The Power of Blind Tasting

by Edouard Bourgeois
December 7, 2022

One of the reasons why I love working in the wine world is that it presents the opportunity to surprise myself and others. A great way to experience an eye opening moment is through blind tastings. I am not always good at it, yet I love the exercise and the discipline it requires. This is also the most humbling and honest approach one can have with wine. On the other hand, I do not dismiss the benefit of tasting a wine, knowing what it is. It is a bit like when a gorgeous looking dish with artful presentation hits the table. The eye tells the palate to get ready for a treat and we start salivating! With wine, opening that dusty bottle you have been saving for years triggers high expectations and you may start enjoying the wine even before your first sip. Performing blind tasting just requires a different mindset and approach to wine.

One of our most supportive Burgundy vignerons, the marquis Guillaume d’Angerville, tells a story that really resonates with me. Guillaume used to enjoy visiting one of his favorite fine dining restaurants in Paris and would always play a blind tasting game with the resident sommelier there. The one rule was simple. He would ask the sommelier to bring a bottle of wine he felt Guillaume would enjoy, from anywhere but Burgundy. As most of you know, Guillaume runs the well-established Domaine Marquis d’Angerville in Volnay. One day, the sommelier brought him a white wine, previously poured into a decanter, making it impossible to identify. Guillaume brought the glass to his nose, took a sip and immediately called the sommelier over. Guillaume told him he had evidently forgotten the rule about serving anything but a Burgundy! Although he was very pleased with this beautiful wine, he was convinced it had been from his beloved Cote d’Or… The sommelier replied to him with two things. First, he hadn’t forgotten the rule, as this was not Burgundy. Second, he did congratulate Guillaume for identifying Chardonnay correctly.

The wine poured that night was a bottle of Stéphane Tissot’s Chardonnay Arbois Les Bruyères 2005 and it left such an impression on Guillaume that it inspired him to begin a search for vineyards in the Jura. A few years later, Domaine du Pelican was born with the inaugural vintage 2012, a winery still making excellent wines in the Jura and run by Guillaume d’Angerville.

But more on that Domaine Tissot. Meeting Stéphane Tissot is just as intense as it is to taste his wines. The joyful and dynamic gentleman is constantly thinking about something new. This level of talent is rarely seen and he is able to combine it with an amazing creativity. It is no surprise that such a character produces around 28 different cuvées, depending on the vintage, from bone dry whites to sweet “passerillé” wines with everything in between, a dozen red wines using traditional Jura grape varieties but also a fortified “Macvin”, sparkling Crémants and the most Jurassic of all, the mysterious Vin Jaune.

The vineyard of La Mailloche shares similarities with those found in Burgundy, being a complex geological mix where both clay and limestone play the most important roles. it is understandable why one could mistake this Arbois for a great Meursault perhaps. Although after deeper analysis, the unique terroir of the Jura shines through and leaves his signature.

The bottle pictured here is one that I ordered at one of my favorite places to eat and drink (and more!) in Beaune, La Maison du Colombier. I always feel like biting my tongue after telling someone they have the best wine list in Beaune but I think the cat has been out of the bag for a while anyway. That night, I was with some of my dear team members and a few clients who we had just spent the day with, drinking one gorgeous bottle of Burgundy after the other, from Montrachet to Chambertin. I decided to play the blind tasting game and ordered this “Mailloche”. Despite a much lower price point than the prestigious Burgundies, the Jurassic Chardonnay didn’t disappoint at all. Serving it blind was a good idea indeed.

What's Pressoir Drinking?

Edouard Bourgeois
August 11, 2022

While getting my notes ready for the upcoming Pressoir.wine Session on the fabulous Jura wine region, I thought the timing was right to offer a brief portrait dedicated to one of the greatest Jura producers, Pierre Overnoy. I remember a recent conversation with my friend and sommelier superstar Pascaline Lepeltier where we discussed her numerous encounters with the greatest winemakers of the world. I asked her what her most memorable visit was and after a minute of reflection, she finally said: “Pierre Overnoy”. She told me about the man, the wonderful bread he had baked that and shared with her that day and how their conversation made her feel, transporting her into a delightful moment, a comfort that reminded her of childhood. Unfortunately for me, I never had a chance to meet the inspiring gentleman, but I was lucky to try his wines more than once.

Born in 1937, Pierre has been making wine his own way in the village of Pupillin for five decades. Early on, as a child, Pierre would skip school to help in his family’s vineyards or with the cows. The mischievous young boy developed an irresistible sense of humor and wit that still defines his unforgettable personality. His wisdom and perpetual desire to question everything quickly led him to reject the chemical herbicides most farmers would use in the early 1960’s. If being organic then was certainly not the norm, it was an obvious choice for Pierre. He didn’t receive formal winemaking training despite a brief attendance in the wine school of Beaune and relied more on his tastebuds than the test tubes, favoring the style of wines made by his family over the more standardized quality taught by oenologists. An important leap for him was to start making wine without the use of SO2, or any other intervention. This led him to meet the pioneers of the so-called natural wine world such as the influential Jules Chauvet and afficionado customers like the prestigious restaurateur Alain Chapel.

Pierre remains known for his kindness, generosity and open-mindedness, never short of helpful advice to younger winemakers who listen to him with the utmost respect. These disciples are now well-known and sommeliers develop great efforts to add their name onto their wine lists. Stephane Tissot, Philippe Bornard or Pascal Clairet are just a few of them.

Pierre is now retired but he has passed the baton to his longtime protégé “Manu” Houillon who became in charge of the domaine in 2001. He had started working for the domaine at age 14.

The wines with the characteristic pink label are extremely hard to find today, on occasion leading to stratospheric prices, although a few mindful restaurateurs still give the opportunity to taste these magical bottles without falling for the temptation of speculation. La Dilettante restaurant in Beaune was one of them, and Daniel and I had a fabulous bottle there a couple years back, pictured below.   

This bottle was enjoyed over the course of 2 days and after being opened for that long, the wine blossomed even more.