Julien Guillot
The Sensational 2015s from the Clos des Vignes du Maynes, Part 2!
We are often guilty of excessive use of superlatives, like most wine retailers and importers these days, but in this case the praise is well deserved. With vineyards dating back to 910 AD that have been farmed organically since the 1950s, and three generations of experience vinifying without additives, Julien Guillot at the Clos des Vignes du Maynes is producing some of the most unique and delicious natural wines of France. 2015 is a great vintage here, and a new shipment has arrived containing wines from the Clos as well as wines made by Julien from organic and biodynamic vineyards in Macon and Beaujolais. The 2015 Macon-Cruzille "Manganite" is made from Gamay Petit Grains planted in 1953, grown on a limestone parcel high in magnesium. Tasted last week at Racines NY, the wine was singing and met with unanimous praise - it's a gorgeous wine for current drinking, and it will age beautifully as well - we urge you to try it. Also back in stock are the superb 2015 Bourgogne "Cuvée Auguste," from old vines of Pinot Fin, and the 2015 Macon-Cruzille "Aragonite" from 40 to 80 year-old Chardonnay vines grown on thin soils of mineral-rich clay over crystallized limestone. Both are sensational. And a new vintage has arrived of the lovely Methode Traditionelle "Saint Geneviève" that Julien makes from 50% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, and 20% Gamay grown at the Clos - it's a delicious and well-priced alternative to Champagne!
From Beaujolais, two new wines from Julien have arrived, the 2015 Beaujolais "Les Pierres Bleues," from very old vines on a volcanic outcropping in Bully, and the dense and complex 2015 Chenas, "Ultimatum Climat." And new inventory has arrived of the extraordinary 2014 Beaujolais-Leynes "Haut de Balmont," from a small parcel of 90 year-old Gamay vines of various old varieties in Leynes, just south of Pouilly-Fuissé. The parcel is at 1200 ft in altitude, with granite soils, giving a light but remarkably intense wine at 11.5% alcohol. Anyone who appreciates great Beaujolais should try these wines! Completing our collection from Julien are two lovely whites, the 2015 Macon-Villages, a delicious Macon from organic parcels in Viré-Clessé, Montbellet and Chardonnay and a very elegant new cuvée, the 2015 Bourgogne Blanc "En Rimont" made from 85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Gris. Both these wines offer a purity, freshness and complexity rarely found in less expensive white Burgundies. Please Note: All the reds in todays offering are bottled without added SO2 and the whites receive a minimal dosage, usually between 10 and 20mg per liter. These are beautifully made natural wines that deserve your attention!
(Read on for a bit of technical detail from Julien: "We use the most natural methods possible to vinify our wines: using natural yeasts, no sulphur, no enzymes and no chemical additives. The wooden vats are cleaned thoroughly beforehand, and they are scrubbed with marc de Bourgogne to stimulate the yeasts. During the harvest, which is all done by hand and placed in small containers, we sort the grapes meticulously in order not to damage them during their journey to the winery. For our red wines, we carry out a semi-carbonic maceration, using a very precise method that we have perfected over three generations. The basic principle is to create a multi-layered ‘cake’ built up of of alternate layers of whole clusters and destemmed grapes. The latter will produce the first juice, which will flow out, start fermenting, and thus activate the natural yeasts (with the sugars), which gives the body and smoothness that we are looking for in our wines. At the same time, because the vat is saturated with CO2, an intracellular fermentation also takes place, which brings the elegant floral aromas (rose and peony) that are typical of pinot noir. Then, after four or five days, we do a very light pumping over as well as a punching down of the cap to a depth of around twenty centimetres. The aim of this is to release the sugars and yeasts; that’s the starting signal for the fermentation, which we want to be long so that we can accompany it serenely. All our red wines are then matured in barrels or wooden vats. We do not touch the wine until Easter. We do the racking when the moon is both waning and descending, in order for the wine to be as calm as possible. This is done in order to avoid having to filter the wines. Then they are assembled in one vat per cuvee and left to rest for two full moons. Unless absolutely necessary, we do not add any SO2 to the reds before bottling.
The white wines are matured in large vats in order to maintain their freshness and the CO2 level and to avoid having any oaky overtones, which we are not looking for in our wines.")
