Tasted in Jullié with Jérémy Bally, 12 February 2020.
Domaine du Bois du Chat – Jérémy Bally
Les Bois de Chat
69840 Jullié
Tel: +33 6 63 49 24 35
www.domaineduboisdechat.com
More reports for Domaine Les Bois du Chat
Jérémy on 2019:
“There was no frost here on the hillside – it’s actually quite rare here. Overall a good year, warm of course with some lack of water, practically a drought. It was a little cooler in September which was better for the harvest – we started 12 September – natural 13.5° good maturity and no maladies. It would have been perfect if there’d been more – only 22-24 hl/ha – the grapes were very small in the end, some berries grilled by the sun too, so…”
Jérémy on 2018:
“Tthe hardest part was the harvest, as it was very warm. Since that experience, I now harvest in the early morning or later in the evening. 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 also better to work only in the mornings. 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 only natural yeast here – so the vinifications took up to 6 weeks.”
The wines…
As every year, some great wines – Jérémy deserves much more recognition than is currently evident!
No added sulfur, whole clusters, carbonic, first harvested grapes of the vintage, fermentation under 20°
A modest volume but an inviting nose. Gas. Lovely energy, wide, freshness and delicious, no overt sweetness, a modest tannin. Simply delicious wine – bravo.
2018 Juliénas
Low sulfur, not filtered.
Lots of colour for this one. A deep nose, darkly-fruited – that’s fine. Delicious – wide, a drag of tannin but no grain. Dark-fruited, excellent wine – lots of finishing energy and almost a touch of salinity too.
2018 Juliénas VV Pattes de Velour
75-100 yo vines 400 l barrels. End of 16s and 17 now are the commercial vintage here as there’s one year of elevage.
A little creamy oak on the nose. The palate is round, more tannic – almost a grain is perceptible here. Also an excellent wine, in a very different style. I’d take the non-oaked for sure right now.
Third vintage, old vines from 1933 on granite and quartz, high on the hill above Chénas. 1 year of barrel elevage
That’s a really great nose – perfumed, depth too – a great invitation. That’s got fine texture, and a juicy, mouth-watering floral-accented fruit. Complex and almost juicy finishing. Not a MaV that you need to wait too long for but simply a great glass – bravo!