Tasted in Meursanges with Sophie Joigneaux, 27 April 2021.
Domaine Sophie Joigneaux
12 Route de Seurre
21250 Corberon
Tel: +33 6 86 78 39 54
www.domainesophiejoigneaux.sitew.com
Sophie made one of the ‘chosen’ Beaunes that I blind-tasted in the last report, hence, the starting point for my visit.
2017 was the starting-point for Sophie’s own domaine. “I was born in Beaune and have been involved in oenology for over 20 years – I worked in Champagne too – but in 2017 I had the opportunity to rent some vines and started from there – and I make wine how I like it.”
What Sophie, modestly, avoids telling me is that she’s actually a Professor of Oenolgy at the Maison Familiale de Beaune-Grandchamp, an agricultural/viticultural school just outside of Beaune!
Her first vintage (2017) was commercialised in Spring 2019 and was mainly sold in and around Paris – it was the product of 3.5 hectares of vines in Chorey-lès-Beaune and Beaune 1er, including some chardonnay and aligoté in the Chorey parcel. As the domaine is so new, plenty is still commercialised as grape-purchases – “I have to live too,” smiles Sophie.
Sophie’s family home in Corberon is in an area for agriculture but it’s outside of the zone of Beaune so it’s not allowed to vinify there, hence, we met in her cuverie in Meursanges where they have a nicely updated gite – when covid allows them to rent it!
“I like core and character in my wines – but destemmed – I like a real Pommard for instance. None of the wines were fined or filtered in my first year – but that was down to practicality – I had no electricity at the start! But I liked the result so it stays like that. The (red) wines stay for a minimum of 18 months in barrel but I don’t like too much wood as I think it hides the terroir – so I’m not using much new wood.”
The wines…
The 2019 Beaune showed more closed than my blind tasting the month before – but its classy texture was still a stand-out. The Chorey was a simply great wine for that label. Wines worth a search!
Was bottled in January all with DIAM
Plenty of colour here. Here’s a good depth of clean-fruited aroma. Hmm – that’s got a fine combination of fresh energy and depth of flavour – very mouth-watering. Clean, characterful, faintly mineral but with great clarity – that’s a great Chorey!
2019 Beaune 1er Blanches Fleurs
Vines in the triagnle of Blanches Fleurs, Marconnets and Clos du Roi – 1945 the vines were planted.
A wider but less forward nose – there’s a small impression of elegance but perhaps more because this nose is less vocal. Rounder to start but also a wine that, like the nose, takes a step back, offering a more structural impression – but so beautifully textured – though a wine with a certain austerity today – not in a bad sense, just a ‘wait’ sense. Long finishing – rather persistent – there’s a faintness of bitters as the last impression. Super wine, for waiting…
And to compare:
2017 Beaune 1er Blanches Fleurs
Plenty of colour for a 2017. The nose starts with some reduction – but aeration is your friend – the fog lifting to show more floral references and less overt reductive depth. Really plenty of material here ‘mache’ the tannin has a very fine but perceptible grain that was largely absent from the 2019. The slightly mineral style of the 2019 but much easier to approach – it’s also 2 years older. I find this very tatsy wine – I’d carafe if my bottle was like this – all good. Lovely wine.