Tasted in Curtil-Vergy with Axelle Machard de Gramont, 05 July 2022.
Domaine Bertrand Machard de Gramont
13 Rue de Vergy
21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges
Tel: +33 3 80 61 16 96
www.bertrand-macharddegramont.fr
More reports for Domaine Bertrand Marchard de Gramont
Axelle on 2022:
“We had a large hailstorm two weeks ago – and our vines were hurt, more or less depending on the plot, but it could have been much worse. In 2022 we have less intensively debudded – after a frost year like 2021 many producers want to make more wine to recoup – so the estimated 30% losses are ‘on average’ meaningless at this stage.”
Axelle on 2020:
“Our 2020s are already sold out at the domaine but the 2021s are not yet allocated – I always do this quite late – this year exacerbated by half a normal crop in 2020. It was mainly the frost that was to blame but we also had no rain until the end of August – our harvesting began 27 August – just before it rained. I think some blocking of the maturities enabled the retention of some of the acidity.”
The wines…
A simply, and consistently, excellent range from this producer in 2020 – except for the two Vosnes – this year they are great wines for their labels – worth a special search to find them.
These wines were bottled in April:
2020 Bourgogne Les Grands Chaillots
A single parcel of vines in Nuits with deep soil and some clay – looking up to Vallerots; ironstones that help drainage. Frosted in 2009 so partly replanted afterwards.
A sweetly attracrive nose – perfumed. Hmm, thats a juicy wine – nicely structured – with lip-smacking finishing flavour. Super wine
2020 Nuits St.Georges Les Terrasses de Vallerots
‘2 hectares and really it’s a unique parcel – it wasn’t planted with vines before, so never chemically treated.’
Also beautifully perfumed – even better than the Bourgogne. Extra fresh, direct, a cascade of energetic, flavour with plenty of acidity. I would keep this for 3 or 4 years but its already very, very enjoyable – again super wine.
2020 Nuits St.Georges Les Vallerots
0.5 hectares. Gets the rising but not the setting sun. Above Vaucrains but really opposite Poulets
A similar perfume, though less – here there’s an extra depth of stony cherry fruit aroma. Wide, extra, a couple of mm of cushion to the structure here that makes this wine more accessible than the Terraces – really excellent…
2020 Nuits St.Georges Hautes Pruliers
Very steep and often no more than 10cm of soil. From the part that actually touches Pruliers, vines from 1964. Higher alcohol -14%. ‘We suffered a lot from the dryness here – where was the juice? We harvested here the day before the rain came…’
Deep colour. A more concentrated, cushioned, dark fruit. Muscular but not fat, always mouth-watering, darkly fruited, bright, dynamic, slightly austere, but always attractive. Such an impressive wine – impressively concentrated too. Really excellent!
2020 Nuits St.Georges Aux Allots
From the bottom of Aux Chaignots, next to Grandes Vignes in northern Nuits, touching on Vosne, bought in 1969. 0.92 hectares of multiple vine ages, averaging 50 but up to 100 years-old – includes the oldest vines of the domaine – actually the first plot bought by Axelle’s parents.
Also deeply coloured. Higher tones, clearly a different location – super perfume that’s more obviously floral. Open, energetic, a little more visible tannin (there’s extra clay in the soil here) but without a grain – vibrant wine – darkly mineral finishing. Again, really excellent wine…
0.60 hectares over 4 parcels owned here – 3 of which in this wine so 0.45ha; Champs Boudin, Aux Ormes below, the Bas Mazières heading towards the Clos de Vougeot.
Such a classic nose here – a fine, faintly spiced width of fine perfume. There’s extra class to this shape – the impression of more fluid flavour energy and complexity. A width of perfumed finishing flavour too, that’s long with a slight graphite, minerality – bravo villages.
0.15 ha vinified apart since 2015. Very fine red soil, little in the way of clay. 20-year-old vines – as they didn’t like the plants when bought the parcel. ‘One big barrel for the elevage, my father wasn’t impressed with the idea, but I love to vinify this small parcel and get my hands dirty doing so.’
Dark colour again. More intensity of aroma, some menthol in this complexity, the perfume of this wine growing and growing in the glass. More direct, with super texture, slowly growing some tannic style but without grain. Another great villages, finishing with a width of stony cherry fruit. The previous wine is more classic, cliché, Vosne but this is just as good!
The white of the domaine:
2020 Aligote Le Chêne du Court
Vines hidden behind the Abbey of the St.Vivant, just a few hundred metres from the winery.
This nose starts a little metallic – slightly reductive. Mouthfilling, energetic, lovely mouth-watering style but this needs a vigorous decanting to remove the metallic, reductive character of both the nose and the flavours. I love the finish of this, with its slight bitters and a fine flavour.