Tasted in Leynes with Victor-Emmanuel & Pierre-Maxime Chardigny, 16 March 2021.
Domaine Chardigny
90 Chemin du Creux du Vic
71570 Leynes
Tel: +33 6 26 37 81 24
www.domaine-chardigny.com
Here’s a domaine in the southern Mâconnais – in Leynes – with 10 hectares of whites. But they are so far south in Mâconnais that they also have 10 hectares of reds too – mainly just over the border in Beaujolais – mainly in Saint-Amour. On this first visit, I came to taste the reds!
It’s a lovely old house here in the centre of Leynes and from here you can see the hill of St.Amour – so it’s not so far. I’m here with brothers, Victor-Emmanuel & Pierre-Maxime Chardigny whose
parents were vine owners but not didn’t work the vines themselves – the retirement of the metayeurs dovetailed perfectly with the boys being ready to take on the domaine themselves – starting with just two brothers, before a third, Jean-Baptiste, who has been here just a few months.
The domaine’s main market is France but about 50% is exported too.
The wines…
I really enjoyed the reds from here – of course, next time I’ll be tasting the whites too!
These reds are about 50% destemmed:
2019 Beaujolais Leynes
Vines exposed to the south, all whole-cluster with a carbonic maceration
Hmm – that’s quite a nice nose – red-fruited, floral but with a graphite mineral depth. Hmm, (again) that’s a nice purity of ripe fruit. Long – good energy. That’s delicious wine.
2019 St.Amour A la Folie
4.5 hectares of vines on this large south-facing hillside
Nicely red-fruited – a bit more depth and finesse to the fruit too – clarity. Direct, fine texture, mouth-watering with intensity. An extra depth of mineral finishing flavour with a good finishing structure here. Yum!
2019 St Amour Clos de Chapitre
Just over the road from the previous wine, here with a bit less de-stemming.
A little narrower, more mineral and structural – pure and still very attractive. Fuller, more depth and concentration – a fine tannin – no grain but still present. A little darker fruit – excellent and for keeping a bit longer.
2018 St Amour Clos de Chapitre
Deeper, rounder, creamy and spiced. More impact and density here – properly vibrant and complex in the finish – I tend more to the style of the 19 personally but this is really super.
2017 St Amour Clos de Chapitre
Wider, starting to show a little age-related complexity – that’s quite attractive. A mouth-puckering intensity and still a little bitterness attached to the tannins but I think this a super wine, still for keeping.
2017 St.Amour A la Folie
A finer nose, less direct and less overtly with age-related complexity. Hmm, that’s a lovely wine, with a depth of melting flavour – wide, tannin but delicious and no bitterness
Gamay in Chaines, which could be labelled Beaujolais-Chaines but they already have the Leynes so decided to change the label completely. bottled yesterday.
That’s a very perfumed nose – a little cushioned too – very lovely. Silky, supple, deeply flavoured and concentrated. That’s a fabulous wine for the label
2019 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Vines planted in 2015.
Lots of colour. Less power to this nose than the last but it’s pretty and pure. Concentrated in the mouth too – wide and full-flavoured in the finish.
2020 Rosé
A pretty wine of freshness and gamay structure slightly saline – that’s attractive. Big, energetic, indeed full of energy – nicely zesty finishing.