Tasted in Saint-Bris-le-Vineux with Guilhem Goisot, 08 April, 2022.
Domaine Jean-Hughes et Guilhem Goisot
30 rue Bienvenu-Martin
89530 Saint-Bris-le-Vineux
Tel. +33 3 86 53 35 15
www.goisot.com
More reports with Domaine Jean-Hughes & Guilhem Goisot
Guilhem on this year’s frost:
“In terms of vine growth, we were ahead of the Côte d’Or – we were in full Spring the 14-15 days before the frost – before that, we were a little behind but after the warm we had some buds that had burst 3, 4, 5cm of growth – we have certainly lost 40% but more or less we can’t really say at this stage. It could easily be similar to 2021 despite our politic of later pruning. This year the damp was already in the buds after the snow so, to be honest, the candles had very little worth. We were 70% down in 2021. We haven’t been able to take on new clients for 3 years…”
Guilhem on 2020:
We had quality in this harvest but also 40% losses due to a single night of frost – and of course, the vines were more ahead of this year. It was ‘only’ -1°C and dry but it had a big effect on the flowering. Yes, there was dryness that affected us too – but the end result was about 40% less. Sauvignon needs more time and suffers a bit more from the dry so these last parcels were harvested in mid-September but the pinot and chardonnay were all harvested in August. The little, 5-6mm of, rain in mid-August followed by some cooler nights really helped the grapes.”
The wines…
A few wines accented with pyrazine – like in 2019 – but this visit is always a pleasure – If I could find them, I would buy them!
One aligoté and one St.Bris have been bottled – nothing else at this stage – the others are in tank for a couple of months right now:
2020 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre, Corps de Garde Rouge
Plenty of colour – but no pigeage. Plenty of green notes but there’s complexity here too. Wide, very silky, the green less overt in the flavours – a silky wine until a little velvet tannin starts to show itself. Broad and super finishing – waves of finishing flavour. If you are not sensitive to the greens you will love this!
Fourth vintage here. More clay than the following and water is easier to access – ‘I think that’s why it is the more generous.’
Ooh – that’s a beauty, deep, fresh – gorgeously fruited and proportioned aromatics. Cool, finer textured, a little velvet texture again. Vibrant, layered fruit in the finish – great wine!
2020 Irancy La Voie de Cravant
The first vintage; vines from a contact who produces cereals and fruit, organic, but only has a small parcel of vines here – 0.3 ha and was looking for someone to take on the management of the parcel – ‘so the vines are planted as they are not our selections of vines but it’s our starting point.’
A rounder nose of ripe fruit – quite a cushioned start. Wider, lots of fresh energy – the grain of tannin is finer. Lots of concentration here, quite a cherry-fruit style and slightly saline too long finishing. A big wine, but a delicious one.
2020 Irancy Les Mazelots
All pinot on Kimmerigian – not much clay – quite a white soil. ‘We had some great vintages of césar, but the wine was exactly the same 10 years later – it doesn’t develop, it’s like a fossil, but I’ve kept 3 vines for the memory – so this is all pinot!
More volume, lots of freshness, here there is green again. A little dryness coming into the texture but an otherwise sweeping, impressive, shape. Vibrant finishing again – another wine that will be so attractive to those who are insensitive to these greens.
Hmm – that’s broad and freshly perfumed – no overt greens here. Direct, fluid, mouth-watering with flavour complexity. Then a burst – a firework of finishing flavour – bravo!
Les Blancs…
4.5 ha of aligoté averaging over 80-year-old vines – here it’s an old massale selection with small grapes like pinot noir – planted on a Kimmerigian hillside location mainly catching the setting sun. ‘The soil needs constant work, or it’s like concrete. There’s lots of red clay and blue fossils here.’ This wine is made in stainless-steel tanks.
A big welcoming hug from this nose – such a super nose – slightly rounded and very comfortable. Silky wine and depth to this flavour. The finish is wide and hyper-attractive. Not an incisive wine but a delicious and comfortable one – a suggestion of green in the finish? Not sure but anyway bravo!
2020 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre, Biaumont
Pronounced like Beaumonts, from a single parcel of vines, south-west facing on Kimmerigian ground – Sunny, top of the hill – one of the parcels with most clay.
A fresher attack – width but not ultra-wide – a suggestion of pyrazine. Beautiful over the palate; cool, melting, a little fluidity to the character. Subtly accented with a green note as a positive extra complexity – almost like the mint of Sauvignon. But that is a beautiful thing in the mouth. Contemplative but not lacking an iota of balance!
2020 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre, Gueules de Loup
Again a barrel sample. Similar altitude to the last but completely white soil.
A higher-toned perfume – a little more chalky freshness. Extra fresh, extra mineral in the mouth. A subtle tannin and then an extra depth of finishing flavour. A faint, positive green accent only in the finish of this wine today. Super wine.
The same parcel as the red – on-third is planted to white. ’It was the esprit of my great-grandfather who always said this was a good parcel for both colours – so we continue to honour that.’
Here there’s more oak in the (aromatic) discussion – rounder but engagingly with citrus-tinged minerality too. Cool, beautiful over the palate – shape, mobility – almost fluidity. I’d leave this in the cellar for 2 years to lessen the visibility of the oak but what a great finish. Bravo.
2020 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre, Gondonne
Fine and fresh – not showing any particular oak today. More density but still a freshness and mobility of flavour. Broad and concentrated but never heavy – there’s more material here and it’s very long. I’d also leave this in the cellar a while – or carafe – but it’s a very super wine!
Planted in the mid-1960s, vines coming from Guilhem’s wife. That’s the name of the parcel, planted with an old masalle selection, south-facing. ‘Climate is warmer and drier in the Côtes d’Auxerre vs Chablis.’ It has the sun the whole day but the heat really only in the afternoon. 0.4 hectares. ‘I like to do the manual weeding here – I arrive at 04h00-04h30 – and my telephone has no reception – heaven! I don’t have this luxury in Saint-Bris! Elevage in 500-litre barrels, one from 4 was new.
Ooh – that’s rather good – more depth, a little narrower but not obviously reductive. Extra volume and mineral clarity – a cool style to these flavours. So considered and slowly mouth-watering with extra flavours. Concentration without heaviness – tension still – bravo!
2020 Saint-Bris Exogyra Virgula
Of-course named after the fossilised shell-fish found in the rocks of the vineyard – also some Kimmerigian here. This and the next are bottled, the final two not yet.
Ooh – that’s fine – the exotic mintiness of SB with just a faint reduction at the base. Vibrant, another wine of tension. Successive waves of finishing flavour. A super thing…
This sauvignon gris, the previous two blanc. Not bottled
A more direct nose, more airy and fresh. Incisive, clean, more overtly mineral wine. The finish is extra-wide and with a lift of intensity. Always pure and attractive. Bravo
The climate here is plain south near Saint-Bris – as you get nearer Auxerre the exposure changes. Co-planted blanc and gris.
As fresh as the Corps de Garde but with more width in the deeper, riper, fruit notes. Ultra-mineral, cushioned by the fine fruit, always mouth-watering – almost juicy in this case. Intense finishing great wine – bravo.