Tasted in Gilly les Citeaux with Mark Haisma, 15 November 2019.
Mark Haisma
Lot 4, Parc d’Activités “La Petite Champagne”
21640 Gilly les Citeaux
www.markhaisma.co.uk
Mark on 2019:
“Well in 2019 I was certainly impacted by the frost with the whites; in some areas I expecting 8-9 barrels but got 4 – particularly Chassagne!”
Mark on 2018:
“This may have been my hardest vintage with the wines, it took me a long time to get enjoyment from these wines – from choosing the harvest date onwards, this was all stressful. In some places I really felt that if we picked in the afternoon rather than the morning, it would already be too late.”
The wines…
It’s likely just a journalistic laziness to suggest that because Mark is Australian, he understands how to deal with warm vintages. Lazy or not, Mark has the touch and has succeeded brilliantly in 2018. A cellar packed with delicious, well-defined, proper burgundies. Well done!
From the HCDB, a wine not made every year as the grower’s yields are highly variable. Half wood, half tank elevage. Not yet bottled.
That’s really an uncommonly attractive nose, yellow rather than golden. Wide, interesting, complex, long. Bravo aligoté.
2018 St.Romain
Jarrons and Le Villages assembled – ‘I’ve always looked at the two individually and the blend was actually the nicest wine possible, and that’s my aim…’ Mainly 500 litre barrels, 20% new.
A lovely fresh nose. Bright, pure, energetic, complex, changing pops of flavour. That’s so delicious.
A blend of two vines.
A more composed nose – but with a clarity and obvious freshness. Open, fuller but fresh, mobile, nice texture, growing acid intensity. The best part is the huge wave of delicious finishing flavour, partly mineral, largely citrus. Great wine!
2018 Meursault Sous la Velle
A finely fresh and elegant nose. Mineral, not particularly opulent, growing with mineral and citrus intensity, even a little saline touch. Only in the finish do I think I’d say Meursault blind – but such a delicious thing. More than excellent.
Hmm, concentrated, crystalline, weighted but fresh citrus. A little more richness but a bubbling energy here, mineral energy. This vibrates, it communicates. Great!
Les rouges:
2018 Bogan Côteaux Bourguignonne (or maybe VDF when bottled)
30% gamay
Here’s an aromatic nose and it shows some gamay roots. Hmm – that’s a big mouthful of wine – lots of gamay character, long and tasty. Yum!
Hmm – that’s a lovely high-toned nose – this is super. Big, lots of volume, so fresh and mouth-watering – really shape and depth to the flavour of this. Bravo Bourgogne!
First picked vines – 24 August
Deep colour. Dense but complex – yet not heavy. Concentred but fresh and not a bit fat – this will require your patience but you will be rewarded. The finish is classicly delicious the rest is compact and needs to unwind. Potentially great…
A blend of Justice and Croix des Champs – already working 10 years with some of these vines…
Beautiful – lift, freshness, some wc aromatics – that’s a beauty. Full, fresh aromatic, modestly but correctly structured. Much more open-knit than the Volnay today. Clearly great 2018.
2018 Pommard 1er Clos des Arvelets
Hmm, redder fruit, less wc but again super aromatic. Beautiful texture, wide, silky, slowly adding some tannin. Very floral I’d guess a wine with whole clusters, but there wasn’t any! Gorgeous.
2018 Morey St.Denis 1er Les Chaffots
Lots of stems in this one.
High-toned, almost pyrazine florality. Full, layered, completely different shape. So wide and slowly finishing. Lovely with a capital L.
2018 Echézeaux
10 people, half a day, cutting away the middle stem – for just one barrel.
Intensity of dark-berried aroma here – certainly very ripe but delivered in a fresh way. Ooh – that’s supple, wide, melting, concentrated – a little oak in the middle. Tons of potential here.
2018 Cornas
Complex fresh herb, slowly adding floral too. So fresh and open, creamy and concentrated, an oak note in the middle. Long though.