Tasted in St.Amour with Grégory Barbet, 17 February 2022.
Domaine de la Pirolette
Le Bourg
71570 St.Amour Bellevue
Tel: +33 6 75 06 22 73
domainedelapirolette.com
More reports with Domaine de la Pirolette
Grégory on 2021:
“In 21 the volume is not bad – we have 45 hl/ha on average, lower on the slopes of St.Amour there was frost but on the top of the hills here there was none. But we have heavy soils here and with the rain, the tractors couldn’t get into the vines for a while so treatments were complicated. We harvested quite late in the second half of September but all was done in 6 days before some rain was forecast.”
Grégory on 2020:
“2020 was an easy vintage, by comparison. It was the first confinement but lovely weather with the vines stirring already at the start of April – which isn’t particularly early but the flowering was after a really fine month of May. The season stayed really – harvesting 2 or 3 days earlier than in 2015 – so just behind 2003 which is still the earliest vintage here which started 18 August. We mainly harvested at the start of September. Another year where we didn’t lose much volume here on the top of the hill – we achieved 50 hl/ha.”
Grégory explains a new wine: “We made a new cuvée with a slightly different style – l’Age de Raisin. This was made with whole clusters – the other wines always with a large apart of destemming and a faster cuvaison. It’s not about the parcel selections for this wine – but grapes still from Pirolette. The label is more of an artwork style. There’s no price difference between this and the cuvée ‘classic.’”
The wines…
Always an excellent tasting here chez Pirolette – the ‘Carjot’ a stand-out this year!
2020 St.Amour l’Age de Raisin
Dark colour. The nose is silky and forward, slightly spiced too. Vibrant energy here – really a cool style to this fruit, darker fruit, but with energy and mouth-watering interest – it’s really very good!
2020 St.Amour
This the classic cuvée. ‘I think during confinement the people chose to drink something most days – but didn’t want to spend €25 or more every day so it was a chance to bring BJ more into the spotlight.’
A very complex nose – finely divided complexity. Nice attack, wide, rather vibrantly flavoured – I like this a lot – a suggestion of austerity today but this has fine structure and it will be much more accessible in another 6-12 months – anyway 2019 remains the commercial vintage here. Delicious, freshly complex wine.
2020 St.Amour La Poulette
An even finer width of complex aroma – an nose that’s more composed and perhaps more ‘ready’ – subtly floral too. Fluid, cool fruit – beautiful over the palate – a small tannin slowly makes itself known, the texture turning more to velvet from silk. High sophistication for the texture – the mouth-feel here. Also, a hint of structure to wait for – 2018 is the current commercial vintage. This is a very excellent wine.
This on the blue stone, the elevage half in ‘eggs’ half in barrel – not a large production.
Deeply coloured. The nose of this is deep and direct – more like the classic cuvée than the previous two wines – but with a silky and perfumed top note that is extra. Fresh, pure, direct. The flavour mobile, concentrated, but with a mobile style that makes this neither fat nor overly generous. Simply deliciously wide in the finish. There’s a very fine, micro-grained, tannin but no dryness. Great wine and despite the depth of flavour, fresh finishing!
And le white:
2020 Beaujolais Villages Blanc
In St.Amour but there’s no AOC for white. These vines in front of the school of St.Amour ‘so very organic!’ The base rock is blue granite. About 50% barrel elevage, but only 6 months then assembled into stainless-steel for another 2-3 more months to ‘keep the freshness.’ Not a big cuvée 1,800 bottles, ‘it’s not in my tariff but people seem to know about it anyway and it’s quickly sold-out.’ Vines here since 1947 – just before AOC St.Amour otherwise wouldn’t have been allowed to plant – declare always with lieu-dit Le Bourg, just in case one day there might be a St.Amour white AOC!
A deep nose, luxurious, padded, some oak contributing to the perfume. Wide – that’s a nice attack – plenty of oak accenting the flavours.Good energy too. That’s a good wine with no overt austerity.