Mavilly-Mandelot, Burgundy
[I'm back ! this visit took place in july and its publishing was delayed because of travel-laptop crash]
This is the 5th vintage of Domaine Dandelion which was founded by Morgane Seuillot, a Burgundy native and her Australian boyfriend Christian Knott who is also the winemaker at Chandon de Briailles in Savigny. Morgane travelled and worked a few years in Australia in biodynamic wineries, but ironically she didn't see Christian Down Under, she just heard about him and met him when back in Burgundy. When she came
back she bought a small surface in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune to start making wine although before leaving for Australia that wasn't her initial goal in life to start a domaine. Through Christian from his experience at Chandon de Briailles she got initiated to natural winemaking and discovered the many talented vintners of this movement. The wines at Dandelion are vinified naturally since the beginning, no additives, no sulfites. They also take a great care of the vineyard, and Morgane has a good family experience in the matter, her father Pierre Seuillot doing some draft-horse plowing for domaines in the region.
Mavilly-Mandelot is a lovely village located out of the beaten wine route, up there in the woody hills above Beaune, so close to Beaune and also so different, away from the tourist crowds (of Beaune particularly); the parcels in this area aren't endless monoculture, they are nestled among prairies and woods on a hilly landscape, with a feel of unchanged connection to mother nature. You have there a very similiar setting with the one around Bouze-les-Beaune nearby, a village you're more likely to drive through when you leave Beaune to the north using regular roads (not the toll divided freeway).
You can't dream of a better setting for the domaine on the church square, it sits right in the former presbytery of the village church, that is the walled compound and house where the priest lived and had his garden and cellar (of course). You can see these buildings on the left, really a great piece of architecture full of holy and vinous vibes...
When we showed up Christian was driving back from a parcel with his crawler tractor (comes initially from Chandon de Briailles), a machine small enough to moved around with a traler behind his car. Christian still works for Chandon de Briailles (he's been there since 2009) where he's officially at the wheel for the vinification, but he actually also does the spraying with the tractor and on time the pruning and other vineyard work.He owes them a lot, they've been very generous with their help and encouragement.
Here standing with wife Morgane and their cute baby (what a nice environment to grow and discover the world). Morgane who works full time is also a trained picker-herbalist. In the background, beyond Aaron you can see Lawrence sitting, he comes from the Wales (U.K.) and helps in the domaine, he has worked also at De Montille.
We do a short drive together to see a few parcels nearby, the route is really short and beautiful, lots of harmony between these landscapes the villages. The have now 7 parcels split in several groups between the villages of Mavilly-Mandelot and Meloisey, plus another parcel near Volnay (in the woods) with a total surface between 3 and 4 hectared. Here is the oldest parcel, named Goutte d'Or (but on the old cadastral papers it bears the name of Cul du Gros which sort of means in French "fat ass"). They don't plow this steep parcel, it is planted with Aligoté, a bit of Pinot Noir and of Gamay. They just mow the grass. This year the vi,neyard suffered with the drought. The woods are really very close, Christian says in the past more slopes around this one were planted and active. The Pinot Noir is in Hautes Côtes appellation and the Aligoté in Bourgogne aligoté while the Gamay is labelled as Coteaux Bourguignons. Last year they vinified the grapes together because of low volumes and they made some kind of Rosé des Riceys from this parcel. This was not a full-mode carbo, they let the grapes in the fermenter for 7 days with a direct press, yielding a clear type of rosé. The Pinot Noir was planted in the 1960s and 1970s. At the time of this visit Christian didn't know if they'd vinify the three varieties separate or together.
this year they have more volume in general but for this parcel, as spring was very dry with little foliage growth at this time, they trimmed a bit lower than usual with the purpose to have more wood growth. The Gamay which was planted in 1901 is in the upper part of the parcel, it doesn't grow much but they don't want to uproot it. tHe Aligoté pictured above was planted in 1944. Normally Aligoté has big dark leaves but here with the steep, highly-draining soil with little available nitrogen the vines struggle and have little vigor. The parcel is also not suited for a tractor because the old vines here and there bend toward the strip between the rows. They got some frost here this year but the foliage and buds were later than usual to come out, thus reducing the damage (compared to last year for example). But usually it doesnt freeze much here on the slopes.
Regarding the soil compsition, it is a mix of sandstone, limestone and quite a good number of fossils. It just take a minute of attention for Christian to spot a couple of nice ones, including this large one which looks lake a huge mussel. Christian loves this parcel, it now yields very low volumes and if it has not been pulled up by the former owners this is only because they used chemical fertilizers to get the volume they wanted. Now the vines have recovered their balance back in accord with the soil nature and paucity. Because they were planted so long ago they had deep roots, and Christian says that like elswhere in Burgundy it was certainly in the 1970s and 1980s that growers began to use chemical fertilizers to boost the fruit load. Considering this vineyard has little vigor and few nutrients in the soil, the Pinot Noir in these conditions has sometimes sluggish fermentations with a hard time to finish, yielding a quite concentrated Pinot, that's why their idea was to vinfied the three together with a bit of whole bunches at the beginning, which makes it easier for the yeast to work. The blend's proportions are rougly a third each, with the Aligoté share slightly above the 2 others.
Here the 60-are parcel has only Pinot Noir, planted in the 1950s The density here is very high (11 000 vines/hectare) with each vine 90 cm from the next and 1 meter between the rows, which means you can only work here with a horse or a small crawler tractor. this is the first year they have this parcel, they got it last autumn and puting in place green compost using different seeds like faba beans, peas, wheat, oats and chard. I notice that the vines are trimmed, I ask if that's because the rows are so close that could make unwanted shade for the next row and Christian says that also in Burgundy for the Pinot in general they trim because the young apex takes disease easily. He says there's a debate about trimming with some growers chossing not to dop it but he thinks it also gives the signal to the vine, like it's done for 500 years, that it's time to feed the grapes and grow the fruit. It thus helps also for the aoûtement and the phenolic maturation as well.
I notice The bunches are quite close to the ground, Christians says yes, always, and in the past in Burgundy they were even closer, in order to ripe better with the reverberation of the sun on the ground. Here on this parcel the flowering comes later and this year they had lots of millérandage. Normally these graps should be vinified and bottled separately (under the label Hautes Côtes de Beaune, Vigne de Rose).
While on the road to another parcel Christian says that in 2018 they vinified everything separate while in 2019 they made only 2 cuvées because of the lower volumes. The third parcel we had a look at is a rental with possibly a purchase in the medium term, if one day they have enough money, Christian says with a smirk...
This parcel here is exposed to the east, that's why they calle it Aube (means dawn in French), this is also a cooler terroir, there's the plateau above (on which there's no viticulture, only mainstream crops or grassland for meat cows) from which cool or even cold air flows down regularly. The woods part is part of Natura 2000 (a network of protected natural areas).
These vineyards weren't trllised in the past, Christian says the vines were planted en foule on posts, with a high density and without trellis, then in 1850 to 1880, just after the phylloxera the growers began to plan in line which allowed to let canes grow and allowed also an easier work using draft horses.By the way Christian and Morgane use a horse in the vineyard, thanks to Morgane's father who has been doing this for a long time for different domaines (Leflaive, Lafon and others). And both are learning fast, this year, Christian and Morgane managed the horse by themselves for the plowings.
This year has been pretty healthy for the vineyard, there's just been this drought in spring but the bright side was that the weeds were scarce between the rows, they just plowed a bit in early spring. I find they did so much already in just a few years, they started here at the end of 2015 with 1,5 hectare, with their first vintage being 2016. The following year they added Aube and Le Bois Prévot, and last year they got La Vigne de Rose.
__ Les Gouttes d'Or, rosé 2019, cask sample. This wine is made from the first parcel (formerly named Le Cul du Gros) we saw, a blend of Aligoté, Pinot Noir & Gamay. This wine was cofermented and hadn't been racked yet. Amazing color, Christian expected a color
that would be more tile, like the cuvées corail are (blends of whites & reds) but it turned out to be more like a Provence rosé,
he says [my view is it's a more vivid and exciting color here]. The grapes were all three ripe at the same time, at least in this parcel, Christian says, it is not always the case. Deliciously refreshing rosé for sure, it still feels powerful (Christian didn't check the alcohol level) but there's what I think is the fresh Aligoté to carry it with ease. Easy drink even though the wine temperature is a bit high for a rosé, it was in a cooler (the cellar temp now is 18,5 C __65.3 F__) but not long enough, it was so hot outside.
Christian didn't plan at this stage to bottle this rosé soon, he still feels it to be too young and he's looking for a rosé with quite a good level of complexity, so bottling should be in spring 2021. The wine is on its lees, there was a time the wine was very reductive a few months ago and he saw the wine gradually come out clean. There a 228 liter and a 500 liter barrel of this wine (old oak, the youngest is from 2011). He says this year they reserved (ordered, second hand) 4 demi-muids with a 500 liter capacity and will increase the share of this type of vessels in the cellar (it takes more time to find them but it's worth the effort).
__ Pinot Noir 2019, sample. Christian made a mini sample blend from different barrels, just to smoothen any possible difference. Christian says all the lees went in the barrels with the wine. Usually they'd have a prior débourbage, keeping a minimum of lees with the wine at the entonnage (barreling) but this time that wanted a longer élevage, with at the end a wine that will be ready to drink. The plan at this stage was to rack these 228-liter
casks before the harvest and move the wine right away into 500-liter demi-muids for the rest
of the élevage until spring 2021.
vinification : Harvest in the morning only in order to bring in grapes that are as cool as possible (like 15 C or 59F) because they don't have a cooling system in the cellar. Whole-clustered bunches, all the Pinot Noir together from different parcels, there were two fermenters (one oak, one cement) but with the same parcel blend with 2 weeks before pressing. Usually they let 3 weeks but that year Morgan who was pregnant was on alert for a possible delivery, so he shortened the maceration time, which turned fine also. Very little pigeage in general, especially with their low yields and small berries. 3 days before pressing they foot stomp the grapes in order to avoid having a sudden rush of sugar in the juice that would cause a spike of the temperature. Christian learnt from his years at Chandon that when you release too much sugar at once during the pressing, the yeast get weaker and a rapid change in osmotic pressure in cells can yield trouble. Until now he vinifies without addings, the Pinots are made without sulfur, but he works carefully to have wines without faults, even though he and Morgane appreciate wilder wines, Burgundy even with many working with indigenous yeast and minimum sulfur is a "classic" or traditional region where faults are not too welcome.
__ Coteaux Bourguignons 2018, 50 % Gamay (from the Gouttes D'Or parcel) & Pinot Noir, bottling 14 months after vinification, in december following year. One third vinified in terracotta Got 2 grams of SO2 at bottling. Nice chew, sappy wine, juicy in the mouth. 11 €. Great deal.
__ Hautes Côtes de Beaune Nature 2018, Pinot Noir of course here. Serving temperature colder here. Light astringency at first, but when wine warmed in the glass, much more enjoyable, nice balance. 16 €
__ Aube 2018, a first bottle, this is from the 3rd parcel we visted, close to the village of Meloisey with a terroir close to the one of Saint Romain, that is limestone, without any sand nor sandstone. As said, vines with low vigor, they left only 2 coursons per vine which yieldes very few grapes. They put this wine in clay (terracotta) vessels because it had more freshness and acidity than other parcels (terracotta de-acidifies the wine). Lovely texture in the mouth, like silk paper. They made only 250 bottles, the rest of the juice went into the Hautes Côtes cuvée. 20 €.
You can find their wines in Paris at the Cave des Papilles, le Verre Volé, Bacchus et Ariane (Marché Saint Germain), among others.
Morgane says that the labels are made in Auverrgne in an old-time paper mill using together cotton, linen and hemp, they ship them the labels
in A2 format, after which she cuts them manually with a paper cutter and sticks them on the bottles one by one. You can see tiny flowers on the labels, they're real flowers cut over there in Auvergne by the artists of the paper mill who at some point integrate them in the paper fiber.
__ Hautes Côtes Nature 2017, 2nd vintage of this cuvée. Exciting nose. The wine feels really open and giving, more rewarding than the 2018, like it has reached the time needed to mature and give back. So good, really ready to drink for me, love it ! Morgane says she really loves the nose too, the wine changed a lot compared to a year ago. This vintage was very rainy and cold that year in the Hautes Côtes, for example that year at Chandon they picked end of august while here it was end of september (last parcel was october 1). If judging from blossoming picking should have been mid september but from august 25 it rained almost every day with dropping temperatures (22 or 23 C, or 71.6-73.4 F) which lengthened the maturation of the grapes. The vinification was 3 weeks of maceration with whole-clustered grapes, some pigeage 3 days before the end (again, to release sugar earlier than pressing).
__ Aligoté 2018. Christian says that in 2017 they thought they bottled the Aligoté too early, in june, the wine was very pure with lemon aromas but after bottling the wine went into reductive mode. So the following year they wanted to have a more stable wine before the bottling, especially that he thinks the white are naturally less stable than the reds because they don't have anti-oxidants, so that's better to go through a longer élevage for complexity also, which they did in 2018 with keeping the wine on its lees. There's no sugar left here, says Christian following a question by Aaron. there was a 7 day maceration. No SO2 here. Christian says about the fermentation that like always, when there's weeds in the vineyard, there's less nutrients and it's more diffucult for the natural yeast to prosper. Very rich wine, Aaron says.
If I remember well the guy on the left who then joined us was from New Zealand, he worked with Fabien Jouves in Cahors (Mas del Perié) and was somehow stuck in France because the borders were closed in his country with the Coronavirus thing, so he's staying here with his wife and his 4-year-old son waiting that things get better... Not too bad for an exile...
We wandered then i town and fell upon a restaurant table with a few good vignerons who were having a good time, Iris Mauclert and partner Vincent Lebègue (vigneron and artist doing shows about Jules Chauvet), also Pierre Fenals and in the background, Juliette Auverger (holding a friend), a former Coinstot Vino worker who is doing training in some of the best artisan domaines in Beaujolais and Jura, you can consider her a future vigneronne...
Beaune is for me kind of a wine-tourist trp and I tend to avoid the town and its crowds of conformist moneyed crowds, but there are a couple of plzaces that make a detour downtown worth, among them Les Pôpiettes, a warmful, no-fuss venue with great food and reliable wine list. More about this place on Facebook.
Right across the street, don't miss this caviste ! Mes Bourgognes is not the bland tourist wine shop selling Burgundy brands and labels, this is another serious wine shop with the best artisan wines, and not only squared on Burgundy (see below as a proof of utmost seriousness). The guy here knows what he sells, a pleasure to flip through labels with the eyes, sort of. Here is another cave where you can buy any bottle blind and will bring home a good value whatever the color and price.
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