Chargé, Loire
The weather had been tricky until this weekend, I was supposed to attend a couple of small wine fairs the previous weeks, but each time whether the temperatures were a bit low or rain
was menacing or both and in one instance I had to ride back to Paris the same
evening, which could have been hazardous as
I spit less than i should (and atop of that in bad weather, seemed to me very daring). Whatever, then came this summer-like weekend and I had heard at Philippe Tessier that the iconic women-winemakers wine fair Maîtresses de Chai had moved from Paris to the Loire, and not anywhere but at Anne Paillet's [and accessorily Greg's] place in Chargé, which was a recipe for a terrific event, light years from a boring direct-sales event....
Anne's and Gregory's cellar and chai comprise a long and narrow courtyard leading to the cellar under the hill, the tasting tables were planned to be there but given the rising temperatures that day they were swiftly moved in the cellar, the chai actually, which was perfectly appropriate for these Maîtresses de Chai....
Here were the participating Jeanne Galinié or Jeanne Yerre is the woman who managed until recently Versant Vins in the small covered market Les Enfants Rouges, the place was an enjoyable casual eatery with an excellent selection of natural wines (she sold the business since). She had organized there a yearly wine fair gathering women winemakers, Les Maîtresses de Chai, which she keeps managing if somewhere else now. .I asked Jeanne a few questions about it : She's been doing this gathering for the 8th year. At les Enfants Rouges she was employed there first for 4 years, then managing her own restaurant business, during which she set up this Maîtresses de Chai event, once a year, usually the last weekend of may of the first of june. When she sold the restaurant 2 years ago the girls who participated evey year said we should keep this going and offered to hold the thing in their cellar or wine farm, which is what they're doing here. They'll repeat the event every year, moving to another chai of one of the maîtresses, the only restriction is they'll remain in the Loire area so that it is not too difficult for the Parisians and other Loire fans of the event to come.
Here on the right are the first two women I spoke two after I parked the bike outside, Anne of course, and Edwige, who incidently is not a winemaker or a vigneronne herself but was there to help.
At Les Maîtresses de Chai people can taste all the cuvées brought by the vigneronnes and they can buy wine, by the bottle or case. There's no entry fee for the two-day event, you just deposit 5 € for the tasting glass, recovering it at the end. It is very affordable for the participating winemakers too, unlike many wine fairs where the costs can be astronomic, and I guess they can sleep somewhere in the hosting vigneronne's house. The rule for selecting the participants beyond being a woman is to work correctly, she doesn't ask for organic certification but she knows how they work, she's visited their respective wine farm and they're good and respective. Most are on the natural wine type of vinification but she doesn't ask a drastic enforcement of it. And being only between them has the reward of not having a male vigneron near them tasting their wine and saying with a frown something like, "not bad, but if you had done this way it would have been better"...something they live all along year, and she herself went through the same thing when she started her caviste business at the age of 25.
You've been watching us having wine, so here is what I had for my first sips :
__ Anne's white, Los Annegeles, Vin de France 2018. Fully her wine here. a new cuvée of hers, a blend of Vermentino and Colombard, grapes sourced in the Languedoc in Pic
Saint Loup, and fermented in
__ MDXV or 1515 for those who read Roman numerals, a Vin de France 2018, also a new cuvée, 100 % Carignan, and it's the first time she works from Carignan. Also fermented in the trailer. In 2019 she says she may find a cellar over there in the south to hold the tanks with the juice during the harvest before moving them all to the Loire when picking is over. I love the nose, there's something like peat or tobacco, pepper also maybe. Mouth : just delicious, fresh, pure happiness. 12,5 % alcohol. In the Pic Saint Loup area where she sourced her grapes she's the first to pick. It's an area where it's common to pick at 14,5 % or 15 % and add water. She made several tries with the Carignan as it was her first, a batch with 100 % destemmed, one with half/half, one withe a classic carbo (the latter is boring and disapointing, she says, the carbo erases all terroir and style, could be from anywhere). She'll settle on 70 % destemmed 30 % whole clusters, this seems to her the best, keeping the terroir expression. This wine is a blend of the 3, super result for a first try.
__ Les états d'Anne is a red Vin de France 2018, a carbonic maceration of Cinsault and Grenache (4 days), the idea being to have a very very light red, or a lightly dark rosé. Acidulous type of wine with candy notes in the mouth with a juicy expression. Color is indeed between red and rosé with a bit of turbidity. Possibly more alcohol feel here.
There were a few women taking part to the event that were doing other things than wine, like here Emilie Quentin aka Mamzelle Choco who makes all kind of things in chocolate sourced on different continents and organically produced. When I say all kind of things, this included sex toys and glasses, single-use glasses of course, that are fit for certain types of wine. She recounts
having someone try one with a Mourvèdre which is a tannic and powerful wine, and it
Emilie is based in Rennes, Brittany, she has a workshop there but no formal street shop. She sells her chocolate to cavistes, organic shops and takes part to several fairs like this one (you can see which wine fairs on the Facebook page). The problem here in the courtyard was the sun, and a Venetian mask she had exposed on the table had begun to melt, so she was the first to move her table in the shade of the chai, and the vigneronnes soon followed.
Emilie started her chocolate manufacture one year and a half ago but she has always been passionate about chocolate and began organizing chocolate tastings 6 years ago in 2013, with complete menus (entry, dish, desserts) centered around chocolate. She finds her raw material at local cooperatives sourcing in Africa (Sao Tomé), Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Peru, with organic certification on the whole of her products.
The event was also a good opoortunity to stumble upon wine people of the region, like here the owners of Comptoir Archimède, a recently-opened wine bistrot in Saint Aignan sur Cher which serves only natural wine, a venue where you are likely to stumble in turn on vignerons of the area (haven't profiled the place yet but that should come), plus Emily occasionally works there. Maxime Hubert and his wife had come to Les Maîtresses de Chai with their adorable baby girl in her stroller.
Debra Kemp is a Brit who has been living in France for years and who is importing here cheese from England, an uphill challenge you might say thinking of France as a major cheese producer but I understand cheese lovers are very open when they're face to face with this quality of cheese.
__Cheddar Kent, Winterdale Shaw (farm name), aged one year, cow raw milk. Delicious crunchy touch with the aging.[from left to right on the video and picture]
That's it, with the temperature rising outside, everyone moved inside in the cool chai; you'd harly have this chance to change the setting in many wine fairs in Paris or major towns when the conditions are not optimal. That's another point for keeping holding the event in the wineries. Here I
__ 30 Ans de Biodynamie, Extra Brut a cuvée to celabrate 30 years of the farming. Two vintages blended here, 2000 & 2001, tirage (bottling) in 2002 and disgorged in october 2018, after 17 years in the cellar. The first fermentation took place 100 % in barrels. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Blanc, 1/3 each. they made 3000 bottles and want to share them this year for the 30th anniversary of continuous biodynamic farming on their vineyards. Not on the market yet, they're beginning to pour the wines for tastings now. It was supposed to be an Extra Brut but they put 4 grams on this particulat disgorgement batch, for the next one they'll put nothing. Interesting color, that's because of the long staying sur lattes. Veny nice Champagne, very vinous in style with discreet bubbles and a light bitterness on the side, love it.
I taste now the wines of Ariane Lesne of Domaine de Montrieux in the Coteaux du Loir, home region of Pineau d'Aunis. The total surface of the domaine is 6 hectares, of which 3 hectares of Pineau d'Aunis.
Here we go to Burgundy Vezelay with Catherine Montanet of Domaine Montanet Thoden. Catherine is the ex wife of Jean Montanet of La Cadette, whom I visited
along with his son Valentin a
You may recognize Guillaume Duprès who was at the wheel at Coinstot Vino for years, I stumbled upon him and his young daughter while tasting here, nice place to see the best wine people ! Guillaume opened another wine venue last year (8 months ago), Goguette in the 11th arrondissement where many of the best wines bistrots are located (Noëlla whispers in my ear that she went there with Philippe and it's super good).One of the things they do at Goguette is selling in bulk wine which they sourced from friends-vignerons, using tanks with floating lids and kegs. The cuvées change regularly so that people can discover different wines. You pay something like 35 € for a magnum, with a cuvée sold only at Goguette. Tyhere's also a wine bar with wines by the glass and he sells bottles to go like a caviste.
Here I'm tasting the wines of a vigneronne who couldn't come, Laurence Joly of Domaine La Roche Buissière an
Here is Sophie Clerc from Touraine, Loire, she set up her domaine recently near Huismes (near Chinon) but her parcels are located near Rivarennes and Cheillé in the Touraine Azay-le-Rideau area. Last year she had a single hectare and in 2019 she has 2 hectares total and she plants 1,5 hectare, her goal beeing to reach 5 to 6 hectares. She presents today her first vintage with two cuvées, a Chenin and a Gamay and hasn't sold her wine to anybody yet. In her former life she was running a business in urbanism and landscaping (she's still working a bit on the side in this field) and because she had to stay near her employees she studied through distance learning at
Now I'll taste the wines of Anne Bonfante and Isabelle Collotte of Domaine Collotte (Marsannay, Burgundy). This is a family domaine and the vineyard surface for the next harvest will be 16 hectares, they have two pfull-time staff on the estate. Anne herself joined the domaine after working in Touraine and Nuits-Saint-Georges and later in Marsannay. She brought just a couple of cuvées here.
Here are now the wines of Emmannuelle Desvignes (nice appropriate family name, means "of the vineyards" in French), a 8th-generation domaine of the Beaujolais with a surface of 11 hectares, all on Moron Appellation. Her father was the one in the family who began to sell the wine in bottles in the 1970s. The parcels are scattered over the Morgon area because her great grandfather was smart and didn't want to have his surface in one block, in order to save something in case of hail storm (which is a common occurrence in Beaujolais).
Here are Mathilde and Laetitia who make wine near Francueil (facing Chenonceaux) in the Cher valley (Loire) since 2018 from a tiny 50-are surface of Gamay which they rent to a friend. They presnt their two cuvées, a pet'nat and a red.
__ Sist'Hit, Pet'Nat Rosé 2018, lightly turbid. 4 months sur lattes, bottled at around 1005 and disgorged by hand à la volée. Very nice and fresh, no residual sugar. They made 540 bottles, no added sulfites nothing. They sell mostly to private buyers right now. 10 € tax included.
Now here is Noëlla Morantin, the iconic woman-winemaker of the Cher valley, on the picture with Philippe, Anne & Gregory. She has now her own chai and cellar in Thésée, after working for years in a farm owned by Catherine of Clos Roche Blanche. She and Philippe presented 4 cuvée for this event, beginning with two older
There was another woman dealing with the pizzas (you had to eat something with all this wine), this is Marie Paillot of Hecopain. She is working with a mobile wood oven (Four à Bois Mobile), making bread and pizzas at natural-wine fairs and other same-minded events. They're based near Brissac in the Saumur area.
There was an intruder, a stoweway in this women-only event, Ludo (Ludovic Hardouin) of the craftbeer brewery La Pigeonnelle had slipped in with a disguise. I had a glass of Loirette blonde to make a break among this vinous landscape, refreshing, I understand why all these artisan winemakers love beer too. The brewery started in 2003, he and his brother founded it. They make 5 types of beers including a very light white (3,5 %), the Loirette, plus a stronger Christmas beer which they make brew once a year. They now also sell kegs for draft to a selection of bars.
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Isabelle Perraud comes from the Beaujolais, her husband Bruno is a 6th-generation vigneron on a 8 hectares. Organic since 1999 and biodynamic since 2018. They also have a négoce which they started in 2004 after terrible losses because of hail in 2004. Thus now they also make wine from purchased grapes, which helps them make wines they don't make usually, but they remain in the Beaujolais/Maconnais.
Here there was another exception for the women-only event, the chef for the dîner de vignerons was a man, Antony Cointre, here at the beginning of this video. He also had brought hiis lovely baby girl. I couldn't stay for dinner in part for logistics reason (you have to take the road afterthen and not get caught by random breath checks) but I envy all the party, the fee was 30 € wines included and with all the participating vignerons, some having come from outside like Thierry Puzelat, Jeremy Quastana and Brendan Tracey, the ambiance must have been terrific.
Marie Thibault makes wine in Azay le Rideau, incidently her husband is (sorry for that, I know vigneronnes don't like to be reminded when their husband is also a vigneron) Frantz Saumon whom I visited a couple years ago. Marie makes wine since 2011 and before that she was a secretary at the AOC syndicat, meaning she saw all the hidden part of this bureaucracy... Today she farms 4 hectares which is the maximum she can do (she came late to the tasting because in the morning she had to spray with the tractor 'rain was scheduled for the follopwing days). She just brought 2 cuvées, there are 2 other cuvées she didn't bring, a still Chenin and a pet'nat Chenin (not ready yet but will come soon). She also this year bought grapes in Gaillac, I discovered it was the same place where Amirault-Grobois buys grapes since 2016.
Here is the boulangère Sarah Bertin who makes terrific breads and related products in Céré La Ronde. If you remember Marie Rocher who now makes wine but also writes and publishes books, Sarah was one of the bakers she profiled and studied with when she wrote Tronches de Pain, a book on real bread in line with her other book, Tronches de Vin, which was on real wine, and the woman on the cover page is Sarah...She has been making bread for 6 years (near Montrichard first) and she lives now in Céré la Ronde where she found a building made available by the village's city hall. There's a good pulse in this village and she likes it there.
Kevin also came for the event, he has still been working for Olivier Lemasson since my profile on him, he still works on 1,5 hectare of his own for the pleasure of making wine, and he bought an old farm which he renovates with his buddies. He had brought bottles of his 3 cuvées for the dinner that evening, taking place in this very courtyard (on the tables in the background i guess). I am so sad not to have taken part, these dîners de vignerons are unique things in every regard, not only the food and all the wines but the vibes, the ambiance, everything, they make many Paulées trendy imitations pale in comparison...
As I was leaving, Brendan Tracey was arriving, also just in time to taste a bit from his fellow vignerons' wines and take part as well to the dinner. Another guy who certainly has been contributing to make this evening terrific (he didn't bring his fellow musicians along, but there's a chance he sang at one time or another...) . He told me about the slight changes in the chai since I visited. In 2018 he happilly didn't suffer from mildew but in 2019 he had some frost damage, not on his own parcels (he has't any now) but on the parcels he buys the grapes from. As a result he may make less wine.
Marie Thibault (Touraine), Noëlla Morantin (Touraine), Isabelle Perraud (Macon, Beaujolais), Sophie Clerc (Touraine), Laurence Joly (Rhône), Morgane Fleury (Champagne), Ariane Lesne (Coteaux du Loir), Emmanuelle Desvignes (Morgon), Catherine
Montanet (Bourgogne Vezelay), Anne Bonfante & Isabelle Collotte (Bourgogne Marsannay), Anne Leclerc Paillet (Pic Saint Loup), Mathilde Boyeldieu & Laetitia Castaing (Vallée du Cher), and surprise guests...
Note who designed this nice poster : another wine woman and no less than Marie Carmarans who is also connected to Nicolas Carmarans....
Otherwise Jeanne also works on studying the local grape varieties in France and promoting them. She conducts research in the liobraries, helps the vignerons who want to replant them get the authorizations from the wine administration, find the wood for the grafting, the nurseries. And in Paris she sells the wines made from these old local varieties, some being completely forgotten. She might organize an event one day around these lost varieties and their wines, it could be in the Loire area also (she now lives in Langeais between Tours and Saumur).
__ La Ptite Compète 2018, Vin de France, Chahut et Prodiges. While technically Greg's wine, it is actually made with Anne Paillet's grapes sourced nearby in Nazelles on the other side of the Loire river, these are Pinot Noir and she vinified them for his négoce. The grower has 2 hectares, he is an elderly man who finds now convenient to sell the grapes, especially that they pay 3 times what conventional négoces pay. They made a red 2018 also from this Pinot Noir but it's sold out now (all reserved at La Dive). They'll buy him his grapes next year again. Very fruity, feels like sugar but it's not. They picked this Pinot Noir when back from Pic Saint Loup and the potential was higher than expected.
the semi-trailer on the A75 divided highway (watch the video at mid-scroll on my story to
see this vinification in the truck) and finished here in the Loire. She got access to these new parcels and she should have it next year too.
Very harmonious wine (and beautiful slightly blurred color), there's some kind of Umami feel here, a wholeness, this is a super enjoyable white indeed. She says that coincidently she sold tons of this wine to Japan, they all loved this cuvée (they discovered it at the Dive). Zev Rovine is the one who found the name. Very saline wine that is easy to drink, and Anne has again succeeded making a wine from the south with a Loire style ! Very low SO2 level as stated on the back label.
There may have been no more than a dozen vigneronnes, I was still wary of missing any, so i didn't always taste all the wines, you can see here on the left all the cuvées Anne had brought, and i skipped a few.
blended beautifully with the chocolate, there's a melting occuring between the aromas of cocoa and the wine which makes a nice experience, and when you crunch into the glass or rather the cup at the end, there's this vinous thing that has integrated into the chocolate, also an interesting feel. Check Mam'zelle Choco's Facebook page to see all the chocolate thinks she makes, it's amazing.
She sources her cheese from 3 cheese farms in England. These cheeses have a long history, like the Stilton was historically the cheese sent to the kings of England, same for Cheddar. The affinage takes place at the cheese farm. Debra is a trained sommelière and holds tastings on wine & cheese pairing. She says British cheese is little known here and she helps change that, doing pop-ups buffets and corporate events (contact [email protected]). Debra also imports a selection of fruit jellies. Retail price for her cheese is between 30 € and 60 € a kilo.
__ Red Leicester, Leicestershire. One year. Cow raw milk with annatto. Also this sandy crunch with the aging, Debra there's a ferrous taste also.
__ Sparkenhoe Blue, "Stilton" type although no label, cow raw milk, aged 3-4 months. More creamy style, because only 4-month old. In the UK you can find Stiltons that aren't interesting, like wines that have the AOC but weren't made properly with the right ingredients.
__ Sparkenhoe (farm name), Shropshire Blue, raw milk, affinage also 3-4 months.
taste the Champagne Fleury poured by Morgane Fleury,
they're made in the Aube region and the vineyard is biodynamic. Morgane also manages Ma Cave Fleury in Paris (177 rue Saint Denis), a bistrot where you can enjoy her Champagne cuvées as well as a selection of top-notch natural wines.
__ Blanc de Noir, Pinot Noir with a base of 2013, 30 % reserve wine. Dosage is minimal here, just under 6 grams, from a rotating reserve started in 2006 and kept in foudre, some sort of solera to which organic cane sugar is added. This cuvée is the base identity of the Maison Fleury. New labels for 2 years and a half now.
__ FE, Fleur d'Europe, a cuvée started by her father when he started biodynamy in 1989, at the beginning of Europe [when Eastern Europe was set free], Morgane says with a sigh [for her discontent I guess over the results of the recent European Parliament elections]. Here it's a base of 2014, 25 % reserve wine, 15 % Chardonnay with a majority of Pinot Noir. Flowery aromas, thin texture of bubbles, they're discreet. Easy drinking, bubbles really on the back seat. At Fleury they spent years of research on the yeast and made their own selection in the chai, drying them themselves for further use at harvest time, other winemakers ca have some also if they want.
__ Sonate 2011 Extra Brut, a Champagne without sulfites. The cuvée was started in 2009 by her brother, each year they choose different parcels, the important thing for a wine without SO2 is having grapes in excellent conditions. In 2011 there is 40 % Chardonnay fermented in barrels and the rest is Pinot Noir fermented in tanks.
__ Gargamelle, this Vin de France is a blend of Gamay Teinturiers, Gamay de Bouze & Gamay Chaudenay, to which at the end of the fermentation she
adds a bit of Cabernet Franc which she devatted after a 8-day maceration. And lastly, one month
before bottling she blends the wine with a bit of Pineau d'Aunis. The integration of the Cab Franc is swift because she doesn't want it to take over. My system
loves it, super nice !
__ Picrochole 2017, 100 % Pineau d'Aunis, young vines. They make another cuvée of Aunis from the older parcels that are between 45 and 120 years old. In 2018 she'll do also a pet'nat rosé of Pineau d'Aunis using the direct-pressed grapes from the parcels that were damaged by mildew. Superb color of Aunis, lightly evolved. Delicious wine !
__ Phylactère 2017, a pet'nat made from Gamay de Bouze & Gamay de Chaudenay (40 years old), direct press, no added sulfites. Low yields, like around 15 hectoliters/hectare, there are many missing vines. Very aromatic on the nose, hard to describe, eucalyptus or things like that. Discreet bubbles, you might think it's a still wine with just a bit of gaz if you tasted it blind. There's a sweet edge, she says there's a bit of residual sugar, she didn't have analysis so she doesn't know how much exactly but it's in the range of 4 to 6 grams.
At this point I spoke with Roxane whom I met a couple years ago at Lemasson while visiting Kevin Henry (she's the young woman on top of this story) and she gave me a few tips about young winemakers joining the fray (and happily there are many all over the country, we need them to fulfill our demand for these real wines...). Thank you Roxane !
few years ago. Catherine set up her own domaine in
2000 but Valentin is the winemaker and he distributes the wine as well. Catherine is working usually full time in the vineyard (8 hectares), it's rare that she is present in wine fairs because of all the work, pruning, deleafing, tilling the soil, she does all that. She brought only 2 cuvées, whites, because the reds aren't ready yet.
__ Galerne, Vezelay 2018, a blend of Chardonnay from young parcels. Nice Chard, enjoyable vividness with white flower aromas, energy also. A bit of sulfites added at botling. Bottled almost a month before. She says a vintage like 2018 was exceptionnal and she may never see one like this one again, in terms of grape quality, volume, balance, plus no mildew, no disease nothing, the ideal vintage.
__ Melon, Vin de France 2018. She has a tiny parcel of Melon, less than 10 ares, and her son Valentin blends the juice with the one of her ex-husband, that's why it is labelled as table wine. Generous and full mouth.
Goguette : 108 rue Amelot 75011 Paris
organic domaine in the Côtes du Rhône.
__ Flonflons, Côtes du Rhône 2017, 70 % Grenache, 30 % Syrah. Nose : cooked fruits, appealing. Serving temperature a bit too high but nice energy in the mouth. 13,5 % alcohol, passes well especially given it's served a bit too warm.
__ Petit Jo, Vin de France, 75 % Grenache, 25 % Syrah. The back label adds : Vinification and élevage without sulfites, unfined, unfiltered. SO2 added at bottling : 10 mg/L (maximum allowed is 100 mg/L). The label of the first wine had the same info on the back. 13,7 %. Color a bit chalky (I love that). Quite powerful.
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the Viticulture School of Beaune during 4 years to go through all the cursus, going to Beaune in person now and then. She trained 2 weeks near Azay le Rideau at Nicolas Paget who keeps helping her. She also met Laurent Herlin who also help her make her way in this new life.
__ Rencontres en Chenin, Vin de France 2018, dry Chenin, 13,2 % bottled in march. Unfiltered, unfined, almost no sulfites, just a bit at bottling. Bottled in 50-centiliter bottles because she made only one hectoliter. Nice energy feel in the mouth, good level acidity to balance the alcohol. The grapes were stomped under the feet and the vinification took place in fiber tanks and the wine was then put in 4 25-liter glass demijohns. No malolactic on this wine, no élevage. Next year she'll have more surface of Chenin and will be able to make 2 barrels.
__ Gamay, Premières Gam' Vin de France (2018). A semi-carbonic vinification, from a 80-are parcel aged 45. Volume : 17 hectoliters, she could have made more volume but for this first vintage she used an old basket press that left out part of the juice, she noticed her pomace (unlike her peers) remained quite wet and juicy at the end (she's looking for another one). Translucent color. Nice tannin. Part of the batch has a week long maceration and the other 2 weeks, she blended the two parcels at the end.
Sophie makes also a grape juice which I didn't taste.
__ Marsannay Rosé, direct press rosé 2018 from Pinot Noir, put into barrels during
the primary fermentation to get more structure and substance (8-10 months). Marsannay
is the only Burgundy appellation where you have the 3 colors. Feels like residual sugar but there's not, I'm told, it's the suavity of the wine, they stir the wine like reds. Fermented on indigenous yeast like the rest (except one cuvée, from a very old parcel with stalling fermentations, which she didn't bring here). This year they made 5000 bottles, more than usual. 9 €.
__ Clos de Jeu 2017, Marsannay red, from terroirs on ooliths, fossils type of limestone, there's a rock table beneath. Nice silky Burgundy. Normally they have 16 to 18 months of élevage but as they didn't have 2016 wines to sell because of the frost, they shortened the élevage for the 2017. 16,8 €.
__ Les Evocelles, Gevrey Chambertin 2017. Begins to taste well but you feel it's the early life of the wine. 26 €.
__ Aligoté (from a total surface of 72 ares). Light and round. Anne says that on the Aligoté they keep the yields particularly in check and do systemtically a green harvest (and they prune short). Age of the parcels of Aligoté (they have several parcels which they blend) : from around 30 to 60. For the green harvest actually, they cut the ears of the clusters, Aligoté being known to make big clusters with detached wings or ears, and cutting them off in july allows the grapes to ripen properly. They have a hard time to sell Aligoté in Burgundy because of the reputation of cheap wine used for Kir.
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Morgon Corcellettes 2018, on granite, poor soil and vines aged 40 on average. vinified in cement tanks, same for the élevage, no oak in the domaine. Bottles
a month ago. Semi-carbonic maceration with 10 % of destemmed grapes, a few remontages and delestages on end of fermentation. Nice enjoyable wine, easy drink. Lightly filtered, it depends of the vintage. SO2 a bit before bottling. 2018 was a perfect year she says. 14 € retail at the domaine.
__ Morgon Javernières 2018, parcels of young vines (35 on average) at the foot of the Côte du Py hill with blue stone and clay in the depths, a terroir that retains better the water. Destemmed 40 %, also semi-carbonic vinification in cement, bottled 2 weeks before (made 12 000 bottles). Very nice again, love it ! 20 €. they export 70 % of the wines, U.S (Louis Dressner), Canada (Quebec), Asia.
__ Côte du Py 2018, from vines more than 80 years old, goblets planted one meter apart of each other, no tractor can pass, they use a cable powered plow (they have 2,5 hectare on that terroir). Already bottled because no other vintage available, otherwise she bottles at harvest. Here 10 day maceration with 100 % whole clusters, but semi-carbo again because of aeration and remontages. Elevage : neutral in cement again, in an old, non-aircon cellar. Unfiltered. More powerful, we're tasting it 2 weeks after bottling, I think will be great in 2 years. 22 € tax included at the domaine.
Before that they were vineyard workers, working
(and they still do work for others) for people like Peter Hahn, domaine Perrault-Jadaud, Bertrand Jousset,
__ J'te Kiffe, Gamay red 2018. 10-day maceration, whole-clustered grapes. Unfiltered, a bit of SO2, 6 grams added duruing the fermentation because of a Brettanomyces attack and they had to save their batch, but they made an alalysis later after the fermentation and the sulfites were gone. 500 bottles made of this. Fruity and powerful at the same time, very enjoyable. Public price 9 € tax included, good deal.
vintages of whites (2015 & 2016) because the others are not ready.
__ Chez Charles 2015, Sauvignon. They just have a few bottles left. Elevage in 400-liter demi muids for a year. This terroir (Chez Charles) is frost prone and they had worries late april with minus 4,5 C (23,9 F) and they used anti-frost candles 7 nights, lighting also straw bales on the top of the slope. But the worst frost was early may with minus 2 C (35,6) because there was humidity. Delicious Sauvignon. Noella likes this vintage because it's balanced. In 2018 they had stress because of mildew, but they managed to have volume. 15 € tax included.
LBL 2016, old vines of Sauvignon, 18-month élevage in 400-liter demi-muids, then racking for a few months stay in a tank, the whole élevage going through 2 winters and then another year in bottle. 18 €.
__ Gamay la Boudinerie 2018, bottled 2 weeks before. Unfiltered, 1 to 1,5 gram SO2. Gorgeous, and ideal tasting temperature. My favorite cuvée of hers. 10 € tax included, great deal.
__ Tango Altlantico 2017, Cabernet Franc 60 %, Côt 40 %. Named from a song by Joe Jackson. The previously released vintages for this cuvée are 2015 and 2017. Vividness feel. 12 % alc.
__ Bourgogne Blanc 2017, purchased grapes. They pick themselves with their staff. Unfiltered, a bit turbid, no added sulfites. 3000 bottles made from a small parcel with south-east exposition. Sugar finished but rich feel. They export 70 %. In the United States (Nomadic Distribution, Avant-Guarde, Violette Wine Imports), Quebec (SAQ & Raisonnance), Denmark (R & R), their wines are even on the wine list of Noma by the way.
__ Bourgogne Aligoté 2018, bottled recently. Grape purchase to a grower in Meursault. 3000 bottles. Theyused to buy to another guy elsewhere before and helped him convert to biodynamie but he now sells to the Brett brothers... The vines here are about 40, they're in organic conversion for now. Vivid mouth, Umami feel, harmony, nice Aligoté.
__ Le P'tit Poquelin 2018, Gamay Vin de France (from a Beaujolais-Villages area) unfiltered, unfined, no added sulfites. 6000 or 7000 bottles. Blend from their own grapes and the purchased ones. Here for this cuvée they work with Romain des Grottes since 2013, he sells them a part of the vineyards he work in métayage for an other owner. Super good indeed. 12 € tax included, good deal. Blended and bottled early february.
__ Saint Amour 2018, purchased grapes. Surface : 1 hectare.
wbr>__ Moulin à Vent 2018, blend of 2 parcels, a parcel on Chenas on high altitude and another on Romanèche on lower altitude. Vineyard management is organic for 20 years there, and recently biodynamic.
__ La Roue qui Tourne, Vin de France pet'nat 2018. Gamay, purchased grapes. A bit sweet, quite powerful (the label reads 13 %).
__ le Grolleau, Vin de France 2018. Bottled in march. 2018 was a superb vintage she says also. Quite concentrated, feels powerful but only 12 %.
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