Viola Odorata, Orchis Mascula, Galanthus Nivalis... Claire Naudin, the Wine Whisperer of the Hautes-Côtes!
8/15/20 -
The first time I tasted a wine by Claire Naudin I knew I was enjoying something special. Alice Feiring told me I had to try - she was back from a trip in Burgundy researching about Aligoté and visited her. I found a bottle of her Clou 34 2010, and indeed it was a show stopper: soft and deep, with a determined restraint, that bottle was asking me to focus, to appreciate its charm, its delicacy, its layers. The way she had preserved these old vine Aligotés and captured them in a bottle was remarkable. Since then, I have been following Claire with attention: the red may have been a little too oaky and austere for me originally, but since 2015 they reached a superb level of refinement without losing their depth, while the whites continue to gain in density. All in all, Claire Naudin makes today some really beautiful Burgundies - in an area rarely talked about, if even known at all, by wine lovers: les Hautes-Côtes.
Les Hautes-Côtes.
Les Hautes-Côtes was often pejoratively referred to in the past as “Arrières-Côtes” (the back Côtes). What an interesting twist of fate that this region located above the prestigious, world-famous Côte d’Or is today becoming a hot-bed of experimental, deeply interesting and yet still affordable wines in a region where prices - for a bottle or a piece of land - are getting totally out of reach for most. Leading the pack high up is without a doubt Claire, who is redefining what this area is about. Down the street from the old Jayer-Gilles estate, she is running one of the largest domains of Magny-lès-Villers, with 22 ha of planted vineyards. You probably never heard about Magny, a tiny village located just above the Corton triumvirat of Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton and Ladoix-Serrigny (in the Côte-de-Beaune) and the tail of the Côte-de-Nuits. Interesting fact, the commune is where the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune AND Haute-Côtes de Nuits meet: Claire has some plots touching each other, but belonging to one or the other AOC, which can be confusing when tasting the range of wines! It was not easy to arrive at the quality level she produces today. Since 1994 when Claire officially took over the domain from her father, so much was accomplished both in the cellar and of course in the vineyards. But the result is undeniable: Claire Naudin is a not to be missed producer of superb terroir-driven Burgundy, and we are very happy to offer some of them today!
The Terroir.
Les Hautes-Côtes are not not one homogeneous area: split between the larger Hautes-Côtes de Beaune (29 communes) and the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits (16 communes), these vineyards are located on three main areas separated by higher plateaus covered by forests and cereal fields. It is a landscape of polyculture: depending on the most valuable markets, agricultural practices changed from cereals to cattle to more recently fruit trees, especially blackcurrants. At this altitude, between 290 to 500 meters, the vineyards were historically planted for the most part on the south-southeast facing slopes of the valleys cut into the Jurassic limestone & marls, covered by sandstone and clay from the Trias. When you pick up a bottle of Hautes-Côtes, always look at the location, and relate it to the closest commune in the Côte to have an idea of the style: Claire for example in Magny is between Corgoloin, Ladoix & Pernand.
From the microclimate to the landscape to the culture, it is such a different world from the Côte itself, even though these two regions are touching each other! The Hautes-Côtes’ vineyards almost disappeared after phylloxera. They were saved by a couple of passionate growers who pushed and obtained the AOC in 1961. Introduced in 1962, the Lanz-Mozer planting technique (high-wired vines with low density of plantation) is still quite present in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits side, way less in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune side. Thanks to their altitude and the affordability of the land, the Hautes-Côtes are becoming a center of interests for winemakers and drinkers alike: the climatic evolutions allow now for a regular crop of very good ripeness, and their potential is still undiscovered. Claire’s wines are a proof of this evolution.
The Domaine.
Claire is a very thoughtful, sensitive, and determined vigneronne. One must possess all of these qualities to successfully take over a family estate. Since the 16th century, the Naudins have lived and worked in the region cultivating vineyards. Wine runs in the family blood! The current estate was built little by little by Claire’s great-grand-parents, grand-parents and parents as they slowly stopped their other agricultural activities to focus solely on wine. Polyculture was the economic reality of this part of Burgundy (see below). Magny was the epicenter of their vineyards sites due to logistic necessities - buying land down on the Côte itself meant too long of a distance by horse to properly work the vines. In 1964, Henri Naudin, Claire’s father, married Lilian Ferrand, creating the Henri Naudin-Ferrand label we know today. He bottled all his production, only estate, selling through a mailing list, something still quite rare in the area at that time, and really visionary. In 1990, the question of the succession came up: out of the three sisters, Claire decided to take over after studying oenology and agronomy. Aided by her father and her sisters, she discovered that running a tight business is as important and hard as trying to make the wines of her dream or converting the vineyard to sustainable and organic practices. This is a reality we tend to forget: being able to properly pay your staff, having a great supportive team, acquiring and financing the right equipment and of course dealing with the administration is as important in the success and the quality of a wine estate as farming. And things take time. Claire understood it, and in her own way, methodically, began to transform the domain. Modeled after the only viable economic example for the Hautes Côtes in the 1980’s - high-trained, widely-spaced vines to be able to work with a multi-purpose tractor, fertilizer and herbicides, machine-harvesting - the priority was to keep the vines viable while actively evolving technique. She started to work under the rows, discontinuing fungicide and pesticide, and has now adopted hand-harvesting. Same in the cellar-as she believes in “trials” - she tried a lot of modern extraction techniques before realizing she did not like the resulting wines, especially the dryness of the tannins. Tastings of DRC and Lalou Bize-Leroy were inspiring. As well as talking and exchanging with her husband Jean-Yves Bizot who makes very rare but absolutely worth seeking Pinots (it is fantastic to enjoy their conversation as I was lucky to do so one night at their dinner table!) She mustered the courage, and decided to use only whole-cluster for the Pinots, and diminish as much as possible the use of sulfur dioxide. She could start to taste the changes, especially after 2009- the different terroirs started to shine more and more.
In the vineyard, 16 ha are planted “large” (widely spaced) and high-wired, the rest being the more traditional low vines, high density plantation (in the AOCs located in the Côte and the old vines). Typically large and high is not associated with quality but rather with high yield. Claire noticed how this technique counterbalanced the climatic changes - it mitigates the risk of losing the crop to frost, and in summer, the canopy helps for shade, decreasing the risk of burning the grapes. Her main goal for farming is to use lighter tractors to avoid compaction and to continue to increase biodiversity by ploughing less, replanting trees and leaving some vineyards in fallow. She is committed to reducing her use of copper and sulfur to the minimum. She sprays algae, especially Ascophyllum Nodosum, and is very happy with the result.
In the cellar, she continues to reduce the use of sulfur dioxide. Of course all fermentation is done with indigenous yeasts and bacteria. She experiments with coopers to find the right level of toast for a better oak integration. She looks for longer elevage without disturbing the wines. To avoid the oxidation of sulfur and filtration at bottling, she works by gravity, sometimes using nitrogen, and may leave a little CO2 for natural protection.
The Cuvées.
Today, she has a team of seven people working full time with her in the vines - most of which are rented from the family. The majority of the vineyards are in the Haute-Côtes, but she also has some plots located below in not too shabby areas :
Côtes de Nuits Villages in Corgoloin - 1.8 ha
Aloxe Corton
Ladoix 1er Cru La Corvée - .56 ha
Nuits Saint-George 1er Cru Les Damodes - .26 ha
Echezeaux (Les Rouges du Bas) - .36 ha
In 1998, she began producing “alternative” cuvees with no sulfur during the vinification. This is where she experiments, and applies what she learned to the other wines. Most of these cuvées are named after flowers growing in their specific vineyards :
Bellis perennis (daisy) - 0.65 ha of Chardonnay Hautes-Côtes de Beaune lieu-dit En Daisey
Clematis vitalba (clematis) - 1.17 ha of 25 year-old Chardonnay Haute-Côtes de Nuits lieu-dit Les Tillets
Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop) - .43 ha of 50 year-old Pinot Blanc Gouge from the Bellis plot, a first in 2016 as the Chardonnay did not bear fruit due to the frost, she isolated the Pinot Blanc.
Orchis mascula (orchid) - 2.39 ha of Pinot Noir Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, the first cuvée named after its flower.
Myosotis arvensis (forget-me-not) - 1.17 ha of 20-65 year-old vines of Pinot Noir Hautes-Côtes de Beaune
Viola odorata (violet) - 1.02 ha of 55-115 year-old vines of Pinot Noir Côtes-de-Nuit Villages lieu-dit En Vallerot. The favorite plot of her father.
She also produces an outstanding Aligoté - Le Clou 34 - rom different plots of old vines (unfortunately, the oldest disappeared after the 2016 frost) and a terrific Passe-tout-grain, Omayga.
There are two ranges of wines: the classic (her regional, communal and crus cuvées) range where SO2 is used during vinification with parsimony, and the low-sulfur to no-sulfur range, when SO2 is just used at bottling. If the difference can be felt, both will please different palates! This is what I appreciate a lot with Claire: no dogma, trying to understand, observing, questioning. I can only encourage you to explore her wines, as she is offering a very unique interpretation of a very deserving part of Burgundy! Bravo Claire!
-Pascaline Lepeltier
