Tripoz 2018 - Lightning in the Bottle

9/16/20 -

I have a tendency to bemoan the steady rise in the price of Burgundy (to the point where the occasional friend or colleague has asked me to get over it). But it has had some positive effects. The most notable is that there are fewer BAD wines than ever before. Growers today are serious about wines being correct - without obvious flaws and showing both Pinot character and a sense of place. But is this all that we should expect? Wine should excite us. At its best it should change the tint through which we see the world and Celine and Laurent Tripoz's wines are up to the challenge.

The arrival of a new vintage of Tripoz is something that we look forward to and had these wines landed earlier in the summer, I would have included them in the Maconnais offering from July. Ultimately, I am glad that they didn't, as they really deserve their own turn in the spotlight. Mâcon-Loché does not often get the attention accorded some of its neighbors but the appellation is rife with potential, with soils heavy in limestone. These are soulful Burgundies, full of character and punching well above their seemingly humble weight class.

Celine and Laurent have been producing their own wines since 1990, incorporating organic and biodynamic viticulture into their vineyard practices along the way. Today they are Demeter-certified across the estate, which includes several parcels that they planted themselves that have never been treated with any herbicides, pesticides or synthetic products. We throw around the word "energy" a lot in the wine business and while it can seem nebulous, you know it when you taste it. These wines have a nervous quality, almost vibrating. They are emblematic of everything that makes the Macon among the most exciting wine regions in France today.