Terroir for the People! Burgundy values from Antoine Lienhardt
6/16/17 -
We will readily admit to an abiding love for Burgundy. The great names roll off the tongue: Amoureuses, Musigny, Romanée, Richebourg... The thought of these sets the heart racing. And while we'd love to drink these and savor the organoleptic nuances between the terroirs of, say, Latricières-Chambertin and Ruchottes-Chambertin on a regular basis, our budgets simply don't allow for us to do so. But there's plenty of terroir in Burgundy and while not all climats are created equal, there's plenty of compelling tasting opportunities in comparing the wines from the humbler crus and lieux-dits. We've praised the virtues and values of villages such as Marsannay and Maranges before, but another fine source for affordable Burgundy with compelling terroir delineation can be found in Côte-de-Nuits Villages. Sometimes viewed as a catchall, which can include wines from peripheral villages, there are a few growers whose bottles transcend the genre.
One of our favorites is a relative newcomer, Antoine Lienhardt from Comblanchien, a village perhaps more noted for the quarrying of its eponymous limestone rather than viticulture. Though the family had grown grapes for years, Antoine was the first to bottle wines in 2011 after taking over his family's vines, which had been leased out since the early 1990s; Prior to this he had worked for Amiot-Servelle in Chambolle-Musigny. Viticulture is organic and the soils are worked by horse. Yields are intentionally kept low for greater terroir expression. Fermentation is with native yeasts and there is minimal use of new oak.
At the heart of domaine's holdings are two lieux-dits in Comblancien planted in the 1960s by his grandfather. Separated by a mere 200 meters, Les Plantes Aux Bois and Les Essards both have shallow top soils of calcareous clay (50 cm) overlying mother rock of hard limestone. The main differences between the parcels are the rockier top soils in Les Essards and greater clay content of those in Les Plantes Aux Bois (in addition, though of similar exposure, the rows in the former run east-west, while the latter run north-south). As in the rest of Burgundy, small variations make for distinctive flavor profiles: Les Plantes Aux Bois is more generous, a touch broader, and more lush; Les Essards a bit leaner, nervier, taut, and more pungently mineral and cool-toned. Both have lively acidity, energetic minerality, and a compelling tension between the pure Pinot fruit and savory earthiness. Decant if enjoying now or cellar for 5-7 years to allow for further knitting of the structural elements. These are delicious and affordable terroir-specific Burgundies to grace the table. Bravo to Antoine Liendhardt! John McIlwain
