So things change and then they change again. Nevertheless, everything seems to be coming together. The life of a wine négociant in Burgundy…
A few weeks ago we announced our first wine of the 2013 vintage, a Gevrey-Chambertin Village from the lieu–dit (parcel) of Baraques. Things are still a go for the Gevrey-Chambertin Village however the lieu-dit has changed. We managed to trade up from the lieu-dit of Baraques to the well-known and respected lieu-dit of La Justice!
La Justice is one of the larger village level parcels at 18.28 ha and is located on the east side of the RN74 just north of the village center. The relatively flat vineyard composed of a mix of clay and chalk soils is known for producing rich, intense, and fruit forward wines with an emphasis on black fruits.
Considered by many to be one of the best village level lieu-dits in Gevrey-Chambertin, we are thrilled to be able to harvest from it! The vines which are around 40 years old are producing beautifully concentrated and ripe berries. Nick and I went to take a sample this week to test their maturity before harvesting. Based on our results (in which we look for sugar levels, acidity and pH in the grapes) we expect to be harvesting this parcel either next weekend or early in the following week. We are so excited!
In other news we are pleased to announce the second wine of the 2013 vintage, a Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Combe-aux-Moines”. This small vineyard (4.77 ha) located at the mouth of the Combe de Lavaut and is the highest elevated vineyard in Burgundy. The view from the parcel is just magnificent. We did not plan to focus on producing Gevrey-Chambertin wines but just happened to be given the opportunity and we are definitely not complaining! They are absolutely delicious wines.
It will be an absolute pleasure to harvest this parcel! With a north-eastern exposed face and limestone dominated soils wines produced from this lieu-dit have been characterized as some of the best in Gevrey-Chambertin with a tendency to exhibit a touch of rusticity. We expect to harvest between 2-3 barrels in about two weeks as the grapes still need a bit of time to ripen up. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather in the meantime!
We are still hoping to find some more grapes but cannot be sure of what will come our way, if anything. The harvest is underway here in Burgundy so things are really moving, a very exciting time. Nick and I still have a few challenges to overcome before harvest next weekend, most importantly the electricity. Yet again we face another battle trying to get someone to come and switch on the power. A process we started with the electricity company 6 months ago in March! We hope to get things sorted out this week; if not we may face destemming at a friend’s winery and hauling the grapes back to our cuverie for the fermentation. We can’t be sure of the outcome, in any case we are extremely grateful to have found these beautiful parcels, to be harvesting their grapes so soon, to have our winery ready (almost) and most importantly to be truly following our dream and passion, making wine!