What's Pressoir Drinking?

August 17, 2022

Raj Vaidya

I had a few former colleagues over for a night of eating and drinking, and several of them were kind enough to dig very deep in their cellars to share several special bottles. What can I say, I’m a lucky guy!

The oldest bottle of the night was from one of my favorite Burgundian domaines and was the oldest bottling I’ve ever tasted from said domaine, the Bize Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru “Vergellesses.”

Domaine Simon Bize dates back to the phylloxera era, founded in 1890, and has been, over the last 70 odd years, one of the premier estates in Savigny. The domaine rose to great prominence beginning in the 80’s with Patrick Bize at the helm. Known for a heavy hand with whole bunch fermentation, these wines are always ethereal, not deep in color or weight but immensely deep in complexity and spice aromas. Today, Patrick’s widow Chisa makes tremendous wines of quality, and the next generation of Bizes are beginning to get involved at the domaine.

This bottle predated Patrick’s era, which began in 1972, and so little is written about the winemaking or viticulture at the time. I did note a strong sense of whole cluster fermentation aromas but the wine had more fruit than the bottles I’ve tasted from Patrick’s early days, so perhaps the percentage of stems was less in those days. Beguiling aromas of lavender and jasmine flowers dominated the nose, on the palate a distinct red cherry fruit. The fruit was intense, I could hardly believe that such an old wine could have that level of finesse and intensity at the same time. A tremendous bottle!

It was a great wine night and there are a few other bottles I want to share my experience with, so look out for a couple more tasting notes on these in the coming weeks…

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.

What's Pressoir Cooking?

Justine Puaud
August 10, 2022

Peach Season

Summer is the time to bake with beautiful fruits such as peaches, apricots and nectarines. I discovered Chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s cuisine a few years ago and today I recommend his lime and rosemary peach tart.

Delicious, fresh, fragrant and juicy – it is the perfect pie for summer. The peaches are marinated with rosemary, lime juice, and lime zest before being baked in puff pastry. This recipe is very easy to make. Just make sure you plan it ahead of time, as you will need to macerate the peaches for 1-2 hours before you can bake it.

Ingredients

200 g (1 packet) all-butter puff pastry

2 limes

60 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar

5 large firm peaches stoned and cut into 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) slices

2 large sprigs rosemary, plus ½ tbsp picked leaves

1/4 tsp cornstarch

150 g (⅔ cups) creme fraiche

Instructions

Marinate the peaches

1. Cut peaches in half, remove stones, and cut 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) slices.

2. Peel one of the limes in 7 long strips and place strips in a large bowl. Add the sugar, the juice of one lime, the peach slices and rosemary sprigs. Stir and set aside to macerate for at least 1-2 hours.

3. Strain the peaches through a sieve straight into a small saucepan, and set aside the rosemary. You should end up with about 60ml (¼ cup) peach syrup. Try to leave as little juice as possible on the peaches.

4. Chop the rosemary you just removed from the syrup and set it aside.

Prepare the creme fraîche

1. Mix the grated zest and a teaspoon of sugar into the creme fraiche and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Bake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry just under 0.3-0.4 cm (0.1 inches) thick. Line a previously buttered 24 cm (9.5 inches) tart ring or pan with the pastry.

2. Arrange the strained peaches in the pastry and bake for 25 minutes on the bottom rack of the oven.

Prepare the syrup

1. While the tart is baking, whisk the cornstarch into the reserved peach syrup. Simmer over medium-high heat until it thickens to the consistency of honey (about two minutes), then pour over the peaches. Sprinkle the chopped rosemary leaves on top and return the galette to the oven for 15 minutes, until the pastry is golden-brown and the filling bubbly.

Serve

1. Remove from the oven and transfer immediately to a cooling rack. Leave to cool slightly, then zest a lime onto the tart, and serve with a bowl of the lime creme fraiche on the side.

What's Pressoir Drinking? Summer Team BBQ

Every summer, Daniel is kind enough to open his home to our team for a little break in the season. In addition to the consistently excellent meal he prepares with Sally, his wife, Daniel also generously opens his cellar. This year again, the wines were superb and as you would imagine, Burgundy oriented, with a couple significant performers from the Loire and Germany.

The festivities started with the most glorious thirst quencher one can dream of on a hot humid day in Brooklyn. Notoriously cherished by Raj, the opening act was from producer Willi Schaefer, in the Mosel. We drank a Graacher Domprobst - the vineyard is planted on a southern exposed slope of slate that the Romans started identifying early on as a precious site. This is still one of the best vineyards in the region. The problem with this low alcohol, mouthwatering Riesling is always how quickly they get drunk as they are so easy and irresistibly delicious. So we moved on to another favorite of ours, Chablis. With no time to waste, we went straight to arguably the best producer in the region, Vincent Dauvissat, of course. The bottle was a 1996 Vaillons in pristine condition. Obviously drier than the German, I found it interesting to compare the minerality between the two wines, especially that smoky, flinty characteristic they share. After a few minutes, I had this revelation that the nose reminded me of one of my favorite desserts, the lemon custard and meringue tart, known in my country as tarte au citron meringuée.

We sat at the table, set up with juicy lamb chops and various grain salads, and opened a magnum of Domaine de l’Arlot Nuits-St-Georges Clos de l’Arlot 2002. Jean-Pierre de Smet, a dear friend of Daniel and more recently each one of us in the team, made that gorgeous wine. After fine tuning his winemaking skills at Domaine Dujac, Jean-Pierre started as the winemaker at Domaine de l’Arlot in 1986 and quickly built the great reputation of this Burgundy estate. Clos de l’Arlot is a vineyard solely owned by the domaine and typically planted with the oldest vines of the property. The jaw-dropping 2002 vintage and the magnum size effect made for a memorable wine moment. We all have had this experience of opening a bottle and after tasting it think, well, it is a bit shy, or muted. This Nuits-St-Georges offered the opposite experience, a cornucopia of complex fruits, both ripe and juicy, with a pitch perfect underlying minerality and more subtle black tea. It was superb, dense and deep.

As you probably know, our team likes to go back to white Burgundy when the cheese hits the table. Victoire, the newest member of our crew, kindly brought a fresh and clean bottle of Meursault Bouches Chères 2011 that her family makes. I was quite impressed with how youthful the wine showed, despite its age. You will note the spelling of the famous Premier Cru Bouchères, poetically refashioned by the producer here.

We finally closed the show with a near meditative and spiritual bottle of Clos de la Coulée de Serrant from 1980. This cult wine is a real gem for a reason. Certified organic and biodynamic since 1981, it was first planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks and has remained a vineyard since! Unapologetically rich, heady with alcohol levels soaring up to 15% plus in some years, the magic of this unique wine is its authenticity as Daniel rightfully pointed out. If you ever wondered what sommeliers mean by modern or traditional style, this is a textbook example of what old school means. No polish, no make up to impress, just the pure and raw personality of Chenin Blanc grown on the schist and quartz slope, bathed in the sun. 1980, Raj’s “vintage” did particularly well for Coulée de Serrant. The wine kept changing on the nose, oscillating between smoky, wet stone minerality and explosive exotic fruits, peach, pineapple and even mango.

We closed out with Daniel’s famous sour cherry pie, a delicious way to end the evening on a sweet note.

This was quite a night to remember, a great opportunity to literally refuel while we are getting ready for a very busy fall program!

The bottle of Rousseau was sadly corked…

News from the Vineyard

Raj Vaidya

7/26/2022

Daniel has written a nice account last week of how the vignerons in Burgundy are feeling about the ongoing season (safely described as optimistic for now, happily.) He mentions the intense rain storms of late June which happened to occur just before I arrived in Beaune for a weeklong visit, and although I missed the worst of the storms that the Côte de Nuits saw on the 22nd, I did experience the most rain I’ve ever seen that Sunday the 25th - in all my years visiting the region. This is all highly unusual for the region, that Sunday in Beaune 12mm of rain was recorded in 24 hours!

A few accounts of the rains that mostly affected the village of Gevrey seemed outlandish at first; half a meter of flooding was reported in the town center, the cellars of several vignerons had over a meter of water briefly flooding their cellars and so on. The storm was quite furious and yet by luck, there seems to only have been some spotty hail damage (below left, an example), it was mostly water, just lots of it at one time….

Slight hail damage in Gevrey.

Topsoil quickly finding its way down the slopes of Gevrey. This is on the Route des Grand Crus just beneath the Chambertin, above Charmes Chambertin.

The village saw 150ml of rain within about 36 hours, and for perspective, 200ml is typical for the entirety of the growing season. The storm was vicious and fast, captured in the stunning picture below from the plains around Gilly le Citeaux.

Cellars and streets filled up quickly with water, making a huge mess and logistical nightmare for winemakers.

All things considered, the aftermath was pretty mild, in that Gevrey saw very little overall hail, and though topsoil will have to be brought back to some of the vineyards on the upper slopes the vines and managed for the most part to withstand the storm. Since that Sunday’s rain following the storm on June 22nd, (touching wood!) Burgundy has seen truly ideal conditions, cooler than the heat wave of early summer and very clear without any serious amounts of rain. This has moved the vintage’s timetable up a bit, with veraison for the reds happening now and the likelihood of a very early harvest.

Hope these images and videos help paint a picture of how scary that moment of the season must have been for the producers. Photo and video credits go to Cyrielle Rousseau of Domaine Armand Rousseau, Jean-Louis Trapet of Domaine Trapet and Erwan Faiveley of Domaine Faiveley. All of these were shared kindly by Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac.

What's Pressoir Eating

Daniel Johnnes

July 19, 2022

Lobster, Plain and Simple

I love to cook. In fact, I thought I wanted to be a chef before I fell in love with wine, the culture and history of wine and the winemakers. I spent several years apprenticing in NY and France before realizing my true calling was the grape.

The one dish that has always scared me was lobster. Not only because it entails killing the beast just before cooking it or killing it while cooking it but I have consistently had poor results.

My favorite way of eating it has been simply steamed or boiled, dipped in drawn butter and splashed with fresh lemon.

Somehow, I find a way to cook it too long or too short and ruin it almost every time. Last year, I asked one of Daniel’s chefs to guide me. His technique was a short boil followed by a few minutes on the grill for a smoky element. The final result was like eating a shoe recovered from a fire.

This year on Fire Island, I decided to try again by steaming three 1.5lb lobsters for about 8 minutes, draining them and cracking them open for all to join in the wrestling act. A dip of butter, a splash of lemon and a sip of Domaine Roulot, Meursault Le Porusot 2009. Et voila, a perfect, messy meal only to be topped off with a glorious sunset.

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

What's Pressoir cooking?

Daniel Johnnes
July 19, 2022

Tian de Legumes - a Lovely Summer Dish

The most perfect time of year for fresh local fruit and vegetable is upon us right now.

A walk through the Brooklyn Grand Army Plaza market last weekend inspired me to make a Provencal dish that is both beautiful to look at and eat: a tian de legumes.

The tian is a baked dish of eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, tomato, fennel, red pepper,onions, garlic and herbs.

It is incredibly easy to make. Slice the vegetables about the same thickness. Then sautée onions, garlic, red pepper and fennel until soft. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and start making a ring in a pie plate by alternating everything until the ring is closed. Spinkle thyme and olive oil over the dish, add salt and pepper and bake in the oven for about an hour.

Voila.

We drank a delicious rosé with this one.

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!

________

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

Recap - Chartogne-Taillet Dinner

Edouard Bourgeois
July 14, 2022

Shortly after he took over the family business at age 23, Alexandre Chartogne became one of the elite Champagne growers, focusing on single vineyard cuvées that reflect terroirs with outstanding accuracy. After he interned at famed Domaine Jacques Selosse, then under the guidance of grand master Anselme, he embraced the complex (to say the least) philosophy of this guru who naturally became his mentor. Testing various vessels from concrete eggs to used barrels from his friends in Burgundy, Alexandre makes it a point to work in the most traditional way possible. While he doesn’t care about an organic certification, his farming is recognized as a model of environmental awareness and understanding of the terroir.

Merfy, the small village where he and his ancestors have been growing vines since the late 15th century, is not the most famous. Yet thanks to Chartogne’s hard labor, this commune in the Northern Montagne de Reims has been revealed through his single cuvées that savvy sommeliers around the world strive to adorn their cherished wine list with.

The expertly prepared cuisine of Momofuku Ko paired magically with these fine Champagnes.

Here are my notes:

Opening with a glass of “Heurtebise” for the “welcome glass”, this cuvée, made entirely from Chardonnay from the 2016 harvest, delivered exquisite freshness.

Festivities continued with a flight of two vintages of the blended cuvée “Sainte-Anne”. 2014 offered mouth-watering acidity with irresistible shortbread and pastry aromatics, while the 2010 vintage, served out of a magnum, seemed creamier and extremely refined. We closed that flight with “Saint-Thierry” 2016, a blanc de noirs loaded with red fruit and spices.

We moved on to the second flight with two Pinot Meunier cuvées from the sandy site of “Beaux-Sens” from 2011 and 2013. Note that this cuvée was only produced in these two vintages and also 2014. Hazelnut was the unanimously chosen flavor profile to describe these two wines. I did find that the 2011 expectedly showed the vegetal character of that difficult vintage, with notes of green asparagus. The 2013 appeared much sweeter. Two other wines were poured in parallel: “Couarres” 2017 and 2010. While the young and solar 2017 exploded with energy and panache, the 2010 revealed a hint of oxidation, tertiary aromas reminiscent of mushroom and forest floor. “Couarres” is a rich clay site planted with a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The final proportion in the wine depends on the vintage but tends to be equal parts.

Ko’s must-have fried chicken was partnered with a vertical of “Orizeaux”. This pure Pinot Noir cuvée is truly magical. Planted in 1970 on a mount that is both exposed south and north tends to produce an atypically rich wine for the village. Alexandre talks at length about the importance of working with old vines so they can dig deep to reach the chalk. In his words, the plant needs at least 15 year of age to go through the thick top layer of sand and extract the complex DNA of the terroir. “Orizeaux” 2016 was gorgeous, once again bursting with small red fruit aromas. 2012 was marked by a firm acidity and I was happily surprised with the 2011. Its complex minerality made me forget the quite unpleasant green notes the vintage often gives. Great job!

Finally, we ended on a high note with the last three wines. The oldest cuvée of the night, also the only one Alexandre Chartogne didn’t make (he was 13 years old then) was a 1996 vintage. Despite my research, I couldn’t find any information on this wine. I found it to be quite flashy and with a strong personality but quickly fading. It was not the wine of the night for anyone but certainly an interesting comparison of style. The wine of the night may have been the superb “Les Barres” 2015 which in my notes received the three-letter adjective “wow”. The ungrafted Pinot Noir from that site was planted in 1952 and clearly had the shoulders to match the juicy strip loin we served with it. It had notes of earl grey and almost a red Burgundy quality to it. Truly memorable. Finally, we went back to Orizeaux with the 2010 vintage. It appeared much fresher than the “Couarres” from the same year, served earlier that night. Although made entirely from Pinot Noir, I found aromatic descriptors I would usually attribute to a white wine such as “tarte au citron meringuée”, a shortened pastry base filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue. The acidity was piercing through a delicious, sweet core of exotic fruit.

News from the Vineyard - Domaine Jean-Louis Chave

by Raj Vaidya
July 7, 2022

I’ve been visiting Jean-Louis Chave to taste his wines for well over a decade now, and it is always a magical experience; the wines are, of course, spectacular, but spending time with him and learning from him is at least as important and pleasurable as the great bottles he opens. When I first visited in the beginning of the last decade, he took me to see the vines he was planting in Le Chalet, a hillside which had last been planted pre-phylloxera and which he acquired in the late 90’s. He cleared a dense forest that had taken over the Roman era terraces all over the hillside, built roads to access the top and then started planting vines from the top terraces working his way towards the bottom. It has been an epic task which he began in 1999, and as of this past spring, he finally has finished planting the hillside. I walked the vineyard with him last Monday morning and wanted to share some of the photos and stories he told me…

Jean-Louis describes how his team plows the soil in such steep terrain.

In the short clip above he explains how plowing the soil is a two person job: one controls a winch (effectively a machine which pulls a wire connected to the plow) at the top of the row and the other directs the plow uphill as the wire pulls it uphill. Extremely time consuming, and very difficult work! The picture below, featuring Jean-Louis and the scholars I was hosting via our Sommelier Scholarship Fund, illustrates just how steep the vineyard is…

You can see the terracing work that has gone into this project involves stone walls, akin to what the Romans would have built, complete with nooks carved into them by the masons which give local fauna a place to nest. Jean-Louis believes it is vital that the vineyard has a strong biodiversity, as monoculture is something he sees as unnatural and out of balance otherwise.

Each section of vines has been planted after the terraces and walls have been completed, beginning in the spring of ‘99. This shot gives a good sense of the diversity of exposures on this hill also, adding to the complex nature of the wines produced from here. Younger parcels are all going into the J.L. Chave Séléctions bottling, meaning that this 22 year endeavor has mostly produced a fairly inexpensive wine, a great value indeed!

At the foot of the Chalet hill, close to the Rhône river but directly beneath the valley of which Chalet sits at the edge is the Clos Florentin vineyard and garden. This property was purchased with the Chalet hill and used to be contiguous and planted to the vine in Roman times as well, but unlike the hillsides which were abandoned post phylloxera this vineyard was continued by the previous ownership, and so has the benefit of a lot of old (100 plus) year old vines. It is from here that Jean-Louis selects his ‘massale’ vine genetics to plant in all his vineyards, especially the Chalet. He also has redeveloped the gardens on the property to promote the effects of biodiversity. Below, a few pictures will give you a bit of a window into this magical place…

Extremely old vines in the Clos Florentin, which Jean-Louis starting bottling separately in 2016. The hill of Le Chalet is in the backdrop.

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Giant artichoke flowers!

Dahlia in full bloom

Lots of dahlias!

What's Pressoir Drinking - Domaine Dureuil-Janthial

July 6, 2022
Justine Puaud

The Côte Chalonnaise

I don’t think we disagree on this - Burgundy is getting expensive… It actually gives us the opportunity to travel a bit further and make great discoveries like delicious Epineuil from the Côte Chablisienne, juicy Gamay from Beaujolais and fantastic Chardonnay from the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais.

Long in the shadow of the Côtes de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, the Côte Chalonnaise has become a very beautiful ‘outsider’ which is worth the detour from all points of view.

I recently discovered the well-established Domaine Dureuil-Janthial with my husband. The first time it was at Eli Zabar on the Upper East Side during a blind tasting. It was a Rully village 2017. We then started to talk about that domaine with our wine friends and we quickly realized this is a domaine we shouldn’t talk about too much or soon we won’t be able to afford their wines.

At Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, all the wines are vinified with the same high standards and a meticulousness that not many domaines use. Céline and Vincent Dureuil are supporters of healthy viticulture and received organic certification from 2009 to 2016. From old vines and matured for a long time, the wines are homogeneous and maintain a very high level, with a real ability to age in the cellar.

The Rully is appreciated for its sharp, digestible and refined appearance. Maizières delivers a ripe and concentrated whole, all underlined with a very well-balanced woodiness. It paired perfect with the veal and the morels. It was a very nice birthday treat!

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

Clos Rougeard Saumur Champigny 2011

by Edouard Bourgeois
July 1, 2022

A friend of mine once told me that the smell of Cabernet Franc sometimes reminded him of a pizza box, steaming with bell peppers. I always think of the analogy when I taste these delicious wines from the Loire. When kept in check, the vegetal aromas of Cabernet Franc can be really charming indeed.

I opened a memorable bottle of Saumur Champagny from one of the most respected producers in the region, Clos Rougeard. Of course, I nostalgically ordered a pizza from my favorite local joint to go with it.

A few words about Clos Rougeard are needed.

Charles Joguet, the great winemaker of Chinon, once said: “There are two suns. One shines outside for everybody. The second shines in the Foucaults’ cellar.”

Brothers Charlie et Nady Foucault took over the family domaine as the 8th generation. A mere 10 hectares of vineyards planted on soils composed of sand (silica) and the typical limestone locally called Tuffeau. If the wines today can easily fetch $500 per bottle, it is because of the incredible consistency of the quality, even in challenging vintages.

While the synthetic chemicals were the norm in the 60’s and 70’s, the Foucault family kept everything the same and they have been organic forever. Back then also, while their neighbors were buying modern stainless steel vats, the brothers kept buying oak barriques.

In a video I strongly recommend to watch here, Nady explains the anecdote of the 1970 vintage. That year, the summer promised a generous harvest, so Clos Rougeard decided to remove some grapes to control the yields. Back then, such practice was not exactly fashionable and producing more meant selling more, leading to better business, but inevitably less interesting wines. The Foucaults would then bury these cut off grapes so the locals wouldn’t gossip behind their back. It is rather amusing to see, as Nady points out in the video, that today, not only almost everyone limit the yields in July, but they also ostentatiously expose the cut off grapes in the vineyard for everyone to see…

The revolution at Clos Rougeard was to change nothing, always striving for concentration and finesse.

After the death of Charlie Foucault in 2015, the estate was briefly ran by Nady Foucault and his nephew Antoine (who also produces the excellent Domaine du Collier wines).

In 2017, Nady chose to sell the estate to Martin Bouyges, owner of many French wineries, most notably Château Montrose in Bordeaux. Under the direction of Jacques-Antoine Toublanc, the new ownership has vowed to keep things exactly the same in the vines and the cellar.

No bell pepper on that pizza but great pairing nonetheless.

What's Pressoir Cooking - Carotte Râpées

June 22, 2022
By Justine Puaud

Summer is here!

Carotte Râpées
From three-Michelin-star Chef Alain Passard

In the summer, I try to be innovative and find some delicious, fresh and easy recipes. This one is for Daniel Johnnes who is a huge fan of “carottes rapées”. He cannot go to France without eating this traditional/super easy appetizer. I hope he will try and will love it!

This recipe is from Chef Alain Passard. The 3-Michelin star chef is known for designing menus only with vegetables. Chef of the restaurant Arpège in Paris, he sublimates the plant world like a painter in his canvas. Fifteen years ago, at the turn of the millennium, Alain Passard began a radical change of his era. Goodbye veal, cow, pig... The chef decided to break with meat, marrying beets, celery and turnips for a second time, and manages two large vegetable gardens in Sarthe and Eure, to satisfy his desire. In the land of veal blanquette and coq au vin, this vegetable love song could seem very daring. He was at the time the precursor of a new trend, and when ecology, food scandals and awareness of animal suffering were not really important problems to face, he was pleading for the reasonable consumption of meat.

This recipe is known for the dressing. He created the “citronette” which is a vinaigrette made only with lime, honey and olive oil. This dressing is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

• 7 carrots (I usually like to mix colors)

• 1 apple (I recommend the pink lady apple which is juicy, tart and crunchy)

• a handful of hazelnuts

• a handful of raisins

• some fresh parsley

• 2 limes

• honey

• olive oil

• salt and pepper

Instructions

Grated carrots “Carottes râpées”

• peel and grate the carrots

• roast and crush the hazelnuts

• prepare a julienne with the apple

• add carrots, hazelnuts, raisins, apple and fresh chopped parsley in a bowl

“Citronette” dressing

• squeeze lime juice in a bowl

• add a good pinch of salt (ideally choose the “fleur de sel” salt")

• add 1 tablespoon of honey (would recommend a liquid acacia honey)

• Mix everything together to find the perfect balance between the acidity of the lime and the sweetness of the honey. Then, add 5-6 tablespoons of olive oil and continue to mix. The texture of the dressing will start to be creamy and smooth.

What's Pressoir Drinking? Champagne Chartogne-Taillet

by Jaime Dutton
June 23, 2022

Last week I celebrated my birthday with a bottle of Chartogne-Taillet Les Couarres Champagne and it did not disappoint. Every time I pop the cork on a bottle of Alex’s wines I am amazed by their precision and depth. This wine was so good and had a wonderful balance of power and subtlety, with a richness on the palate - a broad character that was enjoyed with our roast chicken dinner.

From the 2010 vintage, this bottle was disgorged in June 2014. Not a baby any more! Predominantly Pinot Noir (60%) blended with Chardonnay (40%). Les Couarres is a terroir in the center of Merfy, its soils are sand over clay.

Don’t miss the opportunity to taste this wine alongside 11 other cuvées at the upcoming Pressoir Dinner featuring the wines of Chartogne-Taillet at Momofuku on July 13. The details are here!

Podcast "The Northern Rhône with Mannie Berk & Rajat Parr"

Raj Vaidya

6/23/2022

Part 3, Hermitage

I’ve had the Northern Rhône on my mind of late, partly because of some special time spent there in April and also because I’m getting excited about hosting our next Sommelier Scholarship Fund trip back to the region in a few weeks, where I’ll have the pleasure of introducing the region to four scholars who will travel with me to learn the nuances of the region. I took this current infatuation as an excuse to tap into two of the great minds and palates I know of when it comes to the region: Mannie Berk, the proprietor of the Rare Wine Company and Rajat Parr, former sommelier turned vigneron in California. We had a lovely chat about the various red wine appellations which I’ve split up into digestible segments for you to listen to at your leisure. Hope you enjoy listening in, they are truly some of the most knowledgable and experienced minds in the business.

-Raj

Podcast "The Northern Rhône with Mannie Berk & Rajat Parr"

Raj Vaidya

6/30/2022

Part 4, Crozes-Hermitage & Cornas

I’ve had the Northern Rhône on my mind of late, partly because of some special time spent there in April and also because i’m getting excited about hosting our next Sommelier Scholarship Fund trip back to the region in a few weeks, where i’ll have the pleasure of introducing the region to 4 scholars who will travel with me to learn the nuances of the region. I took this current infatuation as an excuse to tap into two of the great minds and palates I know of when it comes to the region, Mannie Berk, the proprietor of the Rare Wine Company and Rajat Parr, former sommelier turned vigneron in California. We had a lovely chat about the various red wine appellations which i’ve split up into digestible segments for you to listen to at your leisure. Hope you enjoy listening in, they are truly some of the most knowledgable and experienced minds in the business.

-Raj

Podcast "The Northern Rhône with Mannie Berk & Rajat Parr"

Raj Vaidya

6/15/2022

Part 2, Saint-Joseph

I’ve had the Northern Rhône on my mind of late, partly because of some special time spent there in April and also because i’m getting excited about hosting our next Sommelier Scholarship Fund trip back to the region in a few weeks, where I’ll have the pleasure of introducing the region to 4 scholars who will travel with me to learn the nuances of the region. I took this current infatuation as an excuse to tap into two of the great minds and palates I know of when it comes to the region: Mannie Berk, the proprietor of the Rare Wine Company and Rajat Parr, former sommelier turned vigneron in California. We had a lovely chat about the various red wine appellations which I’ve split up into digestible segments for you to listen to at your leisure. Hope you enjoy listening in, they are truly some of the most knowledgeable and experienced minds in the business.

-Raj

What's Pressoir Drinking - Réné Engel, yes, again....

June 16, 2022

by Raj Vaidya

A proper Friday Apero ala Pressoir!

A couple of weeks ago we kicked off the summer season in our Pressoir office with a celebration, Daniel’s birthday! In celebration I thought a special bottle was in order….

Sourced recently yet from a great cellar in pristine condition, this bottle of Engel Vosne-Romanée Brûlées was all that one could hope for from a great mature Burgundy, all spice and jasmine flowers in the nose, a touch of beet sugary sweetness to the palate and lovely length and vivacity on the palate. A proper kickoff to that weekend, and to toast Daniel’s special day!

We started off with this beautiful Ledru Cuvée Goulté, making the theme of the evening ‘the defunct winery apero’, and it was no slouch!