It's been a while! Domaine de Saint Pierre and Patrice Beguet - Wines from the Jura and beyond!
11/28/23 -
Every year, we receive inquiries about Fabrice Dodane's wines from Domaine de Saint Pierre and the wines of Patrice Beguet, both winemakers who farm vines (against all odds) in the Jura region. As timing would have it, we recently received some wines from both of these producers after several years with nothing to offer. 2021 was extremely limited for the Jura harvest, so none of the scant amount of wine Fabrice made even reached the US, and Patrice mostly worked with fruit from other parts of the country in an effort to keep his relatively new estate running. That said, 2022 finally gave some of our friends in the Jura a decent harvest (which ends up seeming amazing relative to their typical yields) and both Fabrice and Patrice have aged wines from previous vintages, not only to see the wines develop, but we imagine in order to also have some wine to sell each year, a form of safeguard against the unpredictability of each harvest.
Domaine de Saint-Pierre began in the 1980s when the late Philippe Moyne left his law practice to replant a few hectares of vines in the storied villages of Vadans and Saint Pierre in Arbois. Early on, Fabrice, who studied viticulture in Beaune, was hired as Moyne's vineyard manager. By 2008 he had converted the entire estate to certified organic viticulture and since taking over the estate in 2012, he has continued to move the estate towards a more natural approach. The estate covers approximately 6 hectares in the Arbois and Côtes du Jura AOCs with the vines planted in limestone and marl soils. All wines are fermented with native yeasts either in tank or neutral barriques. Due to challenges with yields in recent years (basically unabated since 2017), Fabrice came to the realization that he could not afford to pursue sous-voile winemaking to the degree that he originally did in the earlier days after taking over the estate. His "entry-level" sous-voile whites were aged for at least 4 years, and without consistent yields, he mostly had to abandon the sous-voile aging, and work mostly in topped-up, "ouille" approach, albeit with long barrel aging as his compromise.
** Though we have not tasted these new arrivals, please scroll to the end of the email for some very thoughtful and informative notes from Mike Foulk, one part of MFW, Fabrice's US importer.
Patrice Beguet started his domaine, called Hughes-Beguet, in 2009. He has about four hectares of vineyards, mostly planted to Poulsard and Savagnin, with a small amount of Trousseau. He has very clear vision and intention about his wines, and has worked diligently to make wines without any added sulfites that are fresh and incredibly drinkable on opening. This has led to a technique of blending and bottling all in the same day to minimize exposure to oxygen, and though some of his wines can be fragile three or four hours after opening, they are all consistently energetic, compelling, and clean when opened. Also facing the challenges of limited yields in the Jura, Patrice has been an engaged member of a collective that connects organic grower-producers in different regions of France, in an effort to create a network of like-minded winemakers who can source negociant fruit (grapes sourced from other growers and purchased, as opposed to estate-grown fruit). He works with folks in Provence, Alsace, Bugey, Loire Valley, and beyond, and always trys to work in some of his Jura fruit to his Fresh Impression and Go Together wines. We've been thoroughly impressed with his attention to detail and his intention with each bottling, and are happy to have a fun line-up showcasing everything he's been up to in recent years!
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As we have seen in recent years, especially due to limited yields leading up to 2021, and including the dismal yields of 2021, many producers have had to raise prices due to sheer decrease in output and the recent increases in production costs. Though we are unable to offer prices we hovered around 5 years ago for these wines, we understand that some of our readers may feel priced out of a world of wines they used to be able to afford.. With this in mind, we will offer the following:
10% discount on any purchase of 6 bottles or more from today's offer, through tomorrow, Wednesday 11/29
Please note that discount will not be displayed at checkout or on your web-order confirmation, but it WILL be applied to the order once it is placed !
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** Notes from Mike Foulk of MFW on current releases from Domaine de Saint Pierre:
"In general, Fabrice was very happy with 2022, not just because it was an abundant vintage (Fabrice told me that it was the best he has ever had), but because the quality was superb. When we first began working with Fabrice eleven years ago, his reds were more extracted and tannic than they are today, with appreciable reduction. Petit Curoulet was one of the first cuvées that he began to change his style with, and since 2012, the reds have become more ethereal and nuanced. 2022 may arguably be his best red vintage yet! The reds are vinified via partial carbonic in stainless steel tank.
For the whites, Fabrice has decided to work more and more in the ouillé style (especially given the challenges with vintages in the Jura in recent years), and he's particularly interested in longer élevage for his whites. The Château Renard is from a parcel of Chardonnay planted in 1985 on limestone and clay soils. The wine is aged 22 months in a mix of 500L and 600L barrels. Les Dalles is a mixed-variety parcel, though the grape varieties change with soil, in this case it's Melon à Queue Rouge planted in 2017 on limestone with white marl soils. Les Burlées is a great opportunity to compare how the wines from this Chardonnay parcel reflect longer élevage, as the vintages were bottled at the same time, with the 2018 seeing longer time in used 500L barrel. These vines were planted in 1985 on chalk and clay." - Thanks Mike!
