nationale, we pass from Clos des Mouches to Boucherottes and Epenotes. Boucherottes contains a clos which is the monopoly of Jadot, Epenots is a climat which straddles Beaune and Pommard (and in Beaune is split between Premier Cru and Villages.) A nice example can be found nowadays from Antoine Jobard.

Heading back to the appellation’s center on the bottom of the Premier Cru hill, I pass the Chouacheux (Jadot makes an example) and head back into the village via Reversées (a great example of white Beaune Premier Cru from Clos de la Chapelle…)

Hope you enjoy this tour of the vineyards, being there in early October gives you a clear sense of why this is known as the Côte d’Or with these beautiful golden, autumnal colors!

News from the Vineyard - Domaine Comte George de Vogüé

New blood at Legendary Domaine Comte George de Vogüé

Jean Lupatelli

October 6, 2022
Edouard Bourgeois

With 7.2 ha holdings in Grand Cru Musigny, the de Vogüé plots in Musigny account for 70% of this legendary vineyard, producing one of the most elegant and profound wines of the Cote d’Or. With their seven lieux-dits within Musigny, De Vogüé makes the most complete picture of this prestigious appellation. However, the winemaking style, reviewed further, is the other essential piece to understand Musigny. The rest of Musigny is divided between 10 owners, some of them just lucky to farm a skinny sliver of land, such as Domaine Georges Roumier. Usually around one barrel, and almost two in 2022, Christophe Roumier’s Musigny is as outstanding and refined as it is rare.

The de Vogüé domaine dates back to the 15th century, even though the name de Vogüé first entered the Burgundy history in 1766. The domaine has been under the same ownership for 20 generations, which is very unique even by Burgundy standards. Indeed, most domaines have been established after the revolution in 1789.

Francois Millet has been making famous wines there starting with the 1988 vintage, 2020 being his last. It is now Jean Lupatelli, who formerly worked in the Rhône at Domaine Pierre-Jean Villa, who oversees winemaking at the legendary Chambolle-Musigny domaine, groundbreaking news in the world of wine. Often in Burgundy, change is slow and progressive. The next generation typically spends time learning from the older and succession is a smooth transition. From what Raj, Daniel and I understood when visiting de Vogüé and tasting with M. Lupatelli, he didn’t spend much time working alongside his predecessor and quickly gained the full authority of winemaking, with the crucial support of Eric Bourgogne, the vineyard manager who joined the domaine in 1996. With the challenging 2021 vintage as his first in Chambolle, Jean Lupatelli seems to be on a mission to modernize the domaine. For example, he introduced a new way to manage the harvest that involves small plastic baskets and quicker transportation of the grapes from the vineyards to the fermenters to avoid bruising the grapes and to limit unwanted maceration. Sorting is also very much on Jean’s radar but what appears to be the main update is the use of whole clusters, a practice we are now seeing more often in Burgundy. If in the past, the entire harvest was destemmed at de Vogüé, starting with 2021, up to 50% of the grapes were left whole in the vats. That was the case for the Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru, a wine made entirely from young vines of Musigny Grand Cru. By young vines, the domaine means under 25 years old, which is not so young! Between 2021 being a tiny crop and the fact that these vines are getting older, only two barrels of Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru were made that year, and it tasted lovely out of the barrel.

We were lucky to taste the whole range of 2021, from the Chambolle-Musigny village to the iconic Musigny, all from barrel.

2021 was a challenging year in Burgundy. Mother Nature really threw a curved ball, starting with too much rain and unforgiving snow. The most problematic was a devastating episode of frost that some recalled seeing last in the historic frosts of 1956 across Europe. 2021 was then marked by tiny yields of what seemed a pretty thin wine at first. However I found much charm in the wines I tasted from barrel at diverse domaines such as Vincent Dancer, Henri Boillot, Ghislaine Barthod and Georges Roumier. The overused term “classic” really finds its meaning to describe 2021. I guess we got used to warmer temperature, making wines with deep colours (2020 is a great example) and high alcohol levels. 2021 is more subtle but the fruit can be quite lovely with aromas reminiscent of small red berries rather than the ripe black cherry flavor profile of 2020 or 2019.

We tasted the more dense and robust Bonnes-Mares, a Grand Cru appellation mostly in Chambolle-Musigny but also in the neighboring commune of Morey-St-Denis. The appellation is also known for its two distinct soils with the “terres blanches” at the top of the slope where limestone prevails; the “terres rouges” has a generous amount of clay. The Bonnes Mares 2021 showed the expected power that appellation suggests, even if 2021 is considered a light vintage. In fact, we also tasted a 2020 made by Francois Millet which was massive in terms of color and strength. The Musigny 2020 clearly had a noble and perfumed signature - nevertheless, a big wine.

I have always thought the de Vogüé wines were a bit hard, austere with firm tannins that didn’t quite let the delicate Chambolle bouquet sing. I am excited to see what the future will bring for the domaine with a new winemaker and his new approach. This is no small responsibility when you own the vast majority of Musigny.

Will this old cute pump survive?

News from the Vineyard

Daniel Johnnes

July 19, 2022

Mid Summer Vineyard Tour

I make a point of getting a view of the vineyards during the summer and most often closer to harvest to get a bird’s-eye view of what challenges nature has presented. It helps inform my opinion and understanding of why the wines could be a certain way once finished.

Wine writers are famous for making premature declarations on a vintage. Based on weather patterns, crop size, projected harvest dates and similarities to previous vintages, they will often make statements such as, “vintage of the century” or “total wash out” or whatever, in order to be the first off the press with a prediction. Big predictions even before the first grapes begin to ferment!

I arrived July 8th under sunny skies and warm weather, nothing extreme. The people were happy and I heard no talk of the vineyard needing multiple treatments to fight the common oïdium, mildew, leaf roll and other ailments.

Spring and warm weather came early and with bud break and flowering uninterrupted, the predictions are for another August harvest. This one could start as early as August 20th in the Côte de Beaune.

One big difference between this vintage and other recent hot vintages such as 2018, 2019, 2020 is the amount of water the plants have received. Rainfall has been sporadic yet consistently nourishing the vines enough to avoid leaf burn and promote a healthy photosynthesis. In addition to small rainfalls, there was a big one on June 22nd that sent a scare across the Côte as it was mixed with hail that did some damage around Gevrey and other isolated communes in the Côte de Nuits.

In fact, after many years of viewing the vineyards at this time of year, I have never seen them so green. Normally, there are patches of yellow and brown but this year has been a picture perfect tableau of dark, rich green.

As they gear up for a week of near 100 degree temperatures, people are prepping for a mid-summer break before coming back mid-August to get ready for harvest.

Lots of smiles all around and plenty of crossed fingers. Not only does this one look healthy but it also looks abundant, which is desperately needed especially after the tiny crop in 2021 where quantities were down as much as 80%.

Marion Nauleau-Mugneret (left) and Lucie Teillaud-Mugneret (right) the next generation of Domaine Georges Mugneret Gibourg.

The perfect duo, Clotilde and her father Frédéric Lafarge of Domaine Michel Lafarge

Chassagne-Montrachet - a Winemaker's View

Victoire Chabert
July 14, 2022

After discovering an unexpected and splendid Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Abbaye de Morgeot 2017 of Olivier Leflaive at our early Bastille Day Apéro, I wanted to dive a bit deeper into the appellation, so I once again turned to the writings of my uncle Patrick Essa, the winemaker at our family Domaine Buisson-Charles. It is somewhat technical but I hope you enjoy as much as did!

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Chassagne-Montrachet
by Patrick Essa

The village of Chassagne could undoubtedly be designated as "the" archetypal model of a wine-growing commune, so much so that it breathes the vine and the wine. Its scattered houses almost all have a view on the vineyard, its tortured plan seems to have been dictated by the cultivation imperatives, its narrow paths and its streets which all end at the foot of the hillsides... In Chassagne, man seems to take a back seat to the land that bears the vintages and never hesitates to collect himself before working it. Entering the "world" of Chassagne is in many ways like entering a religion, one must accept that here the permanence of culture and know-how are always present inside the bottles.

This extensive finage, enclosed between Santenay to the South, Saint Aubin to the North-West and Puligny to the North-East, measures a little over 300 hectares. A quick look at its morpho-geology reveals a combe that cuts the vineyard in two at the level of the Grand Cru sector and a regular slope facing due east that rises more steeply on the top of the southern slope. The last commune of the Côte d'Or south of the Cote de Beaune, it is directly under the influence of the Great Fault which collapsed the base of the Bathonian, more calcareous, at the level of the top of the Argovian marls, and that of the Synclinal of Volnay (see the analysis of these phenomena in the texts evoking the Côté Chalonnaise), which brings up the substrata of the Lias and the hard limestones of the Jurassic. For these reasons the cultivation of Pinot Noir vines and the extraction of stone are naturally present in these regions. For a long time the commune was synonymous with almost exclusive red wines which were only completed by a few zones of Chardonnays identified for a long time and limited on the northern slope near Puligny and in the heights of the sector known as "la Montagne" between the finages of Saint Aubin in the North and Santenay in the South.

I defend here the obvious idea that positions this fabulous terroir as one of the best for the cultivation of Pinot Noir outside the sectors historically devoted to Chardonnay. And I will be quite severe with the "white" plantations that colonize the lower, more clayey areas of the hillside as well as the sector that stretches from "Maltroie" to the various crus of the hamlet of "Morgeot". The magical name of Montrachet has been used to produce excellent white wines, always impeccably vinified, while reducing the reds to a small portion that hardly fits in with the geology of the place. A simple market logic. But I believe that some producers of the vineyard are aware of this, and it is obvious that things will evolve in a fairer way in the future.

The "Village" appellation zone: this vast zone extends under the first growths and measures more than 120 hectares. If we exclude the sector of vines contiguous to that of Puligny-Montrachet, it should be entirely devoted to the production of bouqueted and fine Pinot Noirs combining greediness and accessibility in youth. These gently sloping soils are fairly clayey and sticky and produce wines that can become heavy if they are cut too late. Fruity wines, quite full and enveloping, they can be interesting in the best places such as Les Masures, La Bergerie, Les Chênes, La Canière, le Clos Devant and les Chaumes.

Much more interesting is the northern part of these villages because it is inclined towards the south or on a small flat area - En Encégnière - the soil is stonier and clearer and the wines here have a tension that clearly ranks them among the best villages of Beaune for Chardonnay. The best lieu-dit is undoubtedly Blanchot Dessous along with the highly regarded Houillères.

There is also a cooler and more chalky upper zone which includes Pimont, Parterre du Clos Saint Jean, Combards Dessus and Peux Bois. This area is not very large, but it produces lively wines with a fine texture that are excellent in an early year and that are frequently blended with the lower ones to bring their natural acidity.

Several sectors mark the finage of the Chassagne premiers crus and all are not at the same level of excellence if we consider their nature associated with the "Chassagne" character.

Unquestionably the best are located in the extension of the top of the village of Chassagne from the Caillerets to the Clos Pitois which touches Santenay. This area of altitude oriented towards the east, in full hillside, higher, very sloping, stony and marked by marly and limestone banks gives dazzling wines which all can be considered as being among the best of the Côte des Blancs. Caillerets, Virondot, Dessus des Fairendes, Romanée, Grandes Ruchottes, Baudines are high-flying crus which can acquire a finesse and energy of great breed and which often prove to be finer and a little less ample than the middle crus of Meursault or Puligny.

A second block touches the northern Grand Cru zone and includes Blanchots Dessus, Dents de Chiens, En Remilly and the very small and very famous Vide Bourse which is lower down under Bâtard. More typical of the Puligny character with those characteristic white fruit notes, these are four very high level wines which unfortunately are extremely rare. They do not, however, have the dimension of the Grands Crus as they are ready to drink a little earlier and have less length.

The third block goes from the Saint Aubin vineyard to the northwest and ends against the original Clos Saint Jean. Focus on the very fine Vergers et Chaumées and the Saint Jean from the Rebichet - but admittedly you have to look! - because they are the most elegant crus of the commune and often have a happy accessibility in youth. The redder soils, less stony at the bottom, can give first class reds in Macherelles.

Clos Saint Jean and Maltroie are still planted with Pinot Noir for a large part and give some of the most sensual reds of the Côte de Beaune. I will talk about this in detail below.

Finally, the Morgeot sector, lower down the hillside, forming a sort of croup, which is today mostly planted with white grapes, should still produce exquisite reds as is the case in the sub-climate of Cardeuse, En Francemont, Boudriotte or at Roquemaure. This great red terroir goes hand in hand with the best Volnay and Pommard and is dormant as the reds here are becoming scarce.

The Grand Crus:

The Grand Cru "Montrachet" produces some of the greatest dry white wines of Burgundy and is probably the one that nowadays sells for the highest price, so much is its small surface area courted by winemakers for its multi-secular reputation. The Burgundians have always placed it a notch above their other white wines by designating it as the Grand Cru A of the Côte d'Or, its standard value in a way.

However, drinking a Montrachet at maturity has become a challenge because the 30,000 or so bottles produced each year are all reserved in advance by drinkers who do not always share their fortune with a fine knowledge of the region's whites and their potential for evolution.

The few examples I have in my cellar are always opened after a prelude that mixes two finages and continues with other great wines. I think it is important to perceive the obvious vinous carcass of this vintage so far from the white archetypes highlighted today. Often very rich, not very acidic and with a viscous texture, it has - a bit like a Rangen in Alsace - a staggering formal power that brings it closer? to the level of its matter, to the granularity of a red wine.

Produced on 8 hectares and shared by the villages of Chassagne and Puligny-Montrachet, it is marked by three distinct zones. The first, on the Puligny side, faces the east, is not very steep and is composed of a brown/red clay-limestone substrate. It gives the most balanced, fine and sensual wines of the cru. The second one, which has the same substratum on the side of Chassagne, slopes southwards and is thus a little more sunny and early, it gives slightly more opulent and intense wines. Finally, a small area included late in the cru and located on Chassagne, is placed above the cru to the south forming small terraced enclosures, these are "les dents de chiens", the soil is a little more stony and the character of the wine approaches somewhat the elegance of the nearby Chevalier. Let's be careful though, as the stylistic differences are tenuous. One property combines the latter with the Chassagne part (Prieur) and only the Colin and Amiot estates produce "pure" Dents de Chiens.

Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet is the smallest of the Burgundian Grand Cru whites if we exclude the confidential production of the white Musigny of the Comte de Vogüe. A small piece of land looking south on a narrow slope, located under the Bâtard de Chassagne - this magical rectangle was conquered "grand cru" with great difficulty at the time of the AOC classification in the first third of the 20th century.

It could have seen its western neighbor "Blanchots Dessus" supplant it because it is under the Montrachet and its exposure is just as qualitative. A bit more slope and surface area must have been to its advantage and its extreme finesse finally made it a winner.

The vineyard measures 1.57 ha, it is rectangular and its land is quite homogeneous even if the slope is slightly more marked to the west. Made of a limestone substratum a little more marked by clays than the other two Bâtards, the cru delivers wines with a surprising sensuality because it is an early solar zone which types the wines on a certain softness of texture at the same time as on a viscosity more Murisaltian than "Montrachet".

But let's not be mistaken, it has the dimension of a Grand Cru when its yield is measured and when it can thus draw from its soil a telluric energy as original as terribly seductive when young. It is with "Bienvenues" the most accessible young vintage of the Montrachet sphere and I must admit to particularly appreciating its subtle floral notes which sometimes bring it closer to the balance of Genevrières du Dessous or Charmes dessus.

A little less powerful and a little more spicy than its neighbors, it bewitches with its natural class. This small entity delivers vintages that I find quite regular and that do not seem to stand out according to their location. Intuitively, I perceive a little more tension if we move towards the east and more power and robustness if we go towards the west... But vinification, as everywhere, influences these general trends.

Bâtard-Montrachet: A sought-after wine that fetches a high price, the powerful Bâtard seems to concentrate all the class of Montrachet wines in its name. Expensive, not easy to find, always dominant, it is without question one of the most powerful and robust wines of the Chardonnay planet. And rightly so.

The 4 hectares located on Chassagne look south or form an almost flat area on the side of the Bâtard de Puligny. More precocious, set on slightly clearer and stony soils, this zone delivers the most sensual and refined wines of the climate with a ripe note of supreme elegance that is reminiscent of the great Montrachet next door with even more density. I believe this is the most qualitative Grand Cru portion of Chassagne with its Montrachet and probably also the most personal as a wine from this "Bâtard du Sud" is always a taste sensation.

Some first growths in review:

Les Caillerets: Between the Morgeot-Fairendes and Clos Saint Jean first growths, the Caillerets climate produces some of the best white wines of the Chassagne commune. Its clay-limestone soil, ideally oriented towards the east on a moderate to steep slope at the top, is undoubtedly one of the most qualitative substrates of the commune. 10 ha 60 ares in size, the original cru contiguous to the Fairendes and above the Champs Gains is completed by three sub-places that clearly resemble it: "Vigne Derrière", "Combards" and "Chassagne". The first one is the natural extension of the Caillerets, while the two others are a little higher on the hillside, in line with the village houses. Combard is a little colder and gives more incisive and tense wines that must generally be cut later. It is shared between the Coffinet and Gagnard estates.

I like this wine for its personality close to the great Montrachet which designates it as its spiritual son. It is a sappy, full and dense wine that absolutely must age to reveal itself. It is today in the top group of the crus of the Côte des Blancs and as its owners often have beautiful parcels, it is not the one that sells at the highest prices... a bargain in short! More precocious than the Virondot located above it, it is also lucky to have many excellent winemakers in its ranks.

Note the existence of a Clos du Cailleret which belongs to Vincent Girardin. Located against the first houses, it is included in the place known as "Vigne Derrière" and is surrounded by a wall with a beautiful stone portal.

Le Clos Saint Jean: is located in the upper central part of the Chassagne-Montrachet area. Historically renowned for the excellence of its fine and racy red wines, it is now available in both colors with equal pleasure. The original Clos Saint Jean, which is of modest size (about 1 hectare, owned by the Pillot and Morey-Coffinet families) includes - as is customary in this commune - a few other climates which are very close to it and which in no way spoil its high quality. Thus, a part of the "Chassagne" and the whole of the Rebichets can claim this prestigious patronymic.

As we have seen, the "rouquins" (translate "red hair") of Chassagne are wines of a rare and underestimated quality. These Pinot wines can be as delicate as some of the Côte de Nuits wines because the substratum on which they rest strongly resembles them. Let's not forget that in some places in Meursault and especially here in Chassagne, we see the Comblanchien limestone resurfacing, which strongly marks the surface strata of the Nuits and gives them that inimitable texture and energy. For a long time, Boudriotte and Clos Saint Jean were sold at a higher price in red than most of the Côtes de Beaune, with a peak in the middle of the 19th century when they were compared in quality to Vougeot and Chambertin themselves in the minds of the established wine merchants. Read again the works of Lavalle and Courtépée on this subject.

Even today I am not surprised by this prestigious "cousinhood" because when they are matured with the ambition of the best vintages, these wines can be among the best that the Côte de Beaune produces. I even admit that they seem to me to have an "even greater" potential when they are made from Pinot Noir. The market prefers them in white because they are good, the name is beautiful, sounds good in all languages and there is nothing to do with Montrachet on the "jacket" the wine lover thinks of a clear wine. I am a little saddened by this, but I bow to the choice of the producers who know all this well anyway!

There is no lack of good producers in this elite climate. I would mention in red the domaines Lamy-Pillot, Jean-Marc Pillot, Paul Pillot and Morey-Coffinet and in white Picard and Guy Amiot. But there are many variations of this cru that might require your attention. One of the most homogeneous crus of the commune without any doubt.

Chenevottes: is a cru which measures nearly 11 hectares and which, in spite of its size, remains little known to wine lovers. However, it has a great advantage because it faces Montrachet itself and is just at the entrance of the village when you come from Puligny-Montrachet and cross the national road to get there. It has undoubtedly benefited from the local habit of grouping distinct climats together to create a coherent and more representative unified entity. It is made up of three areas facing due east on gently sloping marl-limestone soils: the Bondues, which form the lower part of the cru in the shape of a triangle, the Commes, which border the national road in a narrow strip of clay soil, and the Chenevottes proper, which start at the Bondues and end at the Pasquelles and the northern edge of the Vergers. In these three sectors the wines express themselves in a rather aromatic and fine way with an affirmed delicacy which confines the wine in an elegant register that I appreciate very much. Often underestimated by amateurs and producers, it is nevertheless an excellent and regular bottle.

La Romanée: A small high altitude vineyard located in the north of the Chassagne area, La Romanée is without doubt one of the most qualitative vineyards of the commune, like the Grands Ruchottes, Farendes, Caillerets or Champs Gains and Blanchots above. It also owes to its famous name its particular "aura" and its relative added value compared to its peers. However, it is above all a terroir that has an undeniable personality. It is included in a large group called Grande Montagne, but this one is only rarely used on the bottles.

Nestled on a fairly steep slope at the top of the hillside, it overlooks the small clos and the Tête du clos, with a clear view to the east. Its brown limestone soil, rather shallow and mixed with pebbles, dries out very quickly and is quite precocious despite its high position. This gives the wines an energetic and nervous nature and above all an unspeakable finesse of texture which is reminiscent of the Bouchères de Meursault and even the Chevalier Montrachet. It is undeniably destined for lovers of chiseled and refined white wines who know how to wait a few years to taste bottles perfectly polished by a happy maturation under glass. I often taste it with intense pleasure when it is more than five years old and starts to melt its fiery nature by asserting superb floral aromas tended by an almost saline underlying line, but without any excess.

Measuring just over 4 hectares, it is not very fragmented and five owners share its sought-after production. All of them produce high quality wines and if they differ from each other by the character of the vinification, the time of harvest or even the plant material and the locations considered, they have a unity of form that is extremely rare at this level. Tasting a Romanée is therefore always a moment of refinement which undoubtedly places this parcel among the 10 best first growths of the Côte des blancs.

General characteristics of the producers whose wines I have tasted lately (2005/2015):

Château de la Maltroye: I have tasted mostly old vintages from this house that produced very classic wines until about 10 years ago. I remember an 85 and an 89 with an impressive breed, very close to the terroir with a straight profile and a very nice substance.

Morey Coffinet: The largest owner (80 ares) produces a sparkling wine of fullness on a powerful body and assertive white fruit aromas. Perfectly ripe and quite accessible by its tension in youth. It is really of very high level.

Vincent Dancer: The wines here are of a rare elegance, of a very right maturity and chiseled. The last vintages are simply extraordinary in their concentration and race.

The Paul Pillot estate is the holder of very subtle wines, not very exuberant in youth but with a strong capacity for ageing. Always very clear, woody without excess and of a school purity, they are undoubtedly intended for the stylists who like the smoothness.

-By Patrick Essa, November 2021

News from the Vineyard - Science of Olfaction

Victoire Chabert
July 1, 2022

Today I wanted to present an article from my uncle Patrick Essa, who leads the Domaine Buisson Charles estate with my aunt Catherine and their son, my cousin and oenologist Louis. Patrick is passionate about wine and his writing skills prove it. I propose that you learn more through one of his texts that he published last April and that could allow you to know more about the aromatic olfactory notes.

“A short while ago, I mentioned in these columns the aromatic deviations, empyreumatic and roasted, that affect white wines. As I delved deeper into my sensory memory, I had the idea of memory, I had the idea to list here the main defects that can be found in the wines made from Chardonnay of the Côte de Beaune. Indeed, the wine lover - who is not always a beginner of course - does not have the chance to observe the birth and evolution of its scents and aromas and can be led to confuse them with an aromatic complexity to be linked in priority to the grape variety or the terroir.

These varietal and/or terroir-specific notes can thus be parasitized by the balance of the harvested fruits and/or the residues of the vinification and maturation which are almost systematically "impure". These two poles that could be qualified as "natural" and "artificial" are opposed and lead the winemakers to make choices that tend towards a magnetic" orientation that marks their wines significantly. In a more insidious way, the wines produced since time immemorial have always been at the crossroads of these two orientations and are culturally singled out by them. Those who do not understand that the terroir alone cannot explain the image that characterizes an appellation will always try to find "extra natural/artificial" accents in the wines he tastes because these indelible accents carry in them a part of the implementation that observe those who who make them.

To clarify my point about the roasted drifts that a bottle can carry, I listed in my previous article a number of perceptions - not exhaustive - that affect the wines

Here, I will start from the aromatic note to better try to explain its genesis and its different perceptions and interpretations in the finished wine during olfaction.

1- The iodized olfactory note: this scent, which can be discreet if it comes from a slightly botrytized "wet" harvest, is often invasive in wines marked by non-noble rot, known as "grey". Impossible to eradicate without using pure lees - possible when the same appellation is produced on different climates and some are not affected by rot. Frequently impacted years: 1981, 2001 and 2010.

2- The "apple" olfactory note (of green or warm apple): the must or wine has taken on air between alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation or the latter has lasted a very long time at a slow pace. This last case frequently occurs in musts with high acid potential. Impacted years: 1994, 2008.

3- The "vegetal" olfactory note: the scents of cut hay, sage or iris come from a maturation without sun in a late year combined with a slightly too loose settling. Thick skins, quite high degrees but rarely exceeding 13, small desiccation of the berries by the wind. The pressings of these berries often give little juice and the wine turns to gentian flower on the nose. Years: 1991, 2004, 2011.

4- The "waxy" or "honeyed" olfactory note: an overripe harvest, not very acidic and sometimes marked by a real botrytis. Often the sign of a premature evolution unless the color remains golden with green reflections. The wine starts its life under glass with scents of mirabelle plum and then evolves more or less quickly towards aromas close to mead. Year 1983, 2006.

5- The olfactory note of "candied orange": a year of botrytis which is often combined with pronounced golden colors. Very aromatic when young, sometimes refining with ageing but never on the most noble fresh notes. The viscous texture can seduce. Year: 1989, 1992, 1995.

6- The olfactory note of white truffle: from raisined and/or wilted grapes. Not unpleasant if discreet but unfortunately often combined with low acidity: 2003.

7- The toasted olfactory note: see the text written about it in my previous review.

8- The "buttery" olfactory note: fresh or rancid, it is due to a lactic bacterium working during the MLF, oenococcus oeni, which generates during a tumultuous fermentation a metabolite precursor of aroma, the diacetile. All years can be impacted, but curiously, especially highly concentrated musts marked by intense malolactic fermentation.

9- The olfactory note called "reduced": heady nasal nebula which evokes in turn the sulphuric wick or which goes under its evolving form H2S towards the famous mercaptan, a thiol which smells the egg punaie. It is the worst organoleptic deviation. It is generated by muddy lees which come from fruit marked by residual sulphurs combined with containers which do not allow any micro-oxygenation. It must imperatively be circumscribed before bottling by treatment with copper. Its olfactory "residue" is the blackcurrant bud.

10- The "asparagus" olfactory note: massive addition of sulfite at bottling and slow combination with the so-called total SO2 part under glass. The free SO2 generally remains at a high level. The wine ages well but is lean and not very complex.

11- The amylic note which marks the wines having fermented at low temperatures in large inert containers. Aromas of "scotch glue" that oversimplify the olfactory pole of the wine by giving the illusion of white fruit notes when aired. It is often coupled with residual sugars and the absence of malolactic fermentation. Not to mention doses of CO2 gas.

To produce a white wine free of all these scents is a challenge as the vintages, by their characters, characterize the wines but it is undoubtedly necessary to seek discrete expressions that do not dominate the ultimate finesse that comes from the note of terroir combined more or less frankly with those of the grape.

We also consider that the wines should not be under the influence of the container in which they were vinified. The sweetness of a woody wine should never dominate the balance of the fruit. Similarly, neutral containers such as stainless steel should not produce residual reducing effects and should only enhance the freshness of the initial aromas without erasing them with sulphurous accents.

Among the most used terms in the wine literature, I think that "reduction" follows very closely to "minerality". A somewhat nebulous term often used incorrectly, it is one of those used to justify gustatory odors that are as varied as they are misunderstood, and if for a long time it was synonymous with defects and unpleasant odors, it is curiously becoming one of the vectors necessary for a happy conservation.

Is the hunt for the natural organoleptic qualities of a product now going to involve a search for living things that do not smell like roses? One could believe it sometimes if I judge some wines that are born on olfactory registers expressing themselves on the grilled match - white wines - or cabbage - red wines - for example. What exactly is the origin of this reduction? Is it the simple effect of a liquid loaded with alcohol placed in an anaerobic environment or is it the result of some process linked to the wine making process? As is often the case, reality is more complex than it seems and the causes of its development are multiple. But let's not be mistaken, it is not a path taken serenely by a winemaker wishing to use its benefits.

It is a frequent consequence of fermentation in containers with little or no oxygen permeability. It can have multiple origins and is, whatever one may say, always to be monitored in terms of its intensity because it can irreparably spoil a wine.

Following the cycle of conception of a wine, the first element that could generate reducing effects has to do with the phytosanitary treatment program used by the producer on his vine plants, because it can leave sulfur residues on the fruits and in the musts. The same is true for wines from soils with high nitrogen deficiencies. Thus, we observe with constancy vintages regularly impacted by significant reducing phenomena while according to the same procedures, other vines located next to them seem never to be affected. A frequent headache linked to the balance of the soils - and above all to their geological and cultural history - which very often leads the producer to be the follower of his wine rather than its instigator, even if this may delight "by default" the supporters of reductions under glass as a "freshness" argument.

An analysis of the soils and their composition crossed with a reflection on the possible amendments is necessary here to understand the causal relations at the origin of their "functioning" and consequently to optimize their incidence.

Once the grapes are in, the vatting stage for the reds and pressing for the whites is essential. It is necessary to manage the white or red vintages according to an essential parameter, the oxidation of the vacuolar juices released. The musts obtained are then fragile and oxidizable and must be protected. For this purpose, an aqueous solution mixed with SO2 (sulfur dioxide) is most of the time used. This anti-oxidant product has the effect of covering the fermenting musts by preventing their redox potential - see below for an explanation of the term - from dragging them to the dark/oxidative side of the force.

If all fermentative activity consumes oxygen, for any cell in aerobiosis, which breathes, as for any cell in anaerobiosis, which ferments, there is recovery of energy stored in the form of phosphorylated compounds. This oxidation energy is essential for the growth of the cell and then for its aging.

The fermenting wine is also marked by its oxidation-reduction phenomena due to the effect of oenological treatments. The birth of a must occurs at the pressing. At this technological stage of elaboration, the future wine released by the berries is under the influence of atmospheric oxygen and this oxygen is a substrate of choice for polyphenol-oxidases whose activity is very detrimental to its aging potential. The winemaker must act by a reductive treatment of the musts with a sulphite solution according to doses that he will interpret according to the characteristics of his press juice. Inhibited by these reductive treatments, the different enzymes - tyrosinase and laccase - will not be able to generate casse brune which considerably reduces the complexity of the phenolic compounds. The must, during its settling and racking, will even be able to dissolve a few milligrams of oxygen that the yeasts, true "electron factories", will consume and reduce in order to multiply better. It is therefore obvious that the first steps in the treatment of a must for its transformation into wine correspond to oxidation phases followed by reduction phases.

It is the same for the rest of the elaboration, during the maturation and then, in the final phases, during the last steps that precede the bottling: the racking and the possible fining and filtering. This succession of oxidation and reduction defines from the beginning of the fermentations a REDOX potential which is the expression of the electrical activity which is automatically generated by fermentations and oxidations. Expressed in millivolts, it sanctions the functioning of the must according to its evolution between its two poles and obviously it can be analyzed and controlled by the winemaker whose strategy aims at never leading it to extremes.

Thus, during the maturation process, the game consists in preserving a reducing matter without it evolving towards a heavy reduction which would strongly impact the wine's scents, or even its matter itself. In particular when the reducing wine evolves towards the famous defective nose of mercaptan which can be assimilated to the smell of punished egg.

Without going towards these compounds, the excessive reductive markers that pull the Redox potential down - the top being here oxidation - are commonly the notes of green asparagus and grilled matches in whites and blackberry, viandox then blackcurrant bud and cooked cabbage in red wines. Grilled in the whites and iridescent notes and animality in the reds are thus - at high intensity - serious defects that should never be blamed on a possible expression of terroir.

The winemaker has simple remedies to eradicate these harmful olfactory expressions as soon as they appear or in a later, more curative mode. I am not going to list them here, but you should know that it is not necessary to preserve a reductive material for a wine to keep well. It is not necessary to over-sulphite a juice with an oxidative tendency to fossilize it... It is all a question of balance.

In the absolute, a very fine toasted nasal line underlining an ageing carried out on the middle line of the Redox potential associated with an olfactory volatility conferred by an imperceptible but present CO2, authorizes a lively and relaxed wine matter to face time by embracing fresh scents and by preserving an overall purity absolutely essential to the expression of a well born wine... Or rather a good nose!

How can we accept that obvious deviations are taken for aromatic complexity by sharp palates while explaining that a residual note of maturation is most often the result of an unfinished work?

To illustrate my point, I will try to isolate what generates this famous toasted note that would sign the noblest aromas of a couple of advanced winemaking / maturation in the world of white winemakers. Of what order are they:

The "sulphurous" toasted note: more or less intense perception on the Swedish match and the rubbed flint. Most of the time, it is sulfur residues that have been spread for a long time and at a late stage by dry spraying. Leachable by rain, these repeated applications end up impregnating the skins of the grapes and they durably mark the musts during vinification and maturation. Impure.

The "roasted" note: an artifice of an ageing process carried out with a generous proportion of new, heavily heated wood. It "peanuts" or "caffeine" or even gives off a smell of "toast" depending on the heaviness of its imprint... always vulgar. An impurity that many people love and even seek. The ageing in large barrels has a clear tendency to amplify this phenomenon.

The "roasted" note: discreet nasal scents that evoke fresh hazelnut and apricot skin - or grape skin - gilded in the sun. A sign of right maturity without botrytis, it ennobles the wine. Pure.

The "reduced" toasted note: it appears during the maturation when the proportion of lees is a little high compared to the micro-oxygenation potential of the container. Fine notes during a well-managed maturing process that wishes to be little interventionist on sulfites, it can irremediably mask the finest aromas of white wines - and in particular those that are floral - if it is too marked. Pure if it only traces finely during maturation. Impure as soon as the wine is under glass because a single racking should be enough to make it disappear. Highly impure when combined with the "match" toast that leads the taster to feel an unpleasant olfactory note of "firecracker" after use.

The toasted "praline": the ultimate and fresh note of hazelnut lignifying, it evokes the limit between the fruit and the vegetable and marks the terroirs most capable of bearing great grapes at full maturity without too many natural degrees. Lost if the fruit meets under-ripeness, overload of yield or excess of alcohol, this noble toast is delivered only in great years. The last one was for example in the Côte des blancs, 2009, but we could evoke 1999, 92 or 89,82,79,76 and 73. Pure.

The "toasted vanilla/coconut" note: heavy note brought by the over-ripeness of the fruit and a very present woodiness. Less unpleasant than the match or the empyreumatic roasting at first sight, it is undoubtedly worse because it signals an unbalanced matter. Impure.

Therefore, be aware that the toasted expression of a white Burgundy must always be retained and that if it is superimposed "in front" of the aromatic spectrum of the wine, it spoils it irreparably. Its olfactory place is therefore naturally subjacent, subtle and infinitely discreet.”

-Patrick Essa

What's Pressoir Drinking

May 4, 2022
by Justine Puaud

The Terroir of Seyssuel

Last weekend, I drove south to Ampuis for the weekend. I went for the first time to the Marché d’Ampuis. Over 65 wineries were there to represent the Northern Rhône appellations and opened 300 different wines from Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, Cornas, Hermitage, Saint-Péray and Crozes-Hermitage. It was nice to see some familiar faces of La Tablée like Alexis and Michael Gerin, Guillaume Clusel, Nicolas Champagneux and Yves Gangloff. I also tried some wines I have never heard of before like the wines from Seyssuel.

The history and more precisely the renaissance of the terroir of Seyssuel starts with a group of wine grower friends - Pierre Gaillard, Yves Cuilleron et François Villard - who, each time they went up from Ampuis to Lyon, were intrigued by these fallow hillsides along the highway. They had the intuition that the fields could be beautiful terroirs. They were right. If we go back to the colonization of La Gaule, the Romans identified some beautiful terroirs on which they had planted vines. This tradition continued for many centuries. But unfortunately, as in many other regions, in 1883, phylloxera got the better of the few hundred hectares of vines and the vineyards were completely forgotten.

Pierre Gaillard, Yves Cuilleron and François Villard, young producers in Saint-Joseph and Côte-Rôtie at that time, decided to push their investigations further. They found traces of the disappeared vineyard in old writings, carried out soil analyses and ended up realizing the facts: they had got their hands on a very beautiful schist terroir, identical to that of the Côte Brune d'Ampuis in Côte-Rôtie, on the other side of the Rhône, facing south. This time, they were sure of it: this vineyard had to be revived. They created Les Vins de Vienne and planted 11 hectares of vines: 9.5 in Syrah and 1.5 in Viognier. The first grapes were harvested in 1998.

I heard about this great story while I was having a glass of the cuvée KĀMAKA from Domaine Graeme and Julie Bott at Les Epicurieux in Ampuis. We met Graeme at La Tablée in early January. He is a talented winemaker who moved from New Zealand to France to work for Stephane Ogier as his Chef de Cave. He then met Julie at Domaine Ogier and a few years later they started to make their own wines. KĀMAKA (meaning in Māori the rock) is produced on the exceptional terroir located in Seyssuel. A real wine made from rocks, all vines were planted by hand with the help of a metal bar in rough mica schist rocks. It is 100% Syrah.

This vineyard is in the process of obtaining a protected appellation of origin (AOP), it should integrate the family of Côtes du Rhône, then become a Cru. The application is being studied at the INAO…

News from the Vineyard; A discovery just north of Côte-Rôtie

by Raj Vaidya

May 9th, 2022

I shared some photographs and thoughts over the last couple of weeks pertaining to the farming practices in Côte-Rôtie, and one important reality that must be reckoned with there is that the vineyards which have been treated with chemical herbicides over the past decades will take some time to recover and rejuvenate. The fact is that vignerons like Clusel and Stephan who have farmed organically for many years are in the minority.

Whilst visiting I came across a young couple, Sophie Eymin and Kevin Tichoux, who began a small winery and vineyard in 2017, with vines in Côte-Rôtie which they have converted to organics. They told me that they have planted a vineyard in Sessyuel, a village just north of Ampuis, on the other side of the river but thanks to the meandering river path has the same aspect, facing due south with very steep slopes falling down from the hillsides over the Rhône. Sessyuel was planted to the vine in Roman times, and continued to make respected (if not sought after) wines up until phylloxera after which the area was abandoned. Sophie Eymin’s family traces their roots in Sessyuel back to this era, and her family used their property on the hillsides to raise sheep and llamas over several generations, an unlikely fate for historic vineyards but one which allowed these parcels of land to never be affected by herbicides or really any chemicals at all…

Sophie Eymin and Kevin Tichoux of the new Domaine Eymin-Tichoux in front of the vineyard they’ve planted on the site of an old llama pasture in Sessyuel.

So they set about planting their first hectare of vineyard since phylloxera. The work they’ve embarked upon is momentous; they had to clear the slopes completely overgrown below the vineyard in the pasture after the first planting to add more acreage, these are formerly terraced vineyards from Roman times and extremely steep.

Kevin stands beneath the slope they have planted to Syrah in Sessyuel. The wooded area to the left of the picture gives one an idea of how this parcel looked prior to being cleared, and they plan to continue clearing the property till they have planted the amphitheater which this parcel represents the eastern half of.

The vineyard was teeming with life. We could see the back side of the hill of Côte-Rôtie across the river and feel the crisp wind channeling through past the vines; this part of the Rhône is the narrowest valley in the vine growing areas of the north.

The Eymin-Tichoux Sessyuel vineyard overlooking the Rhône and the back side of Côte-Rôtie in the background.

The domaine makes two bottlings from Sessyuel, a small amount of Côte-Rôtie as well as a white Saint Joseph and red Crozes-Hermitage from purchased grapes. These are very young vines with the exception of the Côte-Rôtie which they were lucky enough to be able to buy thanks to a government grant set aside for young entrepreneurial farmers in the area. But already I found the wines to be delightful and full of promise. I have high hopes that we’ll be able to have them join us sometime down the road for La Tablée, so keep an eye out for them!

News from the Vineyard; Further exploration in Côte-Rôtie

A few specific reflections on farming in some of the most famed Syrah vineyards in the world…

by Raj Vaidya

May 2nd, 2022

Last week I made mention of how the steep, often terraced terrain of Côte-Rôtie has been a deterrent historically to farming the vines organically. The difficulty in turning and ploughing soil and the inability in most places to work with a tractor have caused the appellation to be quite inundated with herbicide residues over the past 6 decades.

But this is changing slowly, with vignerons like Jean-Michel Stephan and Guillaume Clusel (who follows in the tradition of his parents, Gilbert and Brigitte) leading the way. You saw a short video last week of Pierre Rostaing explaning how he combats erosion and adds compost by breaking up the plant matter from pruning and leaving it on the top soil through the winter. In Clusel’s case, the use of cover crops is more a part of their program, as evidenced in the pictures below.

The Viallière vineyard is a great illustration of how the cover crops have aided against erosion as noted by the steepness in the video below.

There is certainly a long way to go, and the total surface of vineyards which are certified organic within the appellation remains extremely small. Most of the vineyards remain brown and compacted all summer long.

Be sure to check in next week when I introduce a tiny new producer in Sessyuel, just north of Côte-Rôtie who has planted an organic vineyard for the first time in a century, in a place where wine has been made since the Roman era…

What's Pressoir Drinking - Unicorns or Lunch Wines...?

by Raj Vaidya
April 27, 2022

On Easter weekend in the Rhône Valley, I had the pleasure of lunching on a simple casse-croûte with a friendly vigneron who invited us to taste some local products with him. The spread included several patés: chicken liver, pork and truffle, foie gras and chestnuts, all locally produced, as well as some phenomenal spiced saucisson sec and some crusty, delicious local hearth bread. Of course a giant wood block entirely covered in local cheeses was naturally also on the table…

The kind winemaker opened a number of delicious bottles as we passed the lazy weekend afternoon; an excellent 2013 Blanc de Blancs from Pascal Agrapart, a crisp white from the Jura made of Savignin, and finally, a fairly weathered bottle from Saint-Joseph from the famed producer Raymond Trollat.

Trolllat is an infamous character, jolly and utterly unconcerned with pomp and circumstance. I’ve never had the luck of meeting him, but have heard amazing tales of corks pulled and parties had. His wines have always been charming to me, but in recent years the wines have been fetching very high prices in the auction and rare wine marketplaces, often exceeding a thousand dollars a bottle. Certainly they are quire rare, as Trollat ceased producing after the 2005 vintage upon retiring. But purely judging on the quality of the wines, I struggle with accepting the prices of these. So this occasion to taste an aged bottle in good condition was a treat, especially as it was sourced directly from the Trollat estate.

The wine was delicious, not the most complex example of Syrah by any means but still had lots of character and intensity on the palate. Dried black olives, rosemary and bell pepper spice, lot’s of gamey notes. Not a ton of fruit but a hint of sweetness that may well have come from chaptalization. Medium length on the palate, but certainly not short on intensity in the length. Yet this had the distinct feeling of what I like to call a ‘country wine’ or vin de pays in French, which is to say it was charming and not simple, yet not overtly complex or serious.

In the wine trade bottles like these are often referred to as ‘unicorn wines’, to invoke how rare they are. But from my perspective, this was more of a lunch wine, and it served its purpose marvelously.

News from the Vineyard; Exploring Côte-Rôtie

A few thoughts on some of the most famed Syrah vineyards in the world…

by Raj Vaidya

April 26th, 2022

I had the opportunity to visit the Northern Rhône Valley last week along with Daniel and our friend, sommelier Matthew Conway, and after the visit to taste a full range of verticals at Clusel-Roch (see Daniel’s post from the last newsletter) I decided I wanted to spend a little more time exploring the wines and the terroir here.

The first matter that strikes one as they arrive in Ampuis is how extreme the slope of the hill is. Often rising up to a gradient of as much as 40%, this creates the sun exposure (thanks to the Southern aspect) that gives the appellation its moniker of the ‘roasted slope’. The picture below gives you some sense of the steepness from the bottom of Guigal’s La Turque vineyard.

It struck me that such steep terrain has a huge impact on viticultural techniques. For example, when vignerons are ploughing their soil to increase aeration and remove weeds, they have to be connected by wire to a winch system at the top of their vineyard so that they don’t tumble down the hill. This also has to be work done by hand, as there is no way of driving a tractor up (or down) the hill safely. It is likely for this reason that many farmers in the appellation do not practice organic farming, and prefer instead to use herbicides to manage the weeds. This of course causes poorly aerated soils and contribute to erosion of the already meager topsoil. There are some producers who are working organically though, and many more in conversion, which is a promising sign. You can see how Pierre Rostaing is reintroducing organic matter in his extremely steep Côte Brune vineyard.

Another feature to farming in these steep parcels is the frequent use of terracing to make the work easier (i.e. making it easier to stand and work in the vines.) You see this a lot in the southern section of the appellation, as illustrated below in pictures of the Tupin area.

In the coming weeks I’ll share a couple of additional thoughts about the region so be sure to check in on the newsletter next week to gain some further insight on farming in Côte Rôtie!

A milestone celebration at Maison Clusel-Roch

by Daniel Johnnes

April 21, 2022

I was in Cote Rôtie this past Saturday attending the the retirement party of Brigitte and Gilbert Clusel-Roch, winemakers I met in 1992.

After reading about this producer in Clive Coates’ The Vine and having just started my import business, I was dreaming of adding a famous appellation such as Cote Rôtie to my blossoming portfolio.

Upon finding a fax number for them (no internet back then), I asked for a visit. Upon arrival, we spent about an hour talking about New York, wine, my background and my interest in their region and then several more hours tasting the current vintage, 1990, and older vintages of both the Cuvée Classique and Les Grandes Places, which were the only two wines they made at the time from about 2.5 hectares of vines in the Côte Brune district. Their other holdings are in Viallière, planted in 1984, Le Plomb, Champon and Fongeant which were all blended into the Classique. When Viallière reached 25 years of age in 2009, they started bottling it under that named “Lieu Dit”.

Gilbert’s first vintage was 1980 after taking over from his father, René Clusel, who officially retired in 1987. Like much of the Northern Rhone, the 70’s and 80’s were tough times, with most of the producers owning small plots of land and dependent on their vegetable and fruit production to subsist. The larger part of their grape production went to Guigal or other large negociants.

Gilbert, however, was committed to making “real” wine. He inherited from his father and grandfather old vines planted with Serine which is the legacy variety or true Syrah before the more productive clones became popular. He did all the work by hand, was one of the first to work organically and was the first in the appellation to be certified organic in 2002.

With the arrival of Guillaume who is now officially in charge, the domaine has grown substantially. Today their are about 11 hectares, 3 bottlings of Côte Rôtie, a delicous Condrieu, plus a more recent project in the Cote Roannaise.

The wines have never been better, and Brigitte and Gilbert can relax and enjoy the fruits of their hard work knowing the next generation is taking the domaine to the next level!

Burgundy Vintage Report 2020

February 24, 2022
by Edouard Bourgeois

Daniel, Raj and I were lucky to travel to Burgundy and taste at many domaines of the Côte d’Or last week. Doing so during the month of February offers the opportunity to taste the vintage being bottled, in this case 2020, but we were also able to get a glimpse of 2021, a very different vintage, which we will speak about in a different article and when the wines are ready for bottling.

If 2020 was marked by the obvious historical pandemic that shook the world, most French vineyards were also affected by an extraordinary climatic phenomenon that led to one of the earliest harvests ever recorded, in some cases, one month early. Many vignerons were reminded of the heat wave of 2003 that also dictated they pick in August. However, we’ve heard on multiple occasions that it seems the plant has adapted to warmer conditions and in 2020, even if the vines took the heat, they seem to have better responded to the high temperatures, eventually making wines with more freshness and less jammy aromas. It is also important to note that their growing season had a normal length once the crucial flowering stage kicked off.

So, what is the result in the glass? Well, enthusiasm is certainly unanimous among producers. Although the volume of wines made were far from generous, quality is certainly there. Starting with the reds, the first thing that strikes you is the color. The inky, rich garnet of the 2020s reminded me of what we’ve been seeing in the 2018, a vintage that also encompassed hot temperatures. But 2020 on the palate has an irresistible crunchy, juicy and delicious fruit quality with high tone acidity. This low pH in the wine is a real blessing because alcohol levels are quite high. The low precipitation recorded in 2020 gave finely grained tannins in the Pinot Noir, suggesting that these wines should age gracefully for decades.

The whites can be superb as well. Our first visit was at the iconic Domaine Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet. The property exclusively produces white wines, among the most ethereal Chardonnays on the planet. All of their 2020’s were marked by elegant purity and minerality, with the Pucelles expressing its typical salinity that literally makes the taster salivate. Overall, I prefer the whites from 2020 over the 2019s which I find can be a bit too exotic for my taste. Another vigneron who nailed the vintage was the young and dynamic Thierry Pillot of Domaine Paul Pillot.

Chistophe Roumier used a pretty generous amount of whole clusters in 2020. The result, as always, is stunning.

Bertrand Chevillon, explaining to Daniel how he remembers the hail storm that hit his Nuits-St-Georges vineyards at exactly 4pm on August 1st.

Legend Dominique Lafon Officially Retires

After nearly 40 years at the helm of Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Dominique Lafon has hung the pipette and has officially retired from his function as winemaker of the legendary domaine. His daughter Léa and his nephew Pierre are the new generation in charge of the iconic estate. Dominique launched a separate négociant business in 2008 under the label “Dominique Lafon” and he will focus on that project from now on. The Lafon family established itself in Meursault as far back as the late 19th century. Back then, it was Jules Lafon, Dominique’s great grandfather, who was wise enough to buy some of the best plots in the appellation, including a spot in the supreme Montrachet Grand Cru.

Dominique certainly inherited a prime domaine but his personality, talent and hard work proved that he was the right person to take over in the early 1980’s. Always questioning himself, he continually experimented and faced challenges such as the tricky premature oxidation white Burgundy started to struggle with thirty years ago. His honesty and open mind pushed him to consistently try to tweak details here and there. For example, Dominique decided to switch to biodynamic practices entirely. He also switched to using exclusively Diam corks for the whole production with the 2013 vintage. A visionary, he was also among the first ones to look outside of his hometown of Meursault, starting with the southern tip of Burgundy where, in 1999, he bought great parcels in the Maconnais where his wine label “Héritiers du Comte Lafon” still produces delicious and zippy whites. Dominique also consulted for wineries around the world, in Oregon for example, at Evening Land and more recently with MS Larry Stone of Lingua Franca.

Our team decided to honor the man with a wine dinner last week and to change things up a bit, we thought of pairing his Meursault and Volnay with the superb food of Korean joint Atoboy. The lineup was very successful and flawless.

The three first courses were built on three verticals of 2012, 2009 and 2007. First with Charmes, then Genevrières and finally the unmistakable Perrières.

Overall, I was particularly impressed with the 09’s. Such a warm year typically meant Chardonnays that lacked acidity and freshness. Not at Lafon. all three Meursault were really clean and airy without great texture. 2012 is a strange vintage for white Burgundy and impossible to judge as a general style for the region. Although, if there is one common thing to say for all producers is that they struggle with challenging weather conditions, reducing their yields dramatically. Once again here, Lafon struck gold with wines that are singing and pure. The Genevrières really displayed the floral tones it is famous for.

Finally, 2007 kept its promise of a great vintage. I adored the mouth watering quality of the wine where the acidity makes you salivate but the sugar immediately coats your palate, leaving an irresistible fruity, candy feeling.

It was also a fascinating educational experience to distinguish the difference between Charmes, Genevrières and Perrières in such an ideal context.

Moving on to the reds, the focus was on the 2009 vintage, covering three Volnay climats: Champans, Clos des Chenes and Santenots du Milieu. Once again, each climat was true to its identity, with Champans exhibiting a lighter profile and delicious small red fruits, Clos des Chenes perfectly balanced and aromatic while Santenots, the “hybrid” climat that also covers the Meursault appellation, was tighter and more tannic.