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 Domaine
Renaud Boyer -
Meursault
Renaud Boyer is a relatively recent arrival in the village of Meursault
(although his family is no stranger to vines and vino), where you'll find
his winery and office; the organically nurtured vineyards are scattered
across three other nearby appellations with equally famous names, as you
can see below (sampled at Millésime Bio wine fair, Montpellier January
2009). Racy, taut and at first not very revealing wines that appear to
need much more time in bottle...
2005 Puligny-Montrachet Les Reuchaux (Chardonnay)
- unusual wild herbal
nose moving on to the palate too; spicy green notes v weighty and lush,
very crisp acidity closing up on its appley finish.
2006 Saint-Romain (Pinot
Noir) - delicate pure 'sweet & savoury' aromas / flavours, almost
raisined yet meaty too; firm and fresh mouth-feel and tight finish but it
should come out in a year or two. 88+
2006 Beaune Les Prévolles (Pinot
Noir) - more raisiny and developed v tight juicy structure, refined
perfumed 'sweet & savoury' style.
renaud.boyer@infonie.fr
Domaine Emmanuel
Giboulot
-
Beaune
Emmanuel
Giboulot
has 10 ha (25 acres) of red and white varieties (well, Chardy and Pinot
as it goes without saying) that charm their way into as many different
appellations / labels - that's real Burgundy for you I guess. He's been
applying organic and now biodynamic ideas and techniques to his vineyards,
environment and wines since 1985; aided and abetted by Pierre Fenals in
the field and Cristina Otel in the cellar. Here are four of them tried and
tested at Millésime Bio wine show, Montpellier Jan. 2009:
2007 Terres Burgondes Vin de Pays (Chardonnay)
- attractive creamy notes with light wood backdrop, nuttier finish with
oily v zippy texture. 85+
2007
Côte de Beaune La Grande Chatelaine (Chardonnay)
- closed on the nose, moves on to full creamy mouth-feel with subtle
toast, exotic fruit v mineral freshness; closes up again, quite fine and
promising. 89+
2006
Côte de Beaune La Combe d'Eve (Chardonnay)
- much nuttier and more oxidised/oxidative in style; rounded hazelnut
palate with fresh dry bite. 89
2007 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Sous le Mont (Pinot
Noir) - evasive on the aroma front at the moment; subtle spicy
'sweet & savoury' flavours, perfumed too v quite lean and structured. Give
it a year. 85+
Previous Giboulot vintages here (Millésime Bio 2005).
emmanuel.giboulot@wanadoo.fr
 Domaine
Goisot -
Saint-Bris-le-Vineux
This family estate, steered by Ghislaine and Jean-Hugues
Goisot, is really old apparently: 14th-Century roots according to their
website. There's quite a bit of illuminating info on that site (link below),
although it does include the odd irksome cliché: e.g. "wine is made in the
vineyard blah blah." True to an extent for sure but, hey, those machines
and barrels don't just sit there unused. Apologies for the rant, as Ghislaine & Jean-Hugues's wines are rather good - I tried the ones below
at Millésime Bio wine show in Montpellier in January 2009, meaning it's
another organically farmed operation to join these increasingly organic
pages. St-Bris and Irancy, lying just south of the town of Auxerre, are
north north in Burgundian terms: some might quip it isn't really
Burgundy-proper but it is quite close to (and southwest of) Chablis, even
if the very southern part of the Champagne region is also surprisingly
near(ish). Enough of the geography lesson:
2007 Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre (Chardonnay)
- delicious elegant buttery v mineral aromas and flavours, poise and
finesse to finish. 88-90
2007 Saint-Bris Moury (Sauvignon
"or Sauvignon jaune or Sauvignon fumé"?!)
- steely citrus and green fruit nose and initial mouth-feel; also has
yeast-lees richness and oilier texture giving it roundness v that crisp
finish. 87
2006 Côtes d'Auxerre Corps de Garde (Pinot
Noir) - enticing pure perfumed Pinot aromas, 'sweet & savoury'
style; fine and fresh palate with leathery and velvety touches.
88-90
2006 Irancy Les Mazelots (Pinot Noir)
- similar but richer v firmer, tight acid structure and closes up on the
finish with underlying 'sweet & savoury' profile; needs longer I think.
89+
www.goisot.com
 Domaine
Eric de Suremain - Monthélie
Farmed and star-charted
according to the biodynamic cosmos since 1996, which must make them right
old hippies in the scheme of things since most people (including me)
hadn't even heard of BD then. Jesting aside (as anyone who's read anything
on this site will know, I might like to tease a little on the subject of
biodynamic goings-on; but am a follower at the end of the day). Anyway,
having met them at Millésime Bio wine show in Montpellier in Jan. 2009;
they aren't old, just wise I'd say looking at the five wines I tasted,
below. They don't have a website (?) so I can't copy a picture for you; no
doubt a good thing though, as they probably spend lots of time in the
vineyard - near their home, the charming-looking Château
de Monthélie sandwiched between Volnay, Meursault and Auxey-Duresses; and
also in the Rully appellation about 10km to the south - rather than
messing around updating a website. Eric de Suremain's ("steady hand"
literally) wines appear to be well-distributed from what turned up in a
Google search: Justerini's in the UK, for example.
2006 Rully Premier Cru
(Chardonnay)
- quite steely and mineral in style with crisp intense mouth-feel,
although there's very light creamy oily touches to finish with; still
young it seems. 87+?
2004 Rully Premier Cru
(Chardonnay)
- coming across as much richer and more mature, nice mix of butter v
celery notes; lovely balance and length, concentration too as the palate
unfurls. 89-91
2006 Rully 1er Cru Préaux (Pinot Noir)
- attractive combination of 'sweet' raisiny cherry fruit and savoury
edges; firm and fresh mouth-feel v lush yet lively, again appears youthful
and powerful (the 06s do I guess). 88-90
2006 Château
de Monthélie (Pinot Noir) - much more
open than the other 06s, showing lovely perfumed Pinot style; turning
savoury and tasty on the palate with firm tannins and acidity, subtle long
finish. 90-92
2004 Château
de Monthélie, Monthélie 1er Cru Sur la Velle (Pinot
Noir) - a bit extracted and dry although it does have some nice
floral 'sweet & savoury' character on the finish. I guess the 04 reds are
less charming than the 06s. 89?
desuremain@wanadoo.fr
Domaine Tripoz - Loché
Céline and Laurent Tripoz have 11 hectares
(27 acres) spread around the village of Loché (quite literally: there's a
nice aerial shot pinpointing the different plots on their website) in the region
known as the
Mâconnais,
at the southern end of Burgundy (actually not far from some of the
northern Beaujolais Villages appellations such as Juliénas or
Saint-Amour). They've converted over to organics within the last few years
and have been certified biodynamic (by Demeter) since the 2006 vintage. I
particularly liked their Crémant, which is a 'Nature' style i.e. no added
sugar so
completely dry; although I wasn't fond of their Bourgogne rouge.
These whites and the fizz were tried at Millésime Bio wine show held in
Montpellier in Jan. 2009:
Crémant de Bourgogne Nature - appley v toasty and biscuity; elegant
mouth-watering palate, on the one hand very dry yet has nice honeyed
biscuit flavours too. Yum. 90
2007
Mâcon-Loché
(Chardonnay) - ripe and creamy v fresh and
mineral, attractively buttery cut by fresh acidity.
87-89
2007
Mâcon-Vinzelles
Les Morandes (Chardonnay) -
Chablis-like steely green edges moving on to more buttery and rounded
mouth-feel, again mineral freshness and length.
88-90
2007 Pouilly-Loché Réserve (Chardonnay)
- lightly toasty nose getting oakier on the palate; big and rounded, again
with refreshing acidity but it's a tad too woody in the end.
85
www.tripoz.fr
 Maison
Simonnet-Febvre - Chablis
This famous
Chablis house (see my review of their 2007 Chabbers below, from my 'wines of
the moment' page) isn't perhaps so well-known for its Crémant de Bourgogne -
actually, according to their website, they're the only one is Chablis
itself making these 'traditional method' sparkling wine styles.
So, there you go, you've learnt something tonight. Anyway, they've just
smartened up the labelling and relaunched a range of four attractive
fizzies (I doubt they'll thank me for calling them that but I don't use
that word in a condescending sense, as you'll see in my
Cava mini-guide. It's just that you're not allowed to say 'Champagne
style' even, and why would I compare them with those overpriced wines
anyway). As usual I'm going off at a tangent...
A bit of technical blah
blah, but not much. All these wines have 8-9 grams/litre dosage, i.e.
residual sweetening sugars added after being 'disgorged', which puts
them at the 'drier' end of Brut (some Champagnes and other sparklers
have up to 12g); except the 2005 vintage with only 6g dosage.
They are bottle-fermented / lees-aged for "at
least nine months" I'm told, with two to three years sur lattes,
meaning the total bottle-ageing time 'on the rack', so to speak, before
release (I'd guess). And all four weigh in at around a relatively light
12% alcohol. Simonnet's Crémants are distributed in the UK and USA by
Louis Latour's offices based in London and California, by Gilbeys in
Dublin and lots of other places too - see their website below. Retail
prices across this range are approx €7.95
- €10.50 (France), US$20
- US$25 or £11.99
- £15.99. Sampled March-April 2009:
Crémant de Bourgogne Brut (60% Chardonnay 40%
Pinot Noir) - restrained appley style with
very lightly honeyed and toasty undertones; savoury biscuit fruit v
gentle acidity, refreshing off-dry finish; attractive wine although
quite straightforward, nice with salmon actually and becomes addictively
light and quaffable with refreshing 'sweet v salty' finish.
80-85
Crémant de Bourgogne Brut
Pinot Noir
(100%) - a touch finer and more 'serious', perhaps a little toastier too
v fresher structure and length; elegant acidity v rounded honeyed and
bready palate, good although still didn't set the world alight.
85-87
2005
Crémant de Bourgogne Brut (65% Pinot Noir
35% Chardonnay) - toastier and richer yet
more appley / 'saltier' too; yeastier weight and intensity with a drier
finish than the others, tighter and finer perhaps not expressing itself
fully yet. 87-89
Crémant de Bourgogne
Rosé Brut (Pinot
Noir + Gamay) - quite complex and
delicate showing subtle red fruits then hints of chocolate biscuits;
nice dried marzipan flavours v yeasty / 'salty' texture, off-dry finish
with lively intensity. Attractive well-made style with 'sweet & savoury'
mix, a hint of sweetness & oiliness v fairly dry bite and gently red
fruity. 89
From
Wines of the Moment winter/spring 09:
2007 Chablis
(Chardonnay 12.5%) - you know how sometimes you
really fancy a nice Chablis but are then disappointed having splashed out a
little? Well, you won't be with this one. All the hallmarks which make that
classic Chablis style so distinctive - attractive subtle balance of slightly
exotic, buttery fruit v elusive greener, citrus mineral edges; elegant and tasty
with fresh acidity lifting it up on the finish, making it good with smoked
haddock even. €8 89
More info @
www.simonnet-febvre.com.
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Quick A to Z
Boyer
Giboulot
Goisot
Simonnet-Febvre
Suremain
Tripoz
Winery snaps 2:
SW France
Winery
snaps 3:
South Africa
Lebanon & Austria!
Winery snaps 4:
Spain
Winery snaps 5:
S &
N America
Winery
snaps 6:
Oz
& New Zealand
Winery snaps 7:
Rhône & Provence
Winery snaps 8:
Sicily
Winery snaps 9:
Portugal
Winery snapshots: Roussillon
(4 pages)
Winery
snapshots:
Languedoc
(6 pages)
Wines of the
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