Domaine Pierre Naigeon Mazys Chambertin 2018
Pierre has one tiny parcel of this majestic Grand Cru, producing one barrel, fewer than 300 bottles. And we have 36 of them. And it is remarkable. Deep, almost black; limpid and bright. Fresh black cherry, with toasty hints. Supple and round, powerful, but full of charm, with no excess. Great balance. And the finish goes back to fruit... for a long time.
DOMAINE PIERRE NAIGEON
Gevrey-Chambertin
The Domaine Naigeon, though old by even Burgundy standards, remained fairly small until the present generation. Shortly after 1945 Pierre Naigeon gave his name to the domain that is now managed by his grandson, also named Pierre. Until 2005 the domain consisted of two hectares of two grands crus, Charmes-Chambertin and Bonnes-Mares! In 2006, Domaine Pierre Naigeon dramatically increased its size with the addition of 9 hectares of vineyards in the Hautes Côtes de Nuits and Gevrey Chambertin area.
It was at this stage that Elden Wine first met and presented Pierre Naigeon’s wines, being one of the first in the US to do so.
The Domaine is now more than 11.5 hectares (almost 28 acres), with 50 different plots in the Côte de Nuits. The vines of Domaine Pierre Naigeon average 50 years of age. This is considered quite remarkable in Burgundy, and ensures consistently low yielding vines producing high quality wines.
Aside from the domain-owned vineyards, Pierre Naigeon also sources high quality fruit from various parts of Burgundy including many of the most prestigious appellations of the Côte de Nuits and Chardonnay from the Côte de Beaune. An impressive range of wines is produced including 3 Grands Crus, 6 Premiers Crus and 8 Villages. The Domain now produces more than 25 different single vineyard wines.
The wines are vinified and bottled separately, following traditional practices, without fining and filtration, to keep the pure expression of the terroir.
APPELLATIONS
RED
Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Mazys Chambertin Grand Cru
Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru
Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru « Les Cazetiers »
Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru « Lavaux Saint Jacques »
Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru « Les Fontenys »
Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru « Les Perrières »
Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru « Les Cherbaudes »
Fixin Premier Cru « Les Hervelets »
Gevrey Chambertin « En Vosne »
Gevrey Chambertin « Echezeaux »
Gevrey Chambertin « Les Crais »
Gevrey Chambertin « Les Corvées »
Gevrey Chambertin
Vosne Romanée
Chambolle Musigny
Morey Saint Denis « Les Herbuottes »
Fixin « Les Herbues »
Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits
Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Bourgogne Pinot Noir « Les Maladières »
Bourgogne Passetoutgrain « La Riotte »
WHITE
Chassagne Montrachet Premier Cru « Les Embrazées »
Puligny Montrachet « Les Reuchaux »
Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits
Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire Chardonnay & Pinot Beurot
Bourgogne Aligoté
PRINCIPLES
So that the grapes are picked at the optimum stage of ripeness, particular care is given to vineyard work throughout the year.
Manual pruning, using the "Guyot" method (cane pruning), takes place in March and early April. Minimal use of organic fertilizer combined with older vine age, naturally limits grape yield. The weed population is limited by cultivating the soil, which eliminates the use of chemical herbicides. Only organic products are used to protect the vines against insects. These beliefs and practices are enforced to ensure a sustainable philosophy, producing natural wines and protecting the environment for future generations.
Specific attention is paid to crop yields, with the use of shoot thinning, bunch thinning and ‘green harvest’ if required. It is considered optimal that the vines carry five to six bunches prior to harvest.
Since the 2002 harvest, Domaine Pierre Naigeon has been using flat bins (similar to those used in Burgundy's most famous domain situated in Vosne-Romanée). The grape pickers simply place the grapes in these cases without first putting them in a basket as is done traditionally. Each shallow case can contain only one layer of grapes thus avoiding crushing, hence juice oxidation. Care is taken to ensure the cases are never placed on the ground before reaching the sorting table, limiting contamination. Moreover, the cases are latticed to allow damaged fruit, rainwater or dew to drain off. Only rigorously selected, undamaged fruit is vinified in the vats.
The vinification takes place in two phases; a 5 to 10 day cold maceration period (12 to 15°C) followed by an alcoholic fermentation, by the natural grape yeasts. This second phase lasts around two weeks under controlled temperatures.
Once the fermentation is completed, the wine is put into oak barrels in the cellar. The proportion of new oak varies according to the year and appellation. The pressing of fermented skins is carried out using a pneumatic press, which ensures gentle extraction of desirable tannins to ensure the structure associated with great Burgundy.
During the maturation in oak barrels the wine is racked once after the malolactic fermentation. This involves the malic acid being converted to lactic acid, decreasing total acidity and resulting in a more balanced wine.
Barrel ageing lasts between 12 and 22 months. Once a week each barrel is topped (ouillage) to preserve the freshness and prevent oxidation of the wine.
Wine is tasted and assessed regularly during barrel maturation and is bottled according to moon phases. The bottling is done traditionally, without fining or filtration, directly from each cask with a "two-nosed goat", a stainless steel tap with two openings. Corks are inserted with a hand-operated corking machine. Only two barrels a day (600 bottles) are bottled.
VINIFICATION
White wine fermentations are natural, without the addition of cultured yeasts. The whites are raised on the lees for between 12 and 15 months in 20-30% new oak, with regular batonnage (stirring of the lees). Red wine fermentations are natural, without the addition of cultured yeasts, in thero-regulated tanks. 15-20 days vatting time. They are then raised 15 and 18 months in 30% new oak.
BURGUNDY 2018 VINTAGE
There has been talk over the past year of the 2018 vintage in Burgundy being one of the greatest of all time. Comparisons with the mythical 1947, and all that. But let’s be careful and take a closer look.
We’ve tasted some marvelous wines, both white and red, and from all of the appellation levels. Purity and concentration would be the key words across the board.
But lest we forget, 2018 was the hottest vintage in Burgundy since 2003. And frankly, we were expecting wines like we got in 2003: flabby whites and Cote du Rhone-like reds. But that did not happen. And the secret to understanding 2018 Burgundy lies in understanding the difference between these two very hot years.
If you look at 2018 from start to finish, not only was it hot, it was dry: 50% less precipitation than the annual average over the past 30 years. However, if you were here in the early part of the year, you’ll certainly remember the rain.
After a very dry summer in 2017, winter 2017-18 was wet. It rained nearly every day through March and into April. And the vine was slow to bud.
That all changed in the middle of April. Wet soil and higher temperatures brought on explosive growth in the vineyards that the vignerons had a tough time keeping up with. In a week we went from bud burst to unfurled leaves.
The first flowers burst in mid-May. The crop set regularly with very little disruption, and summer settled in. The early wet conditions followed by April’s warmth saw the onset of mildew, but the fungus never stood a chance.
It was a hot and sunny summer. Some would say it was a heat wave and a drought. And we started to see signs of stress in vineyards in certain sectors. Things were better where there was a little rain. But August was bone dry. In fact, there was no rain from June 15th to the end of October.
It was about this time that comparisons to 2015 cropped up. You could see ripeness rapidly approaching, and there was talk of harvest starting at the end of August.
The vines were incredibly healthy; no moisture means no threat from mildew or odium. No rot. Good ripeness.
And, for the first time since 2009….a normal yield! So, let the harvest begin!
And it did, in the last days of August. What was most astonishing right from the start was that the perceived acidity levels seem OK. Granted, there’s no malic acid, but the levels of tartaric acid seem to be compensating, and there is an over-all impression of balance.
Also amazing was the amount of juice the crop produced. Not only was the yield bigger than the past 10 years’ average, but the amount of juice set a record for Burgundy. So there will be a lot of 2018 around.
And all this in a year that felt more like the south of Spain than Burgundy as we know it. The only thing we can attribute the quality of 2018 to is the abundant winter rains, and the vine’s ability to go searching for water when it needs it.
GRANDS CRUS OF GEVREY CHAMBERTIN
COTES DE NUITS
CHAMBERTIN: 13.62ha.
CHAMBERTIN-CLOSDEBEZE: 14.67ha.
CHAPELLE-CHAMBERTIN: 5.48ha.
CHARMES-CHAMBERTIN: 28.43ha.
GRIOTTE-CHAMBERTIN: 2.65ha.
LATRICIÈRES-CHAMBERTIN: 7.31ha.
MAZIS-CHAMBERTIN: 8.27ha.
RUCHOTTES-CHAMBERTIN: 3.25ha.
MAZOYERES-CHAMBERTIN: 1.82ha.
Vivid color ranging from deep ruby to black-cherry. Their aromas suggest strawberry, blackcurrant, and gooseberry as well as fruit pits, licorice, and spices. Violet, moss and underbrush are also common. On the palate, power, opulence and elegance unite to make a full and complex body, sappy and voluptuous. Keeping potential is 10 years minimum. Although these sumptuous Grands Crus share a family resemblance, each has its own distinctive nuances.
Gevrey-Chambertin lies alongside the Route des Grands Crus at the northern end of the Côte which runs from North to South between the Combes of Lavaux at one end and Morey-Saint-Denis at the other.Facing east, at altitudes between 240 and 280 meters.
The Clos de Bèze first appears in the history of the Côte de Nuits in the year 640 AD as a monastic property. In 1219 it passed to the canons of Langres, who retained ownership until the French Revolution (1789). The name Chambertin has been used since the 13th century and once shared imperial approval with Clos de Bèze - Napoleon would drink nothing else. Its boundaries have not changed since the Middle Ages. In recognition of their similarity, the 7 Climats adjoining those of Chambertin and Clos de Bèze attach the name Chambertin to their own names (except in the case of Clos de Bèze where the name Chambertin comes first).
This hill-slope lies on hard rocks. On the upper portion are brown soils, partly alluvial, partly scree, and some tens of centimeters deep. Lower down are clay limestone soils in varying proportions. Up-slope, the rocks are of Bathonian origin, lower down the marls and limestones belong to the Jurassic (Bajocian) and numerous marine fossils are to be found on the surface, recalling the sea which covered this area some 150 million years ago.