Château Thivin – 2015

21.3.2017billn

Tasted in Château Thivin with Claude Geoffray, 20 February 2017.

Château Thivin
69460 Odénas
Tel: +33 4 74 03 47 53
www.chateau-thivin.com

Claude on 2016:
This was really a very wet spring, and there was a few hailstones too, but really we were lucky as there was very little here. There were lots of maladies, almost everything you can find in the books we had! But the late summer and finish to the growing year were fine. We have good colours, a little less texture than the 2015 but they are very honourable wines. The yields were really quite okay – we normally aim for about 45 hectolitres per hectare.

Claude on 2015:
Certainly a little less yield – more like 35-36 hectolitres per hectare. Our whites went through a full malolactic fermentation.

Not all these are available in all markets, some are only available in France or in restaurants for example. Lyon is one of the domaine’s largest markets. “The market is going well thanks to the work of my son and his wife – and the 14s are really very tasty right now – 55% is exported.

The wines…

Simply a first class set wines – bravo!

2015 Beaujolais Villages Blanc – Cuvée Marguerite
A vein of white limestone, the same as in Mâconnais runs through the vines of Brouilly which isn’t typical – the vines are in Brouilly but the AOC doesn’t exist for Brouilly blanc so it is Beaujolais Villages. Vinified and elevage in barrel, staying there for 7-8 months on fine lees.
Deep, satisfying, large-scaled nose – there’s power but nothing over-blown. Full in the mouth but with a very nice texture, layers of flavour, and a modestly mouth-watering style. Very tasty indeed if not super energetic – yum!

2015 Beaujolais Villages Blanc Clos de Rochebonne
There’s a little more skin contact here. 460m altitude, as much as 15 days later harvested as the feds here – a real Clos, with a locked door! The limestone is pierre doree here. Same 10% new oak, bottled in May/June.
The aromatic here is more like a saline lemon fruit. Hmm, more dimension and a nicer level of energy and freshness. In my humble opinion, this is about as good as white gets in Beaujolais – silky – and with a nice ripe citrus line of flavour. A subtle but persistent and tasty finish. Yes!

2015 Brouilly Reverdon
Granitic, looking to the east and the hill of Brouilly. Different label to the classic (for the Brouilly and the BV blanc) but its been like that since the 70s. On a pink granite like Chiroubles and Fleurie.
A nose of depth, slightly powdery red fruit. Fresh in the mouth with good energy and a lovely texture to the modest tannin – a flavour that really opens out. Really delicious wine with fine dimension and no overt fat.

2015 Côte de Brouilly Les Sept Vignes
Here the famous blue stone soil. An assembly of their seven parcels – hence the name. ‘Normally more structured and powerful for long aging.’
A fresh but deep nose, bright darker red fruit in evidence. This has a riper character, yet there is fine freshness to the palate, the texture is mainly a very faint tannin. This is very mouth-watering wine. Lots of dimension and interest here. Dark berry fruit in the finish – and a long finish too – finely mouth-watering.

2015 Côte de Brouilly Clos Bertrand
From in front of the chateau, was a vineyard for the church in the 1300s. Sheep grazing there this morning.
A nose with more volume, more pitched floral notes, more freshness – this is very inviting! Very fresh, very classic Thivin in style, despite the extra ripeness of the vintage. Really every aspect is perfectly balanced before leading into a beautiful mouth-watering finish. Bravo!
2015 Côte de Brouilly La Griottes de Brulhié
Brulhié is the old (1735) spelling of Brouilly. Mid slope parcel, south-facing – an early ripening section.
Very deeply coloured. A fine width of ripe but fresh, dark-red fruit – almost a subtle accent of pepper. Ooh, that’s very direct, a more overt structure too with faintly drying but micro-grained tannin. An exquisite line of beautifully focused and very fresh fruit in the mid-palate. This has intensity and structure – it’s definitely a wine to wait for. I think excellent but try to keep your hands of this for at least 5 years. Really super texture.
2015 Côte de Brouilly Cuvée Godefroy
It’s a blend of parcels. Godefroy is the name of the lieu dit. From very old vines – 92-93 year-old – bought by Claude-Edouard’s grandfather, but it wasn’t him who planted them…
A vibrant nose, sizzling dark fruit of fine freshness – a deep base of silkiness to this fruit too. This sits about equidistant between the two previous wines in terms of initial austerity – there a similar austerity to the previous wine in terms of its tannic presentation, but the wine is just a little less incisive in terms of its acidity – if you should wait 5 years for the last wine, then still wait 4 for this! The fruit has very nice dimension in the mid-palate and into the finish a floral and very attractive fruit – but playing second fiddle to the structure today – it will be excellent. I find the finish really excellent and super-persistent…
2015 Côte de Brouilly Cuvée la Chapelle
Plain south-facing, the highest vines with a steep, close to 40% incline – more clay on the more fertile soil, and really needs a caterpillar tractor to be safe
Really a deep colour. There are some modest floral notes here, but essentially this is about a profound depth of dark-red fruit. An extra sweetness of fruit, here, but also a simply super freshness of mouth-watering flavour too. Despite a lick of tannic texture, this is already very delicious. Direct, layered flavour. Still a baby but absolutely approachable. If you must open your single cuvées today, then this is not a bad choice. Delicious!

All the previous bottled between May and June, this last one in September:

2015 Côte de Brouilly Cuvée Zaccharie
It was Zaccharie who bought the domaine in 1877, at that time with less than 4 hectares – Marguerite was his wife. All barrel aged for about 9-10 months, the last grams of sugar also fermenting here.
Almost saturated colour. More depth of aroma, a more concentrated impression too – less overt energy a wine holding its cards to its chest. Supple, a wide perspective of flavour – more concentration and more richness of texture. Plenty of tannin but virtually no astringence, a slowly growing higher-toned florality to the fruit notes. Long and mouth-watering. Different in style and whilst (already) very tasty, I would give this a minimum of 5 years grace in the cellar. Super wine!

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

There is one response to “Château Thivin – 2015”

  1. Mark C Johnson30th March 2017 at 8:25 pmPermalinkReply

    What about the basic Cote de Brouilly? That’s all we ever see here in the Islands!

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