France Under One Roof - March 2008

A burp in a jar is not a science project (The Simpson’s) and a trade tasting rarely gives the qui-vive of a particular country’s wine culture. I don’t know why I said that. Perhaps it is the lack of focus – as a visitor you have no idea what is going to be on display in terms of quality. Nevertheless, wine merchants are honour-bound to fly the flag each year and display wines that are interesting and original and demonstrate the strengths of the country or region in question.

We treated France Under One Roof as an opportunity to show various new wines (Loires, Burgundies and so forth) and a few offbeat numbers that rarely see the light of day. As usual we focused on terroir wines, expressive of fruit, climate and vintage, wines made with a light touch and without too many interventions.

Morgon, Cote de Py, Jean Foillard 2006
I have run out of superlatives for Foillard’s Cote de Py, a wine made from a vines growing on decomposed schists. Foillard works organically, although he is not certified and carries on the theme of minimal intervention in the winery where the wines are neither filtered nor fined and see no sulphur other than a jot at bottling. I cracked open three samples of the wax-sealed bottles and each was as pure as the last. Wonderful aromas of black plum and damson seasoned by herbs and pepper. Generous in the mouth, some wood-smoke and minerals and grip.

Brouilly, Croix des Rameaux, Jean-Claude Lapalu 2005
I’ve always thought of Brouilly as one quaff away from straight Beau Jolly, in other words red wine red lolly. With Jean-Claude Lapalu’s wine you can detect the fists behind the fruit. This is one of the new crew of sternly-made rock steady cru Beaujolais.

Grapes are hand-picked and sorted, loaded by conveyor to avoid damage, and given neither SO2 nor cultured yeasts during the fermentation. During 8-10 days maceration a wooden grill is used to enhance extraction. The wine stays at least a half year on its fine lees gaining power and complexity. And yet the Brouillys are neither heavy nor clumsy and one could easily imagine them ageing ten to fifteen years.

The Croix des Rameaux is an extraordinary wine from eighty year old vines. It tastes like a Rhone with some serious leather, tar, black olive and cherry. The two reactions to this wine at the tasting were woof and wow!

Foillard’s and Jean-Claude Lapalu’s wines function like the grand beasts of Burgundy and would not turn up their noses at feathered game and have sufficient stuffing to tackle wild rabbit or grilled calf’s liver.

Puligny-Montrachet, Domaine Sylvain Bzikot 2006
Puligny-Montrachet “Perrières”, Domaine Sylvain Bzikot 2006

Vineyard work is traditional with an emphasis on lutte raisonnée. All the grapes for the village wines are hand picked, then a pneumatic press is used to aid soft extraction and the wines are clarified in thermoregulated tanks. Upbringing for the village Puligny is in 50% new and one year old oak and 50% tank, whilst the 1er cru wines sees 2/3 new oak and 1/3 tank. After eight to ten months, once the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are finished, the wines are assembled in stainless steel for several months, fined, very slightly filtered and bottled.
Evoking grace and refinement Bzikot’s village Puligny-Montrachet also has richness and density, seductive aromas of fresh butter, hazelnut and fresh fruits and also a lovely citrus freshness to round off. This last element was extremely pronounced at the tasting. The Perrières raises the game a notch with its finely-constructed palate and smoky, mineral quality reflected on the nose. It has a lifted palate of ripe quince and some oak flavours (warm brioche-and-butter and cinnamon).

Chassagne-Montrachet Blanchots-Dessous, Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay 2006
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Fairendes, Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay 2006

Domaine Coffinet is a family estate handed down from generation to generation from 1860 in the village of Chassagne-Montrachet.  A significant plot due to its considerable surface area, « Les Blanchots Dessous » lies just underneath “Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet”. The vines grow on a deep clay-calcareous soil with some marl and face south near the base of the slope at two hundred metres altitude. The grapes for the wine are carefully harvested and sorted. After the must settles, the fermentation takes place in barrels (30% new oak) and is subsequently matured for fourteen to sixteen months in barriques depending on the vintage. The wine undergoes fining but no filtration. Bold aromas of citrus and ripe peach emerge from the glass. This is an intense style, quite full, with a sense of opulence. Very mineral with several layers.

“Les Fairendes” is a premier cru vineyard of some twenty-seven acres of 42 year old vines, based on the Morgeot AOC. The lowest part of the plot is mostly marl and planted with Pinot Noir, the highest part is very rocky on brown limestone and is planted with Chardonnay. The estate is worked following the sustainable farming philosophy. They practise green harvesting depending on the vintage. Yields are a very reasonable 40-45hl/ha with the grapes manually picked in the third week of September. Expressive, almost racy nose of bright, minerally lemon fruit. The complex palate shows a good concentration of tight mineral fruit with some rich nuttiness underneath.

As with the best examples of white Burgundy these were tightly-wound wines that slowly unveiled a beautiful composition of honeyed fruit, integrated spicy oak and fine, lingering minerality.

These wines would be delicious with sweetbreads, but best with simply cooked turbot.

Macon-Chaintre Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Valette 2006
Pouilly-Fuissé, Domaine Valette 2006

Working the soil, chemical-free viticulture, short pruning, the Valettes do a huge amount of work amongst the vines to maximise the expression of their terroir. This Macon from one of the region’s steadfastly independent families in the village of Chaintre, 10km south of Macon, is from vines aged 60 years and above planted on clay-slica soils. Harvest is manual in late September and the entire harvest is pressed slowly with a pneumatic press. Vinification is natural: without sulphur, without yeasts, chaptalization or acidification. Elevage is for twenty-six months on the fine lees in tank (20%) and futs de chene (80%).  Ripe apple, honey, lemon and grey mineral all come together in a distinctly mature, winey nose. Clarity of fruit and good acidity show through, with a more lush profile than Chablis but a long, almost crystalline finish. On the nose, fresh citrus, minerally and leesy notes abound, while the palate’s emphatic, zippy, with a generous mealy texture.

The Pouilly-Fuissé is an assembly of several different terroirs: Clos Reyssié, Clos de Mr Noly, Chevrières and Plantes Vieilles. The vines are around 50 years old on limestone-clay. The harvest is in October when the grapes have reached full maturity and elevage is thirty-six months on the fine lees in futs de chene. Tasting note, please? If you insist. Valette’s Pouilly reverberates with nerve and verve; it is elegant and mouth-watering with grapefruit crunch, more than a whiff of gunflint and warm hazelnut on the back of the palate and some serious citric drive to the acidity. Puligny look to your laurels.

Reserve de Gassac Blanc 2007
Hullo – what’s this? It smells delicious… mmm… honeysuckle, apricot, lime – the scent of bottled spring flowers. Mmm… hint of pear… almond… beeswax. It’s fresh… some bitter lime. It’s completely drinkable. How much, Monsieur Guibert? How little? Let that remain our secret until you can provide us with enough volume to satisfy the slavering hordes.

Other wines shown included the Originel Blanc, Julien Courtois 2004; Trousseau, Cuvée des Géologues, Caveau de Bacchus 2004; Arbois Pupillin Rouge, Emmanuel Houillon 2004; three from Champagne Philipponnat; a further trio from Thierry Puzelat, and Mas de Daumas Rouge 2006 (just bottled) and their 1995.