Burgundy and beyond

from Sommelier Magazine No.3 Fall 2022

Interview with Bo Barrett: A farmer, producing wine

BY: JONATHAN GOUVEIA

THE PREMISE

Despite being a region firmly established within our vineous minds as well as the literature, Burgundy is an ever-changing wine region. Rooted in traditions with a long history of terroir and nobility the past marks the future, as we witness new, young winegrowers and winemakers emerge as well as the generational changes on the existing domaines, keeping Burgundy

in tune with time, and with their minds set on change, they make a rather convincing case! Growers making wines from domaine grapes exclusively are more “en vogue” than ever, and a motivation to discover own land rather than selling is strong. The focus and demands on Burgundy are higher than ever – at the restaurants the impact is sizeable.

The following is a personal reflection on the situation in Burgundy, as well as the result of a conversation with Tomoko Kuriyama from now “Domaine” Chantêreves, along with inputs from the Talloulah Dubourg from Domaine Cassiopée and Róisín Curley MW from her own négoce business.

THE IDEA OF TERROIR (WHATEVER THAT IS)

Tomoko is the proprietor of Domaine Chantêreves along with her husband Guillaume Bott. They started as a négociant business in 2010 and has since acquired their own vineyards in 2020. In the course of establishing their domaine they started from humble beginnings, and both managed to work full time jobs at the Savigny-les-Beaune based Domaine Simon Bize and Chandon de Briailles, while they at the same time crafted beautiful wines from purchased grapes from different plots along the Côte.

They are now both in it full time and seeing as they are focused on the concept of sustainable and regenerative farming, I thought that their idea of terroir would be one of interest. Tomoko especially considers the “human aspect” of terroir to be of great importance; “terroir is actually something we discover” she goes on by saying

“We make wine to discover what terroir is there to offer, it’s not just about the soil, the climate or the exposition, the key to unlock the terroir is the human factor”. Talloulah from Cassiopée agrees that the human factor is important, but in a certain capacity; “The terroir is about soil, vine, climate, and human. Our goal is that the function of human is more to support than to take action.”

This is something that is more relevant than ever, with the rising popularity of sustainable farming, and the collective consciousness that this leads to wines of greater complexity, personality and of expression of terroir. Talloulah notes that for them organic farming is only the beginning; “the goal is to take as little action as we can, and let the vine make the link with the soil as naturally as possible and let it fight by itself.” Their philosophy is to carefully analyze the risks of using systemic sprays and use 2021 as an example; “And the fact is that in 2021, there were no difference about loss of grapes because of diseases between conventional and organic farming.” Interestingly Irish born MW Róisín Curley mentions appellations in the northern sector being of particular interest in this context with relation to more polyculture; “Going that bit further North is interesting for me, not only does the soil and micro climate change, but the agriculture does too, I find more biodiversity in Fixin, for example, with orchard trees and other fruit grown alongside the vineyard I work with.”

Tomoko goes on to reflect on our ideas of what the different communes of Burgundy express, and how this is something that we define as terroir; “for example Gevrey would be rustic, Pommard would be tannic, but if you look at young growers and the Burgundy of today there are many who are altering the old concept of the terroir of each climat.” This is a very interesting observation, especially from the Sommeliers point of view. Is Pommard really tannic? Is Chambolle really elegant, is Vosne really velvety soft? Do we need to reconsider our fundamental idea of Burgundy in order to adjust to the contemporary production? Tomoko highlights Domaine Duroche as someone who breaks tradition in Gevrey-Chambertin, by expressing elegance and lifted fruit in Gevrey; “Sometimes people who have been drinking Burgundy since the 1970’s and 80’s would say “oh that’s not Pommard, that’s not Gevrey” etc. The more the producers engage in their vines, the more you would discover the diversity of the terroir”.

When I asked her if sustainable farming was the key to unlock the potential of some of these terroir, she quickly replied “Yes” but also mentioned the challenge of climate change; “If you’re not engaged as a farmer I think you will have a tough time coping it financially.”

We are now seeing more and more Domaines in Burgundy who focus on compost, cover crops, pruning methods with concern for sap flow, which are becoming key factors for their success in terms of quality, farming is back in fashion!

WIDENING OUR PERCEPTION

Forced by rising prices and thirsty clients, present day Sommeliers must search the periphery of the Côte and be open new producers to still provide value for money wines. Looking at the traditionally perceived lesser appellations is something Chantêreves is experienced with as well as working the once overlooked grape Aligoté. Tomoko believes these appellations are important for the future; “I think that’s what Burgundy is about; it’s about diversity, and I think if Burgundy doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of eg. Bordeaux, we need to focus on ofcourse the leading Domaines but also pay attention to the appellations that people once didn’t pay attention to.” She mentions producers like Camille Thiriet, noting her wines from

lesser-known appellations and climats such as Côte de Nuits Village, and Bourgogne regional, as well as Domaine Cassiopée, highly praising their red from Maranges; “Domaine de Cassiopée really showed us what Maranges is capable of. Burgundies of great emotion!” she says. A point she holds in high regard in terms of what Burgundy has to offer.

Róisín Curley agrees with the potential in the appellations off of the beaten track; “I am excited by the outliers and the appellations that have so much potential but are not properly understood yet or appreciated the way they should be”.

As we touch the sensitive subject of pricing, Tomoko notes the difficult situation that the négociants are facing looking back at the last few vintages; “Grape prices are rising 80-90% from 2020 to 2021, and if we make Grand Cru or Premier Cru its becoming unattractive for restaurants to put those wines on their list. If we farm modest appellations, we think these will be exciting wines that will surprise your clients, in terms of quality, seriousness and longevity.” There is no doubt being competitive for the smaller producers is getting harder and harder, Róisín agrees noting; “It is true that even since I started in 2015, I have seen a huge increase in grape prices”, while

also commenting that her preference for sustainably grown grapes as well affect the price; “I pay up to 20% extra for my biodynamically grown grapes, which I have a preference for.”

As climate change demands vignerons to adapt, Aligoté is coming out fighting fists first against the heat, and its winning! Prized for its elevated acidity, and several sites with slightly older vines, Aligoté is gaining increased attention in modern Burgundy (deservedly so). Chantêreves makes several single vineyard Aligoté wines, as well does Sylvain Pataille and other prominent growers. Róisín shares her enthusiasm; “I love working with Aligoté; discovering the beautiful sites it is doing well on is fun and rewarding.” To say it won’t remain in the shadow of Chardonnay for the next many years to come would be ignorant, but it sure is worth paying attention to, with a broad diversity of styles emerging from different climats (and terroirs). – But, don’t be fooled, prices for Aligoté are rising as well, both in terms of grapes, juice and finished wine.

CONCLUDING ON THE OBVIOUS

Tomoko states difficult vintages in the past 10 years as one of the main reasons for rising demand, stating that the entirety of France is simply not producing that much wine anymore, citing climate as the main reason, and highlights 2011 and 2018 as the only recent vintages with a normal yield; “Every year there’s a drought or a frost or a disease that comes with this extreme climate”.

Suddenly very low yields are becoming the norm, and with recent vintages we should expect this to continue. 2020 was a difficult vintage due to warmth and drought, 2021 was an obviously difficult vintage due to frost and disease which resulted in many producers chaptalizing. Róisín mentions soil as an important factor in the face of changeable whether patterns; “The soil (in Fixin) is deep and rich in clay which means in the very dry years such as 2018, 2019 and 2020 the water holding capacity of the clay is of huge importance.”

Talloulah believes sustainable and regenerative farming to be the key against the warming climate; “these ways of working are thought to let the vine develop and adjust itself about climate change, about, frost, about heat and dryness. If we let it defend itself without operate in its function, in its link with soil, it will find other resources. We are convinced about it.” she adds; “And we are sure that this kind of sustainable farming gives more purity, energy to wine.”

Looking at other markets, attention is slowly shifting away from Burgundy in favor of discovering wines from other regions searching out a similar elegance and reflection of terroir. Tomoko especially believes Germany to be a country of great excitement in terms of terroir, expressing her admiration of Weingut Wasenhaus and their wines from Baden, who were (of course) trained in Burgundy. And so, I finish off with a friendly reminder to look deeper in our search for hedonism, great wines can be made from what we previously perceived to be lesser terroirs, just see

what Róisín says; “Burgundy is made up of a mosaic of different terroirs and has lots to offer all over. Many of the lesser regarded appellations, when given the opportunity to shine, can produce wines of great charm, balance, complexity, and length.”

NU I SORTIMENT HOS BEST SELECTION GRAVNER

ITALIENSK NATURVIN I SÆRKLASSE

Gravner kan dateres tilbage til 1901, hvor de første 2,5 hektar jord og huset blev købt. Efter to verdenskrige og adskillige fornyelser i den periode, er det i 1980, at Josko Gravner begynder at beskæftige sig med vingårdens fremtid og giver det hele en tur. I første omgang anvender Josko alle de nye metoder og teknikker, han har lært under sine studier. Men efter to voldsomme haglstorme beslutter han sig for at ændre sin tilgang til vinproduktionen. Han begynder at macerere sine vine i store træfade og fortsætter indtil 2001, hvor han beslutter sig for at benytte sig af en helt ny procedure, som på det tidspunkt er helt uudforsket i Italien; han begynder at lave vin i store ler-amforaer, der ligger under jorden. Ifølge Josko er det som at vende tilbage til urlivet og til dets kilde, vandet, som bevarer sine reneste egenskaber under overfladen.