JC is back in France! Day 3
Cool overcast morning today, the meteo is forecasting rain which the vignerons are all saying the vines need - it’s unusually dry here for this time of year.
First up this am we met with the lovely Martine and Alex of Bernard Moreau & Fils – again, tiny quantities, but no issue with these quality whites whatsoever here. These 2021’s have an amazing texture and minerality (and like in reds) we are back to a more classic vintage.
Late morning we visited Domaine Etienne Sauzet - Benoit showed us through their stunning 2020’s. Benoit and his wife Emilie have taken over from Emilie’s parents. The wines are as good as ever from this very sought after Domaine. I have been tasting wines here since 1994.
Benoit took us to Meursault’s Le Soufflot restaurant – definitely the local for many vignerons of the region. Classic bistronomic lunch, we particularly liked the tartare of trout with black radish – delicious. Benoit treated us to an Auxey-Duresses from a very young producer (who we will no doubt be in touch with in the near future).
We were running seriously late for our visit to Domaine de Montille, there was a bit of confusion over the address – instead of the winery in Meursault, we went to the family home in Volnay where Etienne de Montille has nearly finished a massive and stunning renovation (we were lucky to see through some of it the following day – gorgeous). Another Domaine where I have been visiting for over 25 years. We tried some of both their whites and reds from the 2020 vintage – as usual the wines of the Domaine have a purity, transparency and focus that runs through the entire range.
Just down the road in Meursault, we tasted the whole range of 2020’s at Domaine Roulot. Only white wine, but it is always an amazing experience to taste possibly the best wines of the Appellation. Like the wine of his brother-in-law (Etienne de Montille) they have the ‘je ne sais quoi!’ which makes them always leaders of the pack. By the way, we’ve just landed miniscule amounts of their wonderful Eau de Vie – check out our website.
Our last call took us to the village of St Aubin to meet with a new producer of ours - Domaine Roux & Fils. We were particularly interested to try their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay range from the south of France made in the Burgundian style - it is a success. You should see them on our shelves in the next couple of months. Besides those, the family Roux are making a huge line-up of classic regional Appellations and they are offering a consistent, well-made, and often classical character. The traveller of the family Sebastien, has a huge understanding of the type of wine that makes people happy!
We were lucky to be invited to the home of Jean-Luc and Brigitte Pepin (Domaine Georges de Vogue) for dinner – we shared a home-cooked meal, and amongst other things we had a stunning bottle of Domaine de Vogue Grand Cru Musigny 2002. It was for us another very late night, with another big day coming up.
…. our planned daily walk has yet again been postponed!
1. Martine & Alex at Domaine Bernard Moreau 2.Émilie & Benoît at Domaine Etienne Sauzet 3.Lunch at Le Soufflot
4. Stunning line up at Domaine Roulot 5. New producer for us. Domaine Roux & Fils
6. We are drinking well!