Tasted in Marsannay with Philippe and Valérie Huguenot, 16 April 2019.

Domaine Huguenot Père et Fils
7 Ruelle du Carron
21160 Marsannay-la-Côte
Tel: +33 3 80 52 11 56
www.domainehuguenot.com

Philippe on 2018:
For us it’s a lovely vintage; just about everything came at the right moment in the growing season, though in some places we just lacked a little water at the end of the growing season. It was quite tropical at the start of the growing season so we saw a little mildew but the dryness that followed put paid to that. Of-course there were good maturities but we held some good freshness in the wines too – the quality of fruit and aromas are really interesting – a world away from a vintage like 2003 – in terms of aroma probably 2015 too. Quite good volumes, though in some parcels – Champs Perdrix on the stones for instance – we lost a bit of volume due to the dry conditions, but we didn’t lose quality.

Philippe on 2017:
Also a little frost, and the same day as in 2016 too, but globally not bad. Some parts had a lot of rain but it’s a vintage that’s turned out well – a bit like 2014 but different – accessible, tasty wines in 2017 like in 2014. Certainly some areas had some blockage of maturity due to the heat. I think there’s plenty of perfume and I’m happy that I didn’t wait for grapes that were too ripe – 11.5-12° worked well whilst avoiding dryness in the wines.

This is a domaine that has worked organically, with certification, for some time, but “In 2016 we didn’t just lose 75% to the frost there was the mildew that followed – I chose to make a treatment that wasn’t authorized for organic – I’d already lost enough for the year – and accepted that I would lose my organic certification, but it will be back for the 2019s, our philosophy remains the same.”

The wines…

I first tasted 2013/2012s at this estate, and I think there’s an obvious progression in the wines. They are not the most concentrated, but texturally they are now much finer, the oak also has much finer integration and there’s a clarity of flavour and a perfume which is on another level to before. Here is an address with some super wines!

The whites are currently with cork – but it remains a complicated subject! “I’m still not sure if I may make a change. It’s not particularly the taste of corked wines, it’s the flavour deviance, in general, that mean I sometimes don’t recognize my own wine – it’s this that is so unsatisfying.”

2017 Marsannay Blanc ‘Collection’
About a dozen small parcels and three different types of soil. Some will be classed as 1er cru in the future – a mix of high and low slopes. 5-600 litre demi-muids with a little more lees than previously.
A width and freshness but density of aroma too – slowly evolving ripe lemon fruit notes. Supple, fresh – really a lovely drive to this wine – the texture and flavour impression of minerality, of salinity but a base of finely balancing sweetness. Citrus and mouth-watering in the long finish – Very tasty!

2017 Fixin Blanc Champ des Charmes
A little more clay in the soil here vs the Marsannay. Still young vines – about 10 years old.
A narrower but also deeper nose – silky again but less overt freshness. In the mouth more direction and freshness than the nose suggests – bubbling with modest but complex energy – ooh I like this a lot. A broader finish, some mineral impression, slowly mouth-watering – Excellent!

Les Rouges…

2017 Marsannay Héritage
The biggest cuvée of the domaine – 5-6 hectares worth. An assembly of multiple parcels mainly in the middle of Marsannay-La-Côte and with a high proportion of 60 year-old vines. Here with a little whole clusters in the mix – a millefeuille of whole clusters and destemmed grapes in the fermentation tank.
Modest colour. The first nose is forward but not that interesting – the second sniff is more floral and splendid! Fresh – nicely mouth-filling, complex, almost creamy and saline. Not a wine of direct impact or concentration, but one where both the aromas and flavours keep expanding and growing. Not big but very delicious with a sneaky, more mineral, length!

2017 Marsannay La Montagne
White oolite with a bit more friable soil. ‘A cuvée that evolves every year – I replanted a small part – maybe this year the first inclusion – but I think it gains in precision each year.’ There are normally 5 parts to the cuvée though one was replanted after the frost of 2016.
A little more colour here. A more serious nose – it’s a more compact but deep nose that evolves in the glass (like the first wine) becoming ever-more interesting with perfumed dark fruit. More mouth-filling volume. Clarity of flavour – dark-fruited flavour. A modest lick of phenolic texture in the mid-palate. Layered, once-more deliciously finishing. More concentrated, deeper wine…

2017 Marsannay Les Champs Perdrix
Another type of soil – Premeaux limestone. 2.5 ha in the south of the appellation close to Comblanchien/Fixin. ‘It’s a more airy style of wine from here.’
Similar depth of colour to the Montagne. Redder fruit, riper too but not lacking any aromatic freshness – growing like the others with a more deliciously floral perfume. Hmm – more mineral attack – a wine of volume and excellent energy – more insistent flavour, more intensity. The oaking always very subtly in the background. An open wine versus the more serious Montagne – two shades of Marsannay.

2017 Fixin Petits Crais
Not far from Champs Perdrix but with a different soil. There was a little more water for the vines in Fixin.
A hint less colour and a tighter nose – to start. The nose slowly freshens, saline and floral but always high-toned – tight in the lower notes. More direct, almost a more limestone style to the flavours and the drive of this wine. The one wine where I would wait a little longer before opening – more structural but there’s not really any overt structure to wait for, but the impression of the wine is to have patience – wide and mineral finishing. It’s super…

2017 Côte de Nuits Villages La Créole
From Brochon on the border with Fixin – geologically exactly the same as Fixin. ‘It’s a small cuvée for us, open in its youth – it’s like a domesticated Fixin!’
Plenty of colour. A big nose, almost textured – faint oak and attractive dark-red fruit. Ooh this is big and energetic in the mouth – nice fruit, plenty of complexity – round but no lack of structure, modest tannin and a sweetness, if not overt flavour of, oak. Slowly a mineral width takes over in the finish. Big, characterful and absolutely delicious – yum!

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Crais
There’s probably 2-3 metres depth to the poor soil here – easily draining, always a good maturity though – generally riper, less acidic – ‘The area just lacks a little ventilation and holds onto the mildew – principally it was this sector that prompted me to treat in 2016.’ Some whole clusters used here – 30%
A little less colour. A mineral depth and a finely perfumed top note – not so wide but still a very attractive nose. Packing a punch – like the Côte de Nuits – full, fresh, open, with fine energy and depth of flavour in the middle. Delicious wine – once again long, faintly mineral, and in this case less obvious oak sweetness in that finish. Excellent!

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Fonteys
Vines next to Bruno Clair. Premeaux limestone here but also lots of clay.
Plenty of colour. Such a deep nose – not so wide – but pure. Complex, airy and attractive top notes. Full – extra silk to the texture – a growing wave of intensity – really another level of class here despite how delicious the previous wines were. Wide, mineral, classy wine in the finishing flavours too – mouth-watering mineral flavour to finish. Simply excellent.

2017 Charmes-Chambertin
A parcel of Charmes on the northern edge of the Charmes climat, close to Griotte. Not much soil here.
A nose that’s a little compact but with super clarity of dark-red fruit. More drive, minerality and energy than the average Charmes – a touch of tannic texture but practically no grain. Open, very classy – that’s so good – a proper character to this wine long and faintly phenolic texture at the end. Many Charmes lack a bit of character for me but here is one with character in spades. Excellent, delicious wine!