Tasted blind, at the BIVB office in Chablis, 29 January 2024.
These blind tastings are my great source of new names, and, of course, the wines were tasted blind. The sample order was completely random – the next bottle was the one closest to hand. The bottles were numbered and the number was compared to a spreadsheet list of domaines after all had been tasted to match the wine to the producer. The notes for the wines are listed in the order that they were tasted.
Whilst I only noted 7 ‘great wines’ from the 43 samples, it was clear that the average quality was very high – maybe as good as I’ve ever seen – analogous to my tastings of whites in and around Chablis. There is much to love in 2022 with so many of these wines offering beautiful floral invitations !! I’ll be making some visits in Irancy in March and May 2024…
The vintage…
Not just a fine quality vintage: Despite flirting with the April frosts it’s a vintage with some volume too – like in the neighbouring white wine villages in 2022. I would go as far as to say that it’s the most abundant vintage of fine quality that I know of:
Figures courtesy the BIVB in hectolitres: 1 hectolitre (1 hl) = 100 litres
The wines…
The wines in the order that they were blind tasted:
2022 Stéphanie Colinot, Irancy La Comme
A cushioned, inviting nose, Direct, sweeping flavour – very good finishing energy with some graphite, almost herbed finishing complexity. Growing finishing intensity and very, very tasty. That’s a super start!
Darker colour. Wider, more floral aromas. Incisive, direct, floral – lots of violet perfume. Long. Ooh – that could be a great one – so wide and impressive finishing!
2022 Stéphanie Colinot, Irancy Côte du Moutiers
Also lots of colour. These aromas are narrower, of decent depth but are clean and show a modest invitation. Mouth-filling, framed with a tiny grain of tannin. As you hit the finish the tannin is more to the fore but it frames delicious flavours that have a little in common with the previous wine. Simply excellent and with 3-4 years of patience for the structure to soften, perhaps as good as the previous!
2022 Mauperthuis, Irancy
Medium colour. Higher toned, redder fruit and still quite perfumed, with a little oak. The oak is quite prominent in the flavour today but this red-fruited wine offers depth of flavour and a sweet finish. It’s very good. Wait a similar 3-4 years but in this case for the oak rather than the structure.
2022 Mauperthuis, Irancy Mazelots
Medium, medium-plus colour. A narrow but perfumed nose of red fruit. A linear style to the flavour – also padded with oak flavour. Holding the okay finish well with some modest finishing bitters. Another wine to wait for…
2022 Felix & Fils, Irancy St.Fereol
Medium-plus colour. This is a nose of clarity and direction, faintly perfumed with some floral notes. Really broad – almost panoramic flavours – decently structured but the faint grain of tannin is fully ripe and not drying. The finish has some bitters and salinity and great persistence without any overt help from oak. I find it excellent!
2022 Elodie Chalmaux, Irancy
Hardly medium colour. Airy red fruit with a slightly baked element. Mobile, sinuous in the mouth – a small grain of tannin and a fresh kick of fruity bitters in the finish. A lighter wine than some but not lacking cin flavour. I’d keep it 2-3 years to soften any edges but it tastes lovely.
2022 Ferrari, Irancy
A bit more colour to this. The nose has clarity, energy and a fine top note of florals – a super invitation. Mouth-filling framed with a little drying tannin- but really not much. The long middle and finishing flavour showing the violet florals of the nose – that will be lovely – wait 2 years…
Another wine with a beautiful floral perfume and a little cushion of red fruit. This is more direct, cool and fluid – it makes me stop and think. Panoramic finishing flavour. Certainly excellent – potentially a great 2022 Irancy!
This nose could be the brother of the previous – a little less floral perfume but more fruit. Good mouth-filling scale – a suggestion of barrel in the background. The finish though is the most exciting of these with lots of little fireworks – I preferred most of the last wine but here has the best finish.
2022 Ferrari, Irancy Eugénie
Airy high tones to this nose. Good scale and volume – a flavour with some fluidity that slowly melts over the palate. It just lacks a bit of focus and intensity versus the best so far – but a delicious wine with no overt structure or oak to stop you from enjoying it today!
2022 Simonnet-Febvre, Irancy
Medium colour. A slightly lactic nose to start but it’s open and has good clarity. Direct, cool, open flavour. Not the most demonstrative wine but one that widens in the finish and shows good flavour energy here. Lovely wine.
2022 Simonnet-Febvre, Irancy Paradis
Deep, darker fruit with a touch of spicy interest. Silky, mobile flavour – there’s some overt energy here. A flavour that shrinks into the finish then holds for a while – apart from the starting energy, not a demonstrative wine – but a tasty one.
2022 Simonnet-Febvre, Irancy Les Mazelots
A little fresher and more red fruited nose – suggesting florals too. Cool and large-scale in the mouth – modest bitters and a discreet finishing complexity. A wine that’s a little shy today but has many fine parts.
2022 Simonnet-Febvre, Irancy Veaupessiot
Here is some cherry-stone aroma that mixes with the red fruit. Just a little more supple and there’s a depth to this texture too – edged with a modestly drying tannin – that has no grain. Large-scale for this finish but the tannin suggests waiting 3 years or a little more. I think it will be super though.
2022 Jean-Louis & Jean-Christophe Bersan, Irancy Louis Bersan
A lighter red colour. The core of this aroma has a little reduction. In the mouth it has a supple style, velvet texture too – there’s just a suggestion of tannic dryness – but hardly. The finish is broad and sustained – also very tasty. Another potentially very tasty wine – but keep it a couple of years first.
2022 Céline et Frédéric Gueguen, Irancy Les Mazelots
A broader nose but also this dark depth shows a little reduction. The style is concentrated but balanced with good fluidity. There’s no fat here and the finish is quite juicy. I think this is clearly heading for excellence but carafe today or wait 2-3 years before opening.
2022 Caves Bailly Lapierre, Irancy
A deep, brooding nose – there’s more here than the transparency of colour suggests. Cool and broad over the palate. A wine with a little more overt structure – architecture – and it has a small accent of dryness to the tannin – but virtually without grain. Slowly fading flavour – very good today and it will clearly improve – wait 2-3 years again.
2022 Bardet & Fils, Irancy
Modestly coloured but the perfume it develops in the glass is far from modest – it’s lovely. Supple, really nice depth to these flavours – a wine that’s more saline than most over a pretty red fruit. Juicy through a little finishing tannin – but hardly drying – this finish is delicious!
2022 Clotilde Davenne, Irancy Paradis
A little darker red colour. Hmm – this has a bit of pine-needle greens to the nose. It’s quite strong in the fresh flavours too – I like the shape and juiciness of the wine – but I couldn’t drink it…
Back to high tones of red fruit and flowers – very attractive. Large scale – vivid and energetic. There’s some tannic dryness but no grain – a wine that impresses – but keep it 3-4 years before attacking. It could be a great one!
2022 Caves Bienvenu, Irancy Les Climats
Redder colour and redder fruit – still, this is quite a discreet nose. At its base there is concentration and width – less to see in the higher tones. Depth to this flavour – quite a few bitters in the finish too. A wine for keep – maybe 4-5 years – but I’m sure it will be good.
2022 Caves Bienvenu, Irancy Les Mazelots
Sommelier style bottle – black-wax topped.
Lots of sweetness and quite some oak I suspect. Supple, easy concentration. Yes there’s plenty of oak too. Very spiced as you head into the finish. A wine to impress – maybe…
2022 Caves Bienvenu, Irancy Palotte
Similar bottle & wax – I assume the same producer.
The red fruit is a little more distant here – but the base is still a width of oak. In the mouth, this starts smaller but grows and grows to fill all available space. A flavour profile that’s more at ease with itself and less overtly oaky and spiced than the last – I find this one very good – the texture would allow you to drink it today or wait a few years.
2022 Caves Bienvenu, Irancy Veaupessiot
Again the sommelier bottle and black wax.
Quite a modest red colour. A more linear and quite attractive, transparent, red fruit nose. Supple, melting, texturally lovely wine. There’s a noticeable accent of salinity here. The finish, slowly fading. A lovely wine and the best of these three today.
2022 Jean Collet, Irancy
A small aromatic accent of coffee (no, I haven’t had one – yet!) and faintly darker-red fruit – but this is an overall shy nose today. Open, mouth-filling with cool flavour and a nice texture. Becoming more intense over the palate. It’s a nice sizzle of finishing intensity here. This is a lovely wine.
2022 Pascal Bouchard, Irancy
Modest red colour. An airy and quite shy nose. Good width over the palate and growing in intensity too. Easy red fruit with a good vibrancy of finishing red flavour. Very good.
2022 Charlène et Laurent Pinson, Irancy
Quite a high-toned nose, stony and slightly herbed. Direct, a little green complexity but broad, concentrated and balanced with good energy. The flavour profile is not my personal favourite – but this is a nicely made wine.
2022 Maison de la Chapelle, Irancy
Deeper colour – another heavy bottle too. More transparent – that’s an inviting nose! Mouth-filling, lots of floral perfume and a texture of velour. Concentrated and lingering flavour – that’s a super wine today.
Another heavy bottle.
Ooh – now that’s nice! Deep, broad and topped with beautiful florals. Supple and concentrated again – here there’s more intensity and more energetic complexity to see. What a wine! Almost drinkable already but structured and delivering delicious complexity – it’s a great Irancy…
A similarly heavy bottle – the same producer?
Ooh – this nose is even better – pure, clarity of fruit and an even better integration for the florals. A wine that skirts so close to suggesting gentian notes but never openly – mouth-filling scale – so impressive volume. Fading beautifully – as great as this is – and it is! – I’d personally take the previous as it flirts less with the pyrazines…
That’s a change – a blue wax top!
A fine depth of aroma here, accented with a faint salt. That’s got a lovely shape in the mouth – volume and mobile freshness – a small grain to the ripe tannin – an almost Beaujolais bubble-gum note to this flavour too. Non-standard but with deliciously finishing flavour – yum! – It turns out that this is a natural wine – and if that’s something that interests you, this is a great natural wine, clean, pure and with no faults. I added the ‘great’ for that, after the fact!
2022 Les Beaux Monts, Irancy Les Beaux Monts
A heavy sommelier bottle.
A wide and quite intense, almost strained fruit nose. Mouth-filling with plenty of drying tannin framing the flavours – but hardly any grain. The finish is direct and intense. I’d be waiting at least 3-4 years to let this calm and open out to see if we have something interesting behind the intensity…
2022 Les Beaux Monts, Irancy Paradis
Another heavy bottle and an even darker coloured wine – almost saturated colour. Airy and quite spiced aromas – but less strained – it’s still an invitation. Mouth-filling scale and also framed with tannin but less aggressively so than the previous wine. There is more ease due to a certain fluidity to these flavours. Also a wine to wait for but this is clearly excellent – potentially better than that!
2022 Verret, Irancy Mazelots
A narrow nose – more vertical – darker red fruit below and some whiffs of floral perfume above. Large scale in the mouth again. Dark fruit flavour – wide and concentrated but with just enough energy – the flavour is quite floral too. A big wine – keep it in the cellar for a while – but it’s a very impressive wine too.
2022 Verret, Irancy Palotte
An airy width of aroma, a little tighter below. Hmm, here is both depth and complexity of flavour – supple and involving – at the same time melting with mouth-watering flavour, quite stony in the finish – almost mineral. I like this a lot!
2022 Verret, Irancy Ame du Domaine
A heavier bottle again.
Another quite airy nose – here with an accent of salinity. A supple red fruit that’s nicely complex and melts its flavour over the tongue. Broad and delicious finishing. I find this a lovely wine – delicious too!
2022 Verret, Irancy
Not a deeply coloured wine – but it’s a heavy bottle! Pretty, airy again, red fruit. I like the volume here – the mouth-filling scale. The finish that slowly fades is very red-fruited and also very tasty. It’s a lovely wine.
2022 Franck Givaudin, Irancy
Quite a vertical nose but of both clarity and impressive intensity – clearly topped by some floral perfume. Really wide finishing – ooh – that’s very impressive finishing. Intense, almost a little strained here – but give it some time in the cellar and I think all will be fine – Super wine.
2022 Franck Givaudin, Irancy La Bergère
Another heavy bottle.
But a nose that’s at ease with itself – good volume, airy perfume over easy and inviting fruit – it’s very lovely. An incisive width – and then clean and intense flavours – with a good finishing mouth perfume too. Lovely wine.
2022 Franck Givaudin, Irancy Palotte
Heavy bottle again
Tighter top notes but here’s a good breadth of supporting, darker fruit. A little CO2 but modest compared to some. The perfume is quite overt in these flavours. Intense finishing – keep it in the cellar for 3-4 years to let the flavours be more at ease. Potentially it’s excellent.
2022 Heimbourger, Irancy Palotte
Another heavy bottle.
A good width of aroma but with some slightly dark, reductive, accents to the fruit. Mouth-filling and deeply flavoured. Here is both energy and salinity, plus everything is framed by a slightly drying tannin. You’ll need 3-4 years of patience again – but here is a very good wine.
2022 Isabelle et Denis Pommier, Irancy
Not a deeply coloured wine. The nose is not very forward but clearly has some higher, floral, notes. Open, sweet red fruit – growing with both energy and intensity. The finishing width is lovely as the flavour slowly melts and fades – it’s really fine here. Super wine!