Tasted in Jullié with Jérémy Bally, 14 February 2019.

Domaine du Bois du Chat – Jérémy Bally
Les Bois de Chat
69840 Jullié
Tel: +33 6 63 49 24 35
www.domaineduboisdechat.com

Jérémy on 2018:
“​Very warm! The heat was mainly at the end of the growing season. The year passed well and resembled 2017 until July – August was even warmer. The warm and more-so the dry meant that I saw no maladies. In fact it was so warm that it was better to work only in the mornings. We had a very hot harvest too – the balance was to have the phenolic maturity and waiting for that without losing freshness in the grapes. About 6-7 September it was cooler but then came the heat again – I lost some volume from this concentration. I harvested with degrees between 13-14° but the acidity was relatively stable until the dehydration of some grapes, so actually I had more acidity in effect. It took longer to vinify – as there was more sugar and alcohol and I now use all natural yeast here – so the vinifications took up to 6 weeks.”

Jérémy on 2017:​
“2017 – super! It was a relatively easy year with no hail or frost and a little more volume – in fact my biggest harvest with 42 hl/ha – normally I have closer to 35 as I don’t have a lot of bunches per vine. Harvesting was 11-18 September. It was a very clean vintage though with some drought in August but fortunately we saw some rain to re-equilibriate the vines before we harvested. On the schist we have cooler terroirs so there were no dried grapes here. The maturity was blocked before the rain so apart from the Moulin à Vent with 20/ha, it was a little more than a normal volume harvest. ”

The wines…

This year we tasted in the vines, in the sun! One wine was missing as Jérémy thought it too reduced. The others showed well.

2017 Moulin à Vent Coeur de Granit
Old vines from 1933 on granite and quartz, high on the hill above Chénas. 1 year of barrel elevage
A nose of medium-plus colour. A nose of width and faint smoke plus concentrated berry fruit. Lots of volume, lots of freshness too – a herbed complexity – very engaging. Floral in the middle and finish – very mouth-watering. Long. Fresh, tasty wine, not a big wine but yum!

2017 Juliénas Pattes de Velour
75 year-old vines, bottled in October, again barrel elevage for 1 year – it won’t go on sale until the autumn, after 12 months in bottle.
More colour. A deeper nose, of fresh spice and dark fruit. Bigger, silkier more power and muscle. Fresh and also nicely floral perfumed in the mouth. Supple, plenty of structure. A lovely big burst of finishing flavour. Ooh this is excellent!