Tasted in the Château Hurigny, 02 November 2015.
I normally visit the producers of the ‘Vignerons, Artisans of South Burgundy‘ in April or May, but an opportunity arose for me to get a few of them together in one place – the Château de Hurigny.
It was more than worth the effort – 33 super wines – easily the best vintage that I’ve tasted from these, already exceptional, producers. Some are richer, sweeter and more oak-inflected, others mineral/metallic, but really a life-giving vintage!
Bravo alround!
Dominique Cornin
2014 Mâcon-Chaintre
All in tank. Pretty bright citrus. Bright again, direct and pretty, modestly mineral but with a bigger freshly-limed finished. Lovely aperitif.
2014 Mâcon-Fuissé Les Bruyères
A deeper, riper more classic nose of mâcon fruit. Super texture, a hint more plush and very silky. The first vintage from young vines – good freshness and texture. Very yum!
Multiple parcels with vines of 65-80 years old.
A wide if slightly tight, very appealing nose. Excellent attack with a super line of intense fresh lime fruit. Intense finishing, mineral/metallic. Super.
Jacques et Nathalie Saumize
Info: 2014 was relatively easy, not too many treatments and decent yields. Very happy…
2014 Mâcon-Vergisson Sur la Roche
20% barrel, rest tank, young 25 yo vines
Deep, not so wide. The palate is wide, acidulated. A really mineral palate that lingers very well – again a lime style fruit impression in the finish…
Planted at the start of 60s, ‘la vielle vigne des creches.’
More depth of aroma, lemon with faint barrique below. Mouth-watering, fine intensity, again minerally long – a trend? A super 14€ bottle – direct… The last drops in the glass are lovely.
2014 Saint-Véran Poncetys
Vines planted in 1944-45.
A weight of aroma below, tighter but fresh above. Lovely over the tongue – silky, but no impression of fat. Intense, long finishing, indeed very long.
2014 Pouilly-Fuissé Creuzettes
One parcel was in the VV cuvée before, a second was recovered in 2012.
A silky impression to the nose, some width too. Really wide in the mouth with intense, stony flavour – again yum! Extra long this.
2014 Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes
A more up and down aroma, less wide. Here the shape is fuller, yet no less intense than the last.
A subtle but pretty and complex nose. There’s a faint warmth below too. Super silky, super direct, the intensity is super – wow wine!
Pierre Vessigaud
2014 Mâcon-Fuissé Les Tâches
A subdued if slightly silky nose. Certainly not subdued in the mouth – here is a lovely mix of flavour intensity, weight of flavour and a faintly padded intensity – super! Fine finish, almost with a hint of apealling bitterness.
2014 Pouilly-Fuissé Pierre à Canards
Again a rather subdued nose, I’m sensing a hint of sulfur. Here is a sweetly mouth-watering flavour, almost Chablis-style but with a weight of finely lingering mineral flavour – very yum!
Nicolas Maillet
Info: It seems to my palate that Nicolas hit it out of the park in 2014…
Subtle, sweet nose. A hint if gas here, but there’s mouth-watering intensity here too. Gorgeous despite a modest label. Super-yum!
A more Mâcon nose, again a hint of gas, the same line of joy-bringing intensity, just a hint softer finishing, but gorgeous…
Higher on the hill with more limestone – the last was from the flat.
The prettiest nose of citrus. Once more a super line, chiseled, softly finishing, super flavour…
85 year-old vines.
Wide airy, citrus-inflected nose. Big in the mouth, great attack but not a hint aggressive. Slowly lingering. Holds really well. Super.
Saumaize-Michelin
Info: 2015 was difficult; perfect cleanliness but 14° and quite low acidities – we will have to wait and see. In 2014 good pH, just had to watch out for not too much concentration.
Another domaine that hit the vintage out of the park!
2014 Mâcon Villages
A modest but open and pretty nose. Full in the mouth, a little padding too but super intense mineral/metallic flavour that lingers well. Oh, and less than 10€ direct! 😉
A weighty yet aromatically tight nose. The same mouth-watering impression but wider and more intense: agrume flavours here. Massive value too.
2014 Mâcon-Vergisson Sur la Roche
A Mâcon with altitude, as opposed to attitude!
Wider, more open, more oaked. Lovely mouth-watering line and intensity, here with a little added sweetness.
2014 Saint-Véran Les Crèches
A fresh top note with some weight of barrel below. Like all here, a vibrant core of faintly padded acidity, coupled to joyous mid-palate flavour.
Here are fresh top notes, but this is essentially very tight. Gorgeous minerality, silkily textured, – wow! – and it seems there are better ones too!
A new cuvée here; was once abandoned so everything done by hand, young vines.
Subtly oaked, airy but discreet. Mouth-filling, lush, gorgeously sweetly and mouth-watering. Ouf!
45-70 year-old vines.
Also a little discreet – but all were bottled this week, by gravity. Gorgeously textured, long, less direct but gorgeously flavoured to match the texture. The finish is really a silky mineral impression.
Guillot-Broux
Info: 2014 has the same quality as 99 – great quality if not the largest volume.
2014 Mâcon-Cruziles Les Molière
Herby nose. Chardonnay muscaté. Round but still with gorgeous acidity – simply super. Here is a really mineral mid-palate.
2014 Mâcon-Cruziles Les Perrières
Yum, I know there’s a bit of oak in this but the complex sweet flavours are super-inviting. Super-direct, the flavour leaching over the tongue.
Heritiers Lafon
Info: 2014 had super grapes with a balance not seen for a long time. 2015 brought us less rain than the Côte d’Or.
These were mainly bottled in August.
2014 Mâcon-Milly Lamartine
A hint of reduction, very fine width of flavour, slowly lingering – great entry-level wine.
Also faintly reduced, but less so, full of energy, fabulous width on acidity – simply great flavour.
2014 Mâcon-Chardonnay Clos de La Crochette
No reduction, a wide top note but tighter below. Also gloriously incisive, slowly diminishing. Very yum…
Wide, fresh, with a hint of ripeness – again tight below. A little more weight and complexity of flavour again with a beautiful finish. Really excellent.
These vines were recovered in 2014, but had been in bio for a long time.
A little padding, joyous acidity – simply lovely. Almost no words needed for how good this is, simply buy all that you can!
Pierrette et Marc Guillemot-Michel
Fresh and open only hinting at depth today, but it’s certainly inviting. Here is modest sweetness but really nothing modest about the intensity and a fine faintly padded texture. Beautifully finishing wine – a grand cru style effect. Very yum!
Bret Bothers, La Soufrandière
2014 Mâcon-Uchizy
Open and fresh up top, tight below. Really the classic attack, the acidity and mouth-watering flavour of the vintage. In the finish there’s a hint of ripeness but great flavour too.
2014 Pouilly-Vinzelles
Fresh, but interesting, I can’t put my finger on the note. Simply joyous in the mouth – beautifully flavoured.
2014 Pouilly-Fuissé le Clos Reyssie
A silky smooth nose, pretty high tones and like the rest somewhat tighter below. More concentrated, not more intense, lots of ripe mid-palate flavour. Really super…