Visited in St.Amour with Virginie Fournier (and her friend, right), 09 February 2018.
Domaine de la Pirolette
Le Bourg
71570 St.Amour Bellevue
Tel: +33 6 75 06 22 73
domainedelapirolette.com
Virginie on 2016 and 2017:
“In 2016 we saw lots of rain and we also saw 40-45 hl/ha – but in 2017 not – that vintage reminds of 2015. Here, there was no problem with frost or hail in 2017 – there were a few impacts but practically nothing.
“In 2016 we waited and waited – the harvest ended well into October. We started bottling those 2016s before the harvest in September, including two small climats too; La Poulette and Le Carjot – the latter wine on blue stone in front of the house. Le Carjot is also in front of the house, but it’s lower down the hillside. 2016 is our first test for bottling climats separately – but all have 12 months of elevage.”
The wines…
A great first ‘isolation’ of these climats. I find not just the strategy here super, I find the wines super too!
The first wine, the ‘generic’ cuvée has three different types of soil in there – the other two are very specific.
2016 St.Amour
Concrete to start and then finished in tank.
A narrowness of nose, but bright and pure berry fruit – red-currant style and intense. Ooh – that’s lovely in the mouth – round, a depth of texture with some modest tannin – here the fruit whilst pure has some suggestions of stewing fruit. But really lots of flavour and interest. A little bitterness of tannin in the finish, but really as part of plenty of structure – wait 12-24 months but there is a lot of potential here.
2016 St.Amour La Poulette
Elevage in a concrete ‘egg.’
Broad, dark-fruited with super purity – it’s a beautiful fruit augmented with flowers. A little more direct, more tannin but more of drag to the texture than a grain – wide, complex, really young, with lovely waves of finishing flavour, faintly saline accented.
2016 St.Amour Le Carjot
Here a mix of ‘egg’ and barrel fermentation.
Less directly open, but with a swirl there’s fresh dark fruit and an accompanying oak. Also beautifully silky and growing in fresh width too – really wider and wider. Great shape, mouth-watering flavour. Sumptuous wine – too much oak for me today, but the wine isn’t for today. But it will be super again.