Tasted in Saint-Bris-le-Vineux with Guilhem Goisot, 05 January, 2018.

Domaine Jean-Hughes et Guilhem Goisot
30 rue Bienvenu-Martin
89530 Saint-Bris-le-Vineux
Tel. +33 3 86 53 35 15
www.goisot.com

Guilhem on 2017:
2017 was good – I had the chance to make a harvest without crying – though I know that many colleagues not so far a way had a much harder time. It still needed plenty of work because the vines were weak following the frost and hail of 2016. It was the same day to start the harvest as in 2015 – September 03 – the maturities looked the same too. Reds at 30 hl/ha, and whites depending on aoc between 40-45 – despite 40% less rain in the year, though the year was dotted by mini rain-storms.

Guilhem on 2016:
“For us in 2016, it was the hail that destroyed most of the vines. It was possible to make some wine but our harvesting was by really by parcel and with almost one month between the start and finish – twice as long as in 2017 – we followed every small late push of the vines. 2003 was a small harvest, but there was still more – 8-9 hl/ha – it’s interesting that 1991 was very frosted but 1992 was a big volume vintage – but it’s hard to find those bottles as they were good from the start and every year after – they never closed. My father remembers vintages that were quasi-zero so it’s not unheard of. The systems for ‘anti-hail’ cost about 8 euro per hectare – it’s nothing – I’ll pay it myself! Nets are almost 1 euro per bottle and for pinot and sauvignon I’m sure that they will change the aromas – I think it’s probably okay with Chardonnay – but it’s not just a barrier to the hail, it’s a barrier to treatments too – particularly ‘contact’ treatments like sulfur and copper – lets say that I’m more circumspect with nets! On the periphery of the village I saw yields of 15 hl/ha, the reds more like 8 and Irancy 20 but some places only 0.5 hl/ha – yes, it exists – that’s not a lot, even from 9 hectares!

“There was much talk about having to exit Bio due to the incredible pressure from the mildew – not just here, but across France – we didn’t and in the end, we had the same average yield as most of the people who chose to make some conventional treatments. And in 2016 I had to make nearly 6-7 hectares worth of treatments with an aspirator on my back because the vineyards were too wet to allow access by tractors… We had to do a minimum of 3 times more work in the vines for little or no harvest in 2016 and twice the time to make the pruning before the start of the 2017 growth-cycle as the vines had such hail damage.

“The coup de gele – more like coup de grace! We virtually lost the harvest to hail in 2011 too, but at least the bankers were more prepared in 2016! Us too – fortunately he have some 2015 in the cellar which we will be selling alongside the 2016s until the 2017s become available. When the hail came we had all the 2015s and 75% of the 2014s in the cellar – so we started straight away the with the excel tables!”

The wines…

Of-course there are less wines to taste – 90% was lost in 2016 – that some wines hint at greatness and others are simply great, is an incredible result!

First some reds:

2016 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre Rouge
Includes all the grapes that reached maturity in the middle of October, harvested only by the employees of the domaine. ‘I had some fear that harvesting so late in October might mean making rosé but no, the grapes were good.’
A little width of aroma, faintly powdery but with a nice, proper, pinot-ness behind. Fresh, bright, plenty of tannin, but a pretty pinot behind the structure. This structure will have to fade, but there’s a very nice fresh personality here.

2016 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre “Corps de Garde”
From Kimmerigian limestone. One racking just after this harvest, then reassembled for a second winter in barrel. Mainly 1 year-old barrels – this a barrel sample. From the first pass in the vines in September.
A deeper more impressive nose with a little dark oak-spice – very inviting. Mouth-filling, complex pinot, rewarding pinot – still some structure to wait for but lovely complexity here. Great wine for the patient!

2016 Irancy
Lighter in colour. September harvest 100% pinot noir, used to have 0.01% césar in the BCdA from 8-9 ares planted by grandfather, but were pulled out about 5 years ago.
A nice round nose but it lacks a little the classic aroma of Irancy today – it’s trying but it’s quite subtle, but then all of a sudden there’s a flash of beautiful and floral fruit. Perfumed fruit in the mouth, not a big wine but a wine of complexity and beauty even. Wait for the modest tannin to soften but this will make a great bottle!

These reds won’t leave the domaine before the end of 2018 – that sounds about right!

Les Blancs…
All bottled – “We did a longer elevage for the 2015s but the volume didn’t allow a correct work to do the same in 2016 – it’s always a compromise…”

2016 Bourgogne Aligoté
Over 80 year-old vines – an old massale selection with small grapes like pinot noir – planted on a Kimmerigian hillside location mainly catching the setting sun. ‘The soil needs constant work, or it’s like concrete. There’s lots of red clay and blue fossils here.’ This wine is made in stainless-steel tanks.
Big vibrant nose, a hint powdery but an open-armed invitation to drink. Nice texture growing waves of fresh fruit flavour, Simply delicious wine!

2016 Chablis Faucertaine
Planted in the mid-1960s, this is the second vintage, vines coming from Guilhem’s wife. That’s the name of the parcel and it wasn’t hailed in 2016. It has the sun the whole day but the heat really only in the afternoon. 0.4 hectares.
A little more aromatic depth, a suggestion of oak too. A little richness of flavour, aided by the oak, but a good width of mineral flavour and nothing austere. Pretty finishing flavour.

2016 Saint-Bris Moury
Ooh – sweets/candies – sweetened garden mint – really an inviting nose. Mineral, transparent, beautiful acidity and a fine energy. A nice finishing complexity – absolutely delicious!

2016 Saint-Bris Exogyra Virgula
Named after the small fossils in the vineyard – there’s Kimmerigian here too.
The nose is similar to the last – less large but also a little more composed and complex. More width, more mouth-watering. Really a less overt flavour but a more complex one. Beautiful…

2015 Chablis Faucertaine
The first vintage for this wine…
Deep, a much more profound nose, very faint pepper note that slowly becomes fruity, eventually a hint oak – they are 500 l barrels of 3 and 4 years old. Ooh, what a lovely blend of freshness and texture in the mouth – spicy complexity in the middle, modestly mineral. It plays beautifully over the palate. Simply a super wine!