Tasted with Pierre Naigeon in St.Philibert, 18 November 2019.
Domaine Pierre Naigeon
1, route de Saint Philibert
21220 Gevrey Chambertin
Tel: +33 3 80 33 46 03
www.pierrenaigeon.com
Pierre on 2018:
“The 2018 reds are all made from grapes – no additions, no sulfur – even at bottling. I have done the same with 2019 – even some of the whites in 2019. I’m certified in 2019 as organic. I had only one wine that ‘didn’t work’ as it started going towards volatile acidity so had to add a little sulfur. There are no more rackings – just a gentle decanting from the fermentation tanks into barrel and then also bottling by gravity. There is some blending but not real rackings anymore. Bottling was in July/August, keepin 950-1,000mg of CO2 in the wine to aid preservation.
“My crop about 45 hl/ha in 2018 there was of-course less in 2019!”
That’s a big change in the style of the wines, so I asked Pierre what his usual clientele thought about the change. “Oh, I haven’t told them – I’m still only commercialising 2015 here, so that conversation won’t be for a couple of years,” he smiles!
The wines…
Well, I don’t know about Pierre’s customers, but I for one really enjoyed the style-change at this domaine. No sulfur wines are notoriously difficult to keep in good shape once they are in the supply chain, but here they were lovely!
2018 Bourgogne Passetoutgrains
Some gamay reduction on the nose but it’s a deep nose. This is tasty, deep and fresh on the palate lots of concentration – delicious here.
The nose fines up beautifully with swirling. Full, complex, layered fresh, tasty wine. Deep, long, ripe and fresh – that’s a slightly rustic but delicious punchy wine. Bravo Bourgogne!
2018 Bourgogne Maladière
45-60-year-old vines from the bottom of the commune of Chambolle near the route nationale.
There is a higher tone here – this is very inviting. Bg in the mouth – a grain to the structure but no astringency. Mouth-watering finish. Yum!
2018 Bourgogne Grand Champs
From the bottom of Gevrey across the road from Crais
A little more reductive to start but freshens well. More supple depth of concentration, more layered, but fine and fresh – very tiny grain to the tannin. A lovely line of finishing flavour – all these three Bourgognes have a concentration like villages!
2018 Bourgogne Combe
Bottom of Vosne Maizières, 60 yo vines.
Hmm, that’s nice – pretty top notes and certainly power below. Supple, fresh, wide, lovely mouth-watering flavour. Super!
2018 Fixin Les Herbues
Near the church of Fissey
Nice depth – an attractive nose. Hmm – this has a lovely fresh complexity – layers, a little more finishing tannin too – but lovely – I like!
2018 Fixin l’Olivier
Vines in the direction of Hervelets – 50% new wood.
Round, slightly low sulfur nose – the first. Round in the mouth too, plenty of structure but energy and red fruits. Still very tasty
2018 Fixin 1er Les Hervelets
Actually Arvelets with a perfect Kimmerigian soil!
Whole cluster and round. Supple again, such a fine grain to the structure, hardly dry, this is super – I love the style.
Southern part near Fixin
A big and open, almost textured nose. Depth of texture and flavour again. Ooh – that’s lovely in the middle and finish. Deep, crunchy, delicious – Bravo!
2018 Marsannay Sampagny
A more open freshness of aroma. Big, mouth-filling freshness, very much finer tannin. More astringent finishing but more mineral too.
2018 Morey St.Denis La Rue de Vergy
Rather high toned. Not my favourite aroma. This has also plenty of tannin, but more sucrosity. Dominated by the structure today, but the slowly mouth-watering finish is a good one.
2018 Morey St.Denis 1er Millandes
A little less colour – this was actually the only wine that had a little sulfur. Actually an easier nose to assess – fresh and wide – nice – no VA. Silky, the most direct, cool fruited. Long, super wine. Love this finish.
A little higher toned. Wide and fresh, very sleek, very fine. Ooh – I love this – long finishing too. Bravo!
2018 Nuits St.Georges Les Plateaux
Near Chateau Gris – all the treatments have to be done by hand.
Deep, faintly reductive but more energy with swirling. Fresh, wide, beautiful texture – good class to the structure.
2018 Nuits St.Georges Les Herbeux
From the Vosne side.
A little more high toned and floral – lovely. Also in the mouth, fresh, mouth-watering swooping flavour. Excellent!
2018 Vosne-Romanée Champs Perdrix
Also high-toned, faintly floral and attractive. A little gas. Much more width to this wine but still mouth-wateringly fresh. Long – super again.
2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Chaumes
Hmm, with swirling this has a lovely depth of fruit, and not reductive. Super again, some attack, very fine texture, wide meltingly complex – so good!
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Creux Brouillard
The ‘foggy hole!’ An assembly of 5 different small parcels.
But a nice complexity, some graphite and sweetness of fruit and rose petals. Lovely over the palate – whole-cluster flavour. A beauty
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Crais
Seems a little savoury in the middle of this nose. Beautiful shape in the mouth, with fresh cool fruit and fine tannin. I prefer the last.
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Corvées
Opposite the Creux
A bigger volume of aroma, slowly growing with whole-cluster florals. A little fuller, rounder, very open, fine tannin. There is plenty of tannin in the finish – you should be more patient here, but long and impressive finishing.
Near Mazis and Perrières
Lovely silky width of aroma here. Bright, complex, energetic. Ooh that’s good – more tannic finishing again – but a wine I’d be proud to wait for! Bravo!
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Marchais
Facing Clos St.Jacques
Plenty of aroma dimension here, cool and attractive fruit. Very wide, complex, perfumed whole-cluster flavour. Ripe but still so fresh finishing – long…
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin En Sylive
Next to Arnaud Mortet
A more mineral freshness but still with sweetness too. Fresh, a little more astringent but fresher fruit style too. Love that finishing flavour…
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin En Vosne
Next to the cemetery of Gevrey.
A much tighter nose – there’s depth but I don’t see any reduction. Structural, line, plenty of tannin – austere today would be a fair description – but the tannin is very fine and fruit has nice freshness – be patient.
High on the hill in Brochon near Evocelles – ‘it’s only because it’s in Brochon that it’s not a 1er cru’
Wide aromatics, growing in volume with fine wc perfume. Supple, silky but with an accent of astringency – but this has classy, velvet tannin. A beautiful finish, delicate but pure – bravo!
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Lavaux St.Jacques
Coolest part next to Varoilles
A deep nose, biscuit reduction. Drive, fresh energy, round, layered but nicely mobile flavour. This has a flavour like one other here that isn’t my favourite – but in the finish it’s super. That’s a great finish…
From Mazis-Hauts above Bèze, one barrel.
Very attractive. Beautiful texture, wide, complex. Delicate, beautiful Mazis if that’s not a contradiction. Bravo.
2018 Charmes-Chambertin
‘From the north they always have power.’
A big aromatic hug – lovely. Wide, long, concentrated, but what a beautiful wine – there is nothing oppressive about this weight of flavour. Super wine…
Les blancs
There are more whites, but these are all the ones bottled:
2018 Bourgogne Aligoté
From the Hautes Côtes de Nuits
Hmm, golden but vibrant fruit suggesting toast. Supple, concentrated, a little leading edge of salinity. Lovely line here. Weight and not bad energy – tasty wine.
2018 Bourgogne Aligoté Skin Contact
Seems to show more aromatic freshness. Some gas. More depth and seemingly more mineral. Mouth-watering, tannic finishing!
2018 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Scellés
106 yo vines – those that died replaced by provignage, but without cutting the link to the mother (grandmother, great-grandmother) plant. This made in a concrete egg and bottled with the lees!
Hmm – a freshness of the nose, faintly citrus, faintly low sulfur – there is none. Full, rich, mineral, saline – what a complexity – it needs more acidity – for me, but I rarely think I’ve tasted a more complex and saline Pouilly-Fuissé – in that respect it’s grand vin…
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