Tasted with Fabio Gazeau-Montrasi in Hurigny, 12 November 2023.
Château des Rontets
814 Les Rontes, 71960 Fuissé
Tel: +33 3 85 32 90 18
www.chateaurontets.com
More reports with Château des Rontets
Fabio on 2023 and 2022:
“In 2023 we started the 5th of September and finished the 12 – but the degrees grew really quickly. 2023 was tiring – a bit too much of everything but it ended well – a second quite generous vintage. 2022 wasn’t bad in the cuvérie; some wines were slow to finish their sugars but it’s still like that in 2023 – 2023 has a hint more alcohol, perhaps – the last vines harvested were nearly 14° whereas nothing was over 13.5° in 2022. We’ll be bottling the 22s in the springtime. And, of course, back to 2021 – and their average 14 hl/ha – we had a bit of frost but the problem was the hail – that took far more – the wood was damaged too – it’s because of that we had a bit less in 2022.”
The wines…
Wines I just love from 2021 – but there is so little of them…
Longer elevage here, so we looked at the 2021s for the whites:
2022 St.Amour Côte de Besset
Two parcels in the same area – north-west of the AOC at over 400m of altitude for one and about 330 for the other on well draining soils. ‘Can suffer from the dry here – normally not more than 12.5° here – but it was 14° in 22!’
Hmm – that’s a complex nose with a a little graphite minerlaity in the mix. I love this in the mouth – incisive yet instantly generous – wonderfully balanced wine for the 14° indicated on the label. Slowly, wide finishing. That’s a lovely wine.
Les whites:
In Mâcon-Villages next to the Clos with some PF juice included – this bottled a year.
A smaller but fine and attractive nose – fine clarity of fruit. Hmm, melting over the palate – becoming more intense – super texture and width, faintly saline. For me a great Bourgogne!
2021 Pouilly-Fuissé Clos Varambon
All the vines around the house except the VV Birbettes. All but the oldest vines – so 15-60 years old. Bottled since July.
Fresh and with some floral complexity too. Vibrant, growing juicy like a 2022 with a little less generosity – but I like it like this! Broad and super finishing – slightly chalky too – I love it!
2021 Pouilly-Fuissé Pierre Folle
Here granitic soil, deeper soil, close to the house, next to the Clos – officially in Vers Chenes
A fuller nose – perhaps a little riper fruit too. Extra fresh, certainly incisive – yes! Juicy, just faintly accented by barrel – but you’d hardly notice – I love this too!
2021 Pouilly-Fuissé Birbettes
Here with the limestone of the clos but the oldest vines too – 60-70 years old.
A nice vibration of aroma here – a little aniseed in the mix. More volume – but still incisive. In this case I don’t see ‘best’ just different – but the intensity is impressive and the finish slowly, slowly fading. A wine that I’d wait a year or two for only because of its great structure. Super again.