Pierre Henri Rougeot - Not Your Grandparents' Negoce
4/5/22 -
One of the little joys of late, as the world has haltingly come back to life, has been the occasional opportunity to sit down with some of our favorite winemakers, sharing bottles and a meal and talking to them about their work. A great bottle of wine is always enhanced by the insights of the person behind it. I recently had the good fortune to be invited to join some colleagues for dinner with Pierre Henri Rougeot, current steward of his family's domaine in Meursault and of his own very small and shrewdly run negoce. These are wines I discovered only during the height of the pandemic and it was hugely illuminating to hear Pierre-Henri talk about his experience and evolution.
The Rougeot family has been growing grapes and making wine in Meursault for generations. Pierre Henri's grandfather managed not only his own vineyards but those of the Chateau de Meursault as well, producing a huge amount of wine that went largely into supermarkets. Quality levels were always considered adequate and not exactly inspiring. Pierre joined the domaine in 2010 after studying in Beaune and his time as an apprentice at Domaine de Montille and Maison Deux Montilles. He and his father began making their first trials with organic farming in 2012, followed by biodynamics. Today all the wines he produces are certified organic, both at the domaine and under his own label
We drank only his own wines on this particular evening, which are in some ways most reflective of his current way of thinking. Before returning to study in Beaune, Pierre worked for ten years for a small cooperage selling barrels and spent plenty of time traveling and tasting wine with clients. He discovered a particular affinity for wines made with an absolute minimum of manipulation and that favored outstanding farming over corrective action in the cellar.
Over the last several years, he has reduced the amount of new oak for all his wines (the negoce wines see none at all) and slowed the pressing of the grapes and increased the settling time for the pressed wines. This has led to a marked increase in the quality of the lees, allowing him to avoid any addition of sulphur until just before bottling (and even then only a small amount). All the wines we tasted that night felt beautifully open, without sacrificing precision. His philosophy regarding the negociant is also intriguing. All of his grape sources are friends and the operation is based entirely on trading fruit. He strongly prefers this to the classic broker method because it puts the onus equally on everyone involved to produce the highest quality grapes they can.
Today's offer includes just two whites and two reds and quantities are limited!
Meursault, "Sous La Velle," 2019 - This comes from his family's considerable holdings in this parcel just at the foot of the village. No shortage of ripeness here but still good length and energy here, all white peach and toasted sesame in the nose, with a lovely salty note in the mid-palate. Yummy.
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru, "Morgeot-Petits Clos," 2018 - From a small piece of Morgeot, close to the upper limit of the hillside where it turns to forest. What a wine. Please dispel whatever preconceptions you may have of 2018 white Burgundy. This clocks in at under 13% but sacrifices no intensity. Crisp stone fruit and daffodils in the nose and an incredible mineral presence that doesn't go away. This will make for great wine down the road. Wow.
Pommard, "Rue au Porte," 2019: Everyone at night was totally floored by this. 100% whole cluster, no new oak. This was just as glorious as any '19 red I've tasted, full of pure red fruit and stem spice. The texture was uncommonly silky for Pommard and while I look forward to seeing what happens with this with a couple of years in the cellar, it will be hard to keep from drinking all of them now.
Gevrey-Chambertin, "En Reniard," 2019: Another really lovely effort, strawberry and a touch of dark cherry here and more influence from the whole bunches. There is a lovely wild bloody note in the mid-palate that made a perfect foil to the honey-glazed duck on the table that night and enough stuffing to make me think that this will also continue to improve.
Sam Ehrlich
