Tasted with Jane Eyre in Cissey, 18 October 2021.
Maison Jane Eyre
3 Rue du Château
Hameau de Cissey
21190 Merceuil
Tel: +33 6 72 81 43 13
More reports with Maison Jane Eyre
After a few years of winemaking at the Château de Bligny, Jane moved to a new place just 10 days before the 2021 harvest.
Jane Eyre on 2020:
“Last year the market wasn’t really going well, at one stage during lockdown I wasn’t sure if I’d get through the year – mainly because my 2nd biggest market is the restaurants of Paris. I decided to do a ‘crowdfunding,’ selling some wine en-primeur and then, slowly. the restaurants started to open up again. I then had some great publicity and at the same time some extra support for the back-office and business plan – It’s very different now.
“As for the vintage – you know, it was warm, rich – some were having problems finishing their ferments – but mine went through. I upped the amount of whole-cluster that I used across all the wines this year. They were rich but a year in barrel does remarkable things, possibly this is a little less structured than 2019s but it has elements of the better 2018s.”
Yes – Jane got a second star in the La Revue du Vin de France – such a rarity for someone who’s not a French national – well done!
The wines…
I thought Jane’s 2019s the best that she had ever made – I still think that. But here are wines of panache and style…
“I will start bottling in December – maybe some Hospices and the Corton might wait until the new year – or maybe not! I’m still in a quandary over which seal to use – there are just too many opinions!”
2020 Côte de Nuits Villages
Racked a couple of days earlier. From three parcels but from just one producer – different vinifications but blended – ‘There’s whole clusters in here but not a lot of new oak.’
A calm but silky nose with a nice width of darker fruit. A touch of reduction but here’s is a wine of depth, quite open, subtly framed with a small grain of tannin. Mouth-watering in the finish with modest but attractive bitters, the flavours rolling over the tongue quite long. That’s a fine Côte de Nuits with plenty of elegance despite the intensity.
2020 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Aux Vergelesses
Also racked on Saturday – this has about 40% wc and 30% new barrels in the elevage.
Here the fruit is a little redder, more forward and is accented with a nice vibration of energy. Fresh, open, mouth-watering wine – almost a crunchy style to this fruit – but style is the word here – lovely texture before a little grain from the tannin starts to show. Wider, fainter bitters, this is a more sophisticated finishing experience – similar elegance and style – excellent Savigny, really excellent.
Also racked. 3 barrels – 1 new and again with 40% whole bunch.
Less width but a beautiful purity and bubbling perfume. Ooh – that’s great – open, super freshness – I love the scale of this wine for a villages. Great, delicious, villages – and bravo!
2020 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Les Corbeaux
2 barrels – neither new.
A very different shape – widening with an impressive depth of fruit – darker fruit and quite vibrant. In the mouth too – a high-toned width of perfumed flavour – slightly more structural. More, more, more – this is excellent – but today I’d drink the villages even if this is slightly longer.
2020 Corton
Marechaudes, Bressandes – ‘my usual guys’ – this year with a little Perrières too. This the blend of the three.
A little like the Gevrey a wine of aromatic depth more than width – but my, is this an invitation to drink – almost a little dried fruit too in the complexity. Hmm – that’s lovely – so different, more structural – much more architecture – though not hard. Juicy fruit. Drinkable but clearly to wait for.
2020 Fleurie
‘I wanted to do a bit more of a Beaujolais-Beaujolais so all stems from a mix of 30 and 100-year-old vines – let’s say that this is my new entry Fleurie.’
Lots of high-toned aromatic energy, slightly stalky & herby, almost suggesting a pyrazine. Fresh, direct, beautifully juicy and nicely sleek n silky-textured. A wine with a lot going for it but the perfume is not my personal taste – for those less sensitive to hint of pyrazine, I think this will be a great bottle.
90-year-old vines, all goblet.
Wow aromatic – much more overtly floral perfumed – an expansive nose, faintly saline accented. Also sleek, much more mineral – great texture – a subtle grain grows but is totally ripe. Gorgeous – bravo!
2020 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir
Single vineyard, vines a little over 30-years-old. 20% whole bunch and some pigeage. Older 300-l barrels for elevage, bottled in January.
Paler colour. A rounder, slightly roasted style to this nose, initially a little smoky but that quickly fades. Ooh – that’s a super wine over the palate – more a width in shape than direct – but beautifully mineral – the serving temperature is perfect here – faintly floral too in the finish. Slowly fading. A lovely drink.
2020 Tasmania Pinot Noir
This from 3 regions. ‘Further south but it’s an island – usually much fuller and later harvested as cooler.’
The colour is a little more purple. The nose is a waft of more floral perfume – a touch of mint-leaf too. A little more direct and saline – I wouldn’t necessarily be looking for anywhere outside of Burgundy if tasting this wine blind – I would for the Yarra Valley wine – but I still would have no idea where to place it.
2020 Bourgogne Blanc
Bottled, DIAM – vines in the communes of Meursault and Puligny, bottled in August.
Fresh, clean, crisp despite some clear ripeness. Mouth-watering – no, more than that, it’s juicy. A slight low-sulfur style sheen to the flavours – not quite an apple accent to the citrus but a little in that direction. Fresh, mouth-watering, mineral and very, very tasty… Actually not low sulfur it has 30 mg of free at bottling.