Tasted in Vosne-Romanée with Gérald Cacheux, 5th May 2015.
Domaine René Cacheux & Fils
26 rue de la Grand Velle
21700 Vosne-Romanée
Tel: +33 3 80 61 28 72
www.domaine-cacheux.com
Cacheux was once a single domaine in Vosne-Romanée, but in 2005 two sisters married two brothers and there was a separation – so the cousin has the other domaine, Jacques Cacheux. Gérald is the 4th generation at this domaine…
Domaine René Cacheux covers 3.26 hectares, with 3 regional wines, Vosne and Chambolle villages, plus the Vosne 1ers of Les Suchots and Beaux Monts. Both of the village wines are assembled from 2 parcels, likewise they also have 2 parcels in Les Suchots – one across from Romanée Saint-Vivant and the other set higher on the hill and touching on Echézeaux. Their Beaux Monts touches on Echézeaux too.
The domaine isn’t officially organic as they ‘use some molecules’ for weed control – “We’re not fully in any camp, but there’s less and less herbicide use as we’re ploughing more and more. Sometimes we’ve been forced to use an insecticide like recently for the flavescence d’orée – the whole village of Vosne has had no pesticide use for almost 20 years – except that everybody was mandated to do the single treatment for the flavescence ciccadelle. But what’s important for me is that with ‘organic culture’ you are allowed make maybe 14-15 treatments in a year, but I do much less, only about 7 or 8.”
About 40% of this domaine’s production is currently sold to négociants. The remaining 60% is mainly exported and sold direct from the cave. Japan is a large market.
Gérald on 2013:
“It was a very difficult year in the vines, particularly in spring when it was very wet. July and August weren’t bad but it was really just the weather leading up to the vintage that made the difference. The aromas are very precise, like 2010 with lots of finesse. Ripe tannins though that was most likely due to the late harvest, yet the alcohols are not high. Overall though, a very nice maturity and the acidity brings a nice freshness.”
The wines…
2013s are now in bottle, but barely 2 weeks.
The Bourgogne was planted about 1999, the Chambolle vines are 40+ years-old. The Vosne villages were planted in 1990+1995, Beaux Monts in the 1950s, and finally, Les Suchots one part in the 1980s, the rest also from the 1950s.
Bunches are destemmed here before a cold maceration. There is 18 months elevage, and about 10% new oak is used for regional wines, 20-30% for the villages and closer to 30-40% new oak for the 1er Crus – from a blend of 3 coopers. Bottling is without filtration.
2013 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Good colour. Very pretty and quite weighty pinot fruit – lovely – really a Vosne aromatic (from under Les Croix Blanche). Some weight of flavour too – the intensity is very good – almost the impression of fat, though never delivered. Very good length with a little rusticity but nothing aggressive – character and plenty of wine – yum!
Vines en fermage, belonging to someone in chambolle – had them since 2005.
Again a good medium-plus colour. Very Chambolle nose with dark red fruits and a clear top note of flowers. Much silkier texture to start and then a hint of tannic dryness comes through, but this has really nice flavour authority and almost a hint of licorice – super length here. Muscular flavour compared to the nose, but none-the-less excellent.
2013 Vosne-Romanée
Again a strong young colour. Higher toned that the Vosne-esque Bourgogne, more floral and a little mineral too. Very different vs chambolle, but no less inviting. More direct, less round, but it grows more and more in the mouth – there’s plenty of concentration here, more mid-palate structure, but it’s very well-rounded and shows no hint of aggression – very floral finishing and long too. Maybe just a hint of barrel flavour in the finish for now – but very tasty indeed.
2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Beaux Monts
Some aromatic similarities to the villages, but here it’s a finer textured, high-toned nose with a more lilac than violet note. More transparent, more energy, no fat – again a little oak flavour towards the finish. Late arriving, very fine texture of tannin. A really excellent finish – really long. A very strong set of wines here…
Quite a different nose again – high-toned of-course – but rather wider, slowly becoming silkier, almost tending to a faint fumé. Like the Beaux Monts this is fresh, lithe, almost crystalline here. Weight of flavour and power too with really an impressive extra level of complexity in the mid-palate – this has a lot of finesse despite the balanced power. I find this really excellent today, showing more overt character than the Beaux Monts, really a top-rank Suchots!