Tasted with Tomoko Kuriyama in Savigny-lès-Beaune, 21 March 2017.
Maison Chanterêves
Chemin de la Grande Chaume
21420 Savigny-Lès-Beaune
www.chantereves.com
Whilst its been a while since I actually tasted with Tomoko and Guillaume – December 2012! – I seem to bump into them all-over the place. Time to correct my long absence from their cuverie!
Tomoko: “Life is good, I only wish we could slow down a little. Our 2015s are all reserved, just a few cases are left for local restaurants – it’s now 15 countries that we export to. Some cuvées are completely gone, so I don’t even have samples of some wines!”
Tomoko on 2016:
“Of-course we are mainly Côte de Beaune, so there were some appellations that we couldn’t make – the first time since 2011 that our Volnay and Pommard, also our Chassagne Morgeot and Marsannay Blanc were lost due to the frost. But our volume is better than it could have been. Quality-wise we are very happy – the wines are fresh, with good energy and maturity.”
Tomoko on 2015:
“We really like 2015, i think there are many great 2015s, it’s not just power it’s freshness too. ”
All DIAM seals here and they are very happy with their choice – “The wines taste just the same in Japan as they do at home. We will soon move from DIAM5 to DIAM10 with our whites. We do find them unbalanced for the first 4-6 months but after that they are fine. We don’t claim to make vin naturale but we work with low sulfur – our reds less than 40mg total sulfur – whites in a more normal range of 80-100mg total.
The wines…
Chanterêves certainly had lower yields in 2015, and added a new cuvée too – Nuits 1er Les Damodes – but it’s all gone! Not just nice people, really terrific wines too in 2015!
2/3rds whole cluster, mainly from vines in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune – the balance of the grapes coming from the commune of Puligny.
A very floral and pretty nose with whole-cluster accents. Good volume in the mouth, here with definite floral aspects, fine red fruit too – I love the freshness, a little herb and faint austerity. This is lovely, and its very long too. Bravo not a simple wine, but a really attractive wine.
Both the Volnay and the Pommard are all whole-cluster fermented:
Deeper colour. A deeper nose too, with dark fruit with a little spice. Round, plenty of volume – fresh and mouth-watering. Packed with flavour. A wine of density and energy in tandem. Lovely length. Delicious!
A nice deep nose, dark fruit that slowly opens with a little floral scent. Ooh this is nice – big volume again and very nice texture, slowly modified by hint of tannic drag – but no grain. Long, long. A deeper wine but equally delicious!
Les blancs…
2015 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Grapes from Maranges…
Fresh, quite deep, a suggestion apricot, a little gas, really a lovely fresh intensity, yet there’s a weight of flavour behind it too. A little apple style but fresh and delicious apple. Yum – a hint of phenolic in the finish too.
“I preferred the balance after bottling – before it was almost too jazzy for me” says Tomoko…
A little yellower colour. A hint more exotic fruit slowly growing fresher fruit. Hmm – this is lovely, growing intensity but always fine textured – insinuatingly delicious flavour. Holding a delicious line of persistent even juicy finishing flavour. Very yum!