Le Grappin – 2014

Update 24.12.2015(22.12.2015)billn

DSC08870Tasted with Andrew Nielsen in Beaune, 01 December, 2015.

Le Grappin
12 Rue Oudot
21200 Beaune
@legrappin
www.legrappin.com

I love that this is a real working space, there’s probably a computer game where you have to move all the pieces to get access to another piece – that’s the feeling here. Pallets of wine, crates of bottles – mostly containing wine, a few boxes of bagnums – even a small labeling machine – which I suppose should come in handy!

Andrew on 2015:
“2015 brought high sugars but balanced fruit – the fruit was quite small, it even looked like pinot noir in Beaujolais! I was worried about whites but once the fruit was in it looked good and it really is good post-ferment. There’s concentration in the reds and you can taste the sun. I’ve used very little extraction, even before this vintage, but even less in 2015.”

Andrew (mainly) on 2014:
“Pre-release orders were up for 2014s. Sweden is now largest market via a middle-man does personal imports, rather than the System Bologet. In 2014 I added a St.Aubin (En le Beau Pin) but in 2015 I chose to expand a lot in Beaujolais – it was half my production – as I was fed up with paying the Côte d’Or prices for grapes; there was arrogance, chemicals and vines in the plain – ‘take it or leave it.’ The best organic grapes from the Beaujolais crus are cheaper than those for Bourgogne Rouge!”

The wines…

2014 Savigny-lès-Beaune Aux Forneaux
Sleek, deep and dark fruit – attractive. Good texture, just an accent of dryness. Real depth to the flavour – layers too. Fine, deep flavour perspective in the finish. Excellent villages!

2014 Beaune 1er Boucherottes
85% hailed. A massive triage effort – 16 hours for 1 tonne of fruit. Not many producers of this 1er as it’s 75% owned by Hospices and Bouchard Père )(or their Beaune du Château).
Deep colour. Wide and deep red fruit – sumptuous. Silky, intense, a big kick of mid-palate flavour. Long with a hint of dry extract – but not drying. Excellent again! The finish just keeps hanging in…

Les blancs…

2014 Savigny-lès-Beaune Blanc
Back to the original two parcels on the hillside. Whites all now in big barrels for elevage.
Bright, wide, some mineral freshness. Big, lovely energy, a faint phenolic note – flavour-packed. Lots of potential here.

2014 St.Aubin
Big, some reduction, weight and freshness too though. Bright, overflowing with mouth-watering energy – yum. Still a hint of reduction here, but really interesting mid-palate and finishing complexity too. Really great finishing, a hint mineral and a lot complex. Excellent

2014 Santenay 1er Les Gravières Blanc
40 yo vines – quite rare in white for Santenay.
Deep yellow, citrus fruit, macerating, ripe but still citrus. There is scale here, the wine fills your mouth. There is structure too, energy and a subtly ingraining complexity. Excellent! Richer and a hint more austere but not a bit of a problem – yum!

2014 Beaune 1er Les Grèves Blanc
A tight but very fine, fresh, white-flower-perfumed nose. Just a hint of gas, wait for it to fade, and as it does the flavour melts over the palate. There is minerality here and a very slowly growing complexity and intensity. Today, clearly a hit tight, but the eventual texture is lovely – as I expect the wine to be too. Floral finishing too. Tons of potential here…

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