Tasted in Givry with Philippe Pascal (right) and Guillaume Marko, 05 April 2023.

Domaine du Cellier aux Moines
Lieu Dit Le Cellier aux Moines
71640 Givry
Tel: +33 3 85 44 53 75
www.cellierauxmoines.com

The Cellier aux Moines sits on a hillside above an amphitheatre of vines that look towards the town of Givry. In addition to its vines, this domaine is made up of a group of historic buildings dating from the Cistercians, circa 1130, plus a new, purpose-built, cuverie in what was once an old quarry.

For seven centuries this was a wine estate of the Abbey of La Ferté – a subsidiary of the Abbey of Cîteaux – only the French Revolution brought closure to that. The estate was acquired by a Judge from Chalon, this family kept the domaine for about 200 years before it was acquired in 2004 and a process of restoration was begun by its current owners – Philippe and Catherine Pascal. Philippe is a veteran of LVMH and Catherine is a Burgundian by birth.

Philippe explains, “The domaine today covers 12.5 hectares which is about the same as in the time of the monks – and the monks were quite picky in terms of what land they would accept – even when it was free! In this case, it had been donated by the Duke of Burgundy! Already in 2008, it was clear to us that we had the wrong vegetal selections so we started the process of replanting those vines with massale selections. Our final plot of clones was just recently uprooted. In a couple of years, when tasting the grapes, we hope to see a different world of flavour – I see the endless possibility for sharpening the expression of the terroir…”

Here in the Clos they have only pinot noir – 5 hectares – but they have expanded their holdings with some interesting plots of whites from the Côtes de Beaune and Chalonnaise – the domaine is now one-third white. Their pinot is higher trained – “That we don’t need to trim in the summer,” plus a more labour-intensive (small) plot that is trained ‘echellas‘ (single wooden poles) this pruning seeming to resist the drought more.

The team – including winemaker Guillaume Marko who joined in 2014 – like longer ageing – i.e. with two winters in barrel. Their new cuverie, built in the old (disused since the 1950s) quarry of Givry, was designed to allow all the manipulations of the wine to be done by gravity and was ready for the 2015 vintage.

Their 2021s had been bottled a couple of weeks earlier than my visit – and from miserly yields – only 8 hl/ha or 20% of a normal vintage. The volumes returned to 40 hl/ha with 2022. After working at three very good domaines in the Côte de Nuits Guillaume has been pushing forward with the move through organic to biodynamic farming and is co-gerant of the domaine. They were certified ‘organic’ in 2020 and are now certified Biodynamic with Biodyvin.

There is a second project underway for this team – a little more south of Givry – in Beaujolais. Two years ago the they acquired a domaine in the hills of Juliénas – much work is underway, including a new cuverie built into the hillside. Hopefully, I may have the time to visit in my usual tour of Beaujolais in February.

The wines…

High quality wines – the whites were gently but visibly oaked – the reds from fine to properly great. I hope to follow these wines further…

2020 Aligoté Sur Les Roches
East-facing vines from 1945 in Montagny. 1,500 bottles…
Round, ripe, with depth of aroma – modestly oaked. In the mouth – there’s volume, with a nicely mineral, faintly citrus, depth of flavour – vibrant and fine finishing…

2020 Montagny 1er Les Charmelottes
A south-facing slope of vines from 1939 – these vines ‘en fermage’ – two years of elevage with a July 2022 bottling.
Again some round, ripe, almost golden fruit – the wood is present but here it’s more discreet. Silkier, supple – a very fine line of finishing flavour.

2020 Santenay 1er Beauregard Blanc
0.25 ha.
Higher toned, almost mineral. The oak is very discreet – it’s a wine of bubbling energy and finely vibrant finishing. Lots of finesse – this is a beauty!

Les Reds:

2019 Givry 1er Clos du Cellier
Overall, about 2/3rds whole-cluster.
A vibrant nose – darkly complex. Supple and concentrated – a slightly jammy aromatic comes through in the flavours too but it’s silky and generous – tasty, indeed delicious, wine.

2020 Givry 1er Clos du Cellier
Half the harvest volume – due to the dryness – ‘it was a good vintage until the end of June – it never rained again until the harvest.’
Deep colour. A spiced nose – dark fruit. Supple, finer fruit – less jammy – great intensity – a like the acidity and energy that it brings. An almost graphite minerality – super-silky texture… That’s a super 2020!