Tasted in Beines with Kevin & Marine Jandard, 24 January 2023
Domaine Passy Les Clous
5 rue des Fossés
89800 Beines
Tel: +33 3 86 42 43 10
website
You met this up-and-coming power couple of burgundy wine almost 1 year ago during my visit to Chateau Pougelon in Beaujolais. Today I visited their outpost in Chablis – and with outposts at both ends of (greater) Burgundy, they only need a small (10 hectares or so…) Domaine in Vosne-Romanée to fill the gap – they already have another one in Saint-Joseph/Crozes-Hermitage!
A little history…
Passy le Clou was the creation of a family of, mainly, cereal farmers in the 1950s – the Patrice family, so it was Domaine Patrice at that time. The domaine has always been based in Beines.
Although originally grain farmers, the Patrice family slowly began replanting some of their land which was in the appellation controlée for Chablis – the oldest vines of the domaine today remain those plantations from the 1950s. The vines are sited in the Petit Chablis, Chablis, and Chablis 1er Cru Beauroy appellations. Family Patrice never tried to commercialise their own wines, first becoming members of the co-operative (La Chablisienne) before, a couple of generations later, building their own winery in Beines in the early 2000s. Here they made their own wine but still sold in bulk to the négociants.
The Descombe family took over the Domaine in 2017, creating Domaine Passy le Clou. The buildings, cuverie and the former home of Monsieur Patrice, close to the centre of Beines, were included in this sale. There was an initial investment to extend the capacity of the cuverie with the plan to quit selling in bulk and commercialise everything in bottle.
When the domaine changed hands in 2017 there were 27.5 hectares of vines planted – that’s now reached a little over 32 hectares. The Domaine is made up of 21 plots scattered around the village of Beines, mainly with a by-plot elevage before later blending – Kevin explains “We really want to get to know our plots as individually as possible, which raises the possibility of some more individual cuvées in the future.”
The domaine uses machine picking – hardly unusual when 95% of the vines are in the Petit Chablis and Chablis appellations – but Marine is keen to point out “But that means we have the freedom to pick exactly when we think it’s the right time, and when the weather is hot we are already done for the day at lunchtime – it’s (the machine) also equipped with the latest options for triage. So it’s not about cutting corners, all our wines see 12-18 months of elevage before bottling – we are really looking for wines of more gastronomic quality. Next year we are also going to try some concrete and jar (amphora) elevage to compare with our standard stainless-steel elevage.”
And the last vintages:
“The 2022 malos also practically done. The 2021 vintage wasn’t too bad for volume in Beines – it’s a later growing area so was a little less affected by the frost – we had 40 hl/ha so were quite happy with that – it definitely wasn’t as bad as in 2017 here – our first vintage.”
The wines…
A new name to me but a domaine to follow!
DIAM, and others, are currently under test here:
2021 Petit Chablis
The glass is a little sweet smelling – or that could be the wine! I rinse and it’s fresher and more minerally direct – slowly growing more floral. That’s lovely in the mouth – it’s direct with a fine citrus, almost orange fruit and plenty of salinity. Nicely vibrant in the finiish – clean and very tasty wine – a super start!
2021 Chablis
Nearly 16 ha represented here. With 6 months more elevage than the PC
Fine breadth of aroma – the salinty is visible here too. More concentration but not to the extent of becoming overly generous, just an extra mm or two of cushion. Supple and very silky – that’s really a very lovely wine – less overtly energetic than the PC but with a delicious and very balanced style – properly mineral and still citrus-accented in the finish – it’s an excellent Chablis.
2021 Chablis 1er Beauroy
A very small cuvée right now – this with one demi-muid contributing to the elevage. 2,066 bottles!
A hint more floral perfume – airy though a bit more compact today. In the mouth – here is the extra cushion of the Chablis with more actual concentration and despite this generosity an almost fluid style. Not a giant leap but a leap all the same. The finish clean and even a hint tannic/phenolic – also very good!