Domaine Marechal Pommard La Chaniere Pinot Noir 2017

Description

2017 Pommard ‘La Chaniere’  La Chanière is the vineyard on the north side of the road leading from Pommard to the Hautes-Côtes, just up the canyon from the premier cru Les Arvelets. It is a cold climate terroir. In a sunny vintage like 2017 this is a very good thing – this is a wine of density, and it is very tightly coiled this year too. This wine casts aside the claim that Pommard produces muscular, unrefined wines –  this is a sensual beauty with lovely concentration and balance! I was gifted a bottle of the 2005 by Claude a few years ago – it was glorious – resolved, complex and delicious – evidently still with many years left as it was brimming with fruit. Great Burgundy!

Catherine and Claude Maréchal have been standing out in the ever crowded and competitive Burgundy thanks to the precise, elegant and finely scented wines they produce from their 10 hectares scattered on six Côte de Beaune communes.

Claude began the domaine in 1981 and in the mid 1980’s he met Henri Jayer, who became a huge source of inspiration and learning. Since then Maréchal has, year after year, honed his skills and today offers incredibly fine wine, among the greats in Burgundy.

Claude Marechal makes his wines as naturally as possible, taking his inspiration from his late friend Henri Jayer who he trained with early in his career. In common with Jayer he makes wines above and beyond the expectations of his terroirs.

His wines are pure and sleek with vibrant fruit and great potential to age.  These wines are available in very limited quantities but are something you should definitely have in your cellar.In the vineyard ripeness is the watchword and the vines are maintained in order to maximise phenolic maturity every vintage whatever the conditions.

No chemical fertilisers are used and the harvest is hand picked each vintage, Claude says he is usually the last in each appellation to pick which shows on the ripe fruited nature of his wines. After harvest the bunches are sorted by hand and gently de-stemmed before vinification using natural yeasts.

The fermenting must is pumped over twice daily and once alcoholic fermentation is finished the wines are placed into oak barrels where they mature for between 10 and 15 months

Claude and Catherine’s aim is to produce “vins de plaisir” – wines that are approachable and bring pleasure to all who drink them. Ultimately, Claude says, “you don’t make wine with techniques, you make wine with grapes. If you harvest ripe, healthy grapes, the wines will always be exemplary.”

Details

BOTTLE SIZE: 75CL

Alcohol: 13% VOL

VINTAGE: 2017

CLOSURE: Cork

COUNTRY: France

REGION: Burgundy

GRAPE: Pinot Noir